The Cost of Discipleship

Matthew 16:21-27

Do you have what it takes?  Are you willing to pay the price to obtain what you desire?  A young person may watch the Olympics on TV and wish they could get that gold medal, but are they willing to put in the many, many grueling hours of hard practice?  Sitting in the concert hall listening to a piano or violin recital, we may wish we could play like that, but are we also willing to put in the hours of practice for that?  Or the hard work at our job to earn the corner office?  In our Gospel Scripture passage for this week we read of something that Jesus said to His disciples, that if they wanted to follow Him there would be a price to pay.  Let’s look into what He said that would be.

Immediately prior to when our Scripture begins, Peter had just confessed in front of Jesus and the other disciples that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  Now as they were headed towards Jerusalem, Jesus began to speak plainly about His coming suffering and death, resurrection, and the cost of true discipleship (vs. 21).  However, this was not what the disciples wanted to hear.  If Jesus was the Messiah like Peter said, wouldn’t He lead the people of Israel to throw off the yoke of bondage to the Roman Empire and bring Israel freedom?  What was this talk of His being killed?  That didn’t fit into their plan!

Peter had just confessed that Jesus was the promised Messiah and Son of God.  How could He then be put to death?  Peter went up to Jesus and told Him that this couldn’t happen (vs. 22).  Peter was looking at the situation through carnal, worldly eyes.  He wanted a crown without a cross.  He desired a political Messiah, not a suffering Savior.  How quickly human thinking can oppose God’s purposes, even if it has good intentions.  Even sincere believers can oppose God’s will when they are thinking carnally.

Jesus then immediately rebuked Peter (vs. 23)  His response was severe because Peter’s words echoed Satan’s temptation in the wilderness - a kingdom without suffering.  Satanic opposition often comes through human voices.  Anything that diverts Christ from the cross, along with today anything that removes the cross and Jesus’ shed Blood from the salvation message is demonic in origin.  Peter was not possessed here, however he was thinking not of “the things of God, but the things