- Preserve
Psalm 31:23
O love the Lord, all ye his saints:
For the Lord preserveth the faithful,
And plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
The Lord promises to preserve the faithful, but for the one who acts in pride there will be ample and abundant reward. This is not a reward in a good sense, but it is a just repayment of evil for evil: the proud will “reap what they sow.” And by “plentifully” God means the punishments and consequences will be at least enough to satisfy the just requirements of the Law.
It is not up to the saints or the faithful to seek vengeance or to make sure that justice is done. This is God’s doing, and He will make sure justice comes to the proud and that no one “gets away with it.” The proud doer is the person who decides and acts on his own without giving God a passing thought or paying attention to His Word. The proud doer is the opposite of the faithful saint, who faithfully strives to know and do the commands and demands of the Covenant; when he fails he still seeks to make himself right with the Lord through sacrifice and forgiveness. He does not hold up his own good works before God as the proud may do, but he recognizes his sin and holds up the blood sacrifice before God to maintain his faith relationship with God.
Therefore, it is the faithful that stand in a faith relationship with God; and it is to the faithful that God promises preservation. This preservation is apparently without limits. The Lord preserves the faithful from enemy attack and saves them. The Lord preserves the faithful with abundant supply and provision. The Lord preserves health and strength for daily life in service to God and neighbor. The Lord preserves the faithful in comfort, security and safekeeping. The Lord preserves our coming in and our going out from this time forth and forever more.
We can rest securely in Him all the time, no matter what the enemy seeks to do to us, and He will preserve us. Therefore, we saints love Him.