Month: February 2018

253. Righteous Surround

 Psalm 142:7b

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name:

The righteous shall compass me about;

 When I am saved, delivered, redeemed and brought out of the prison of Sin, Death and the Devil the promise is that I will find myself surrounded by righteous people. This we find to be actually true by experience; it just so happens that way. But it is assuring to know that this is a promise of God and He works it out that way for the new believer. God designs life in this way and we find Him bringing other believers across our path as we also go out seeking others with the same faith.

A believer in Christ deliberately seeks and finds the fellowship of folks with a blood (of Jesus) kinship; it may partially be confirmation bias, but it is also God planting that desire in us. All people tend to drift toward other people who think alike and congregate with them, but it is actually the Lord who brings believers together in fellowship.

If the saying is true that “bad company corrupts good morals,” then it should also be true that good company lifts up, purifies and encourage good morals. We are known by the company we keep. The church on earth and the frequent fellowship gatherings of Christians is not an accident but it is invisibly created by God.

It happens quite often, and it is by design, that fellow Christians show up in times of need and consciously and unconsciously encourage us. The righteous compass me about. Just as God is always there, so also He sends someone to be there. The Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the entire Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. The fellowship of believers is a work of God, and a promise.

It is true that sin and evil surround us all the time, and so does God; but it is also true that righteous, good, God-fearing people will surround us as well. And that’s a good thing.

252. Dwell in his Presence

 Psalm 140:13

Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name:

The upright shall dwell in thy presence.

I am justified by faith because of Christ; so I am one of the righteous and the upright; the righteous give thanks to the Lord and the upright dwell in the Presence of God. Giving thanks is what Christians constantly do; they live a life of thanksgiving. Dwelling in the Presence of God is a promise from God for the Christian.

When God justifies me He places me within His Presence while He lives within my heart and we truly dwell together. Living with God is dwelling in His presence. This is a comfortable, wonderful, and safe place to dwell. We are always in and near the presence of God, but it is helpful for us to consciously and deliberately come into His presence and become mindful and aware of where we dwell. We have this promise of the Lord; we just need to remember it is so and walk accordingly by faith.

Only the righteous may enter the presence of a holy and righteous God. For Christ’s sake God has granted us His own righteousness and His very life so that believers have every right and promise that there we are—with God and God with us.

251. Maintain the Cause and the Right

 Psalm 140:12

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

And the right of the poor.

 All people, no matter how healthy and wealthy, are spiritually afflicted and spiritually poor, at some times more so than at other times. Affliction comes upon the mental and emotional state as an attack of Sin and Satan. The cause of the afflicted is the purpose and destiny of people; when their purpose is being thwarted and hindered the Lord Himself intervenes to maintain their cause. If God has a plan for each life He will certainly maintain that cause in spite of all the obstacles in the way. It is encouraging for us to know there is a cause for my living and that the Lord will make sure that my cause will be fulfilled.

 The spiritually poor, including all sinners even the morally bankrupt, still have a right to access God and His life and gifts. The devil would lie and tempt us to believe we have no right to life, forgiveness or salvation; he would say that we are not worthy. He is right: I am not worthy, but Christ is worthy for me. Jesus Christ becomes my right, and in this way the Lord maintains my right. Of course, in and by myself I have no right to life and forgiveness because of my sin, but the sinless Christ has taken over the life of this poor sinner and now I have legal right to life and everything good from God.

“I know” this because I have been given faith in the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. This knowledge makes me strong to live well and stand firm in the presence of spiritual affliction and poverty. This is what faith does for those who believe the promises of God. We do not need to try to claim our destiny and demand our right, but we need to let the Lord do it.

250. Lead and Hold

 Psalm 139: 10

Even there shall thy hand lead me,

And thy right hand shall hold me.

 Within this beautiful exposition of the omnipresence of God we are given this promise: God’s hand will lead me and hold me. I cannot run away and hide from the presence of God (nor would I want to), but wherever I am there He is. And where I am He will lead me: He will lead me home; He will lead me on the narrow path; He will lead me on the paths of righteousness; He will lead me to the best way to live and enjoy life.

His right hand will also hold me, hold me up, stand me up, and make me solid. If God’s hand is holding me I cannot fall or fail. I must definitely reach the destiny that the Lord has planned for me.

I can believe God to lead and hold me when I stray and lose my way in any sphere of life: physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally, socially and spiritually. Whatever the problem I get my self into the Lord will not leave me alone, but He will be present for me to lead me and hold me.

249. Perfect

 Psalm 138:8

The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me:

Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever:

Forsake not the works of thine own hands.

 The Lord will always finish what He starts; He is the Author and Finisher of our faith; He who began a good work will bring it to completion. God began a good work in me: not only will He finish and complete it but He will also perfect it. The Holy Spirit is currently in the process of perfecting us, while we are alive; He will perfect what He has finished. This means there will be no flaws or imperfections in our characters and personalities. Sin and flaws mar and make ugly the beauty of holiness.

It is hard for the human mind to imagine what perfection would really look like for we never see it. Holiness is beautiful beyond description. Holiness is the brightness and splendor of the character of God.

The human creatures were created to reflect the beauty of holiness; this reflection is the Image of God. This image was lost in original sin, but the Holy Spirit working in us by the faith of Christ is incrementally restoring it. Christians today, who have Christ in them, reflect God to the world and to each other and back to God. This is what it means that, “the Lord will perfect.”

We do not know what holiness looks like for we cannot see it; we cannot see God; we cannot see His love; we cannot see His perfections. The best we can do is look at the life of Jesus and imitate Him and what He helps us to idealize. Since we lost the Image of God we cannot accurately reflect God; we cannot not sin; thus we can only mess up the beauty of holiness. Since we cannot see we must hear. Therefore, we need the Law from the Word of God to have some sense of what it looks like; we look at, study and obey the Ten Commandments; we meditate on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). We believe the Word to tell us the truth, and we know what to listen to and obey in order to come closer to perfect. Jesus says, “You must be perfect.” [Matthew 5:48]. And we have the promise: the Lord will perfect. Repent and receive His forever mercy and let Him work.

248. Save

 Psalm 138:7b

Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies,

And thy right hand shall save me.

It is instructive and helpful for me to recognize that our spiritual enemies are angry with me. Sin, Death and Devil hate God with bitter hostility, and with the same vitriol they hate those who trust in Him: Sin is angry with me, crouching at the door ready to pounce and devour; Death is angry with me, lurking in the shadows with his scythe seeking to destroy my health and life; the Devil is angry with me, prowling around like a lion seeking to devour.

Sin and Satan hate me. Their temptations to sin come from evil to cause evil for me. Temptations, by definition, are pleasant to look at and fun to play with, but the Enemies do not show us the consequences, which are terrible and destructive. (We need the Word of God to see the terrible consequences of giving in to temptation.) Simply put, Sin and Satan are not looking after my welfare but my destruction because they are full of wrath.

The Promise is that the Lord will stretch forth His hand against their wrath; His strong right hand will save me. This kind of violent battle is actually going on most of the time, and we are unaware of how much saving activity the Lord is exercising on our behalf. The promise is simple: Jesus Saves. He saves us from our spiritual enemies, their violent wrath, and their evil intentions toward us. Sin cannot be entertained, trifled with, toyed with, or even joked about; it is deadly serious and seriously deadly. The Lord saves me from the evil intentions of my enemies.

247. Revive

 Psalm 138:7a

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me:

 God promises to revive me when I am in trouble. He will make me alive again after I am worn down, worn out, and about to give up. I get in trouble at times and simply live in middle of trouble; it is at that time the Lord promises to revive me. Revive means more than survive and stay living; it also means living life more fully, being refreshed, perked up, and lifted up in spirit. It is going from down to up.

Being down, feeling blue, feeling sad and just being out of sorts is not a sin, but sadness is a result of sin, my own or someone else’s. Sin causes the pains and sorrows of life. Forgiveness of sins lifts the spirits while it lifts away the guilt and shame and the disruption of inner peace and relational peace. Sin is surely the Enemy within and without; it seeks to make us constantly live in the midst of trouble.

Life, health and strength come into the death that surrounds me when the Holy Spirit offers Jesus’ death and resurrection to take away my sins. Any time I need to I can go into that quiet place and hear the Gospel; it is the Gospel that revives, enlivens, refreshes, and lifts me up. Gospel meditations have great resuscitating power.

246. Mercy Forever

 Psalm 136:1-26

For his mercy endureth forever.

This sentence is repeated in every verse of Psalm 136 and dozens of times in the Psalms and throughout the OT, so it must be an important Creed, or Statement of Faith; indeed, it is an important promise to live by. The Hebrew word for “mercy” is “chesed.” This Hebrew word is essential to the character of God: it means commitment, faithful love, a firm and steadfast love that is faithful to the covenant promises. It refers to a God who keeps His word and His word is Love; and you can be certain of that love, and you can stake your life and eternity on it.

The promise is that the “chesed” of God endures forever. After everything else has ended, died, worn out, and stopped the Love of God will go on and on. It never dies; it never stops; it never quits; it binds God to keep His promises; it makes sure that we know that.

When the NT says, “God is Love,” it means, “His mercy endures forever.” If God is not merciful we are doomed; if God does not show mercy He will show His wrath; if God’s mercy does not last forever it may stop unexpectedly and not be there when we need it; if His mercy does not endure forever we will not live forever. This promise is important because it is extremely important for my life.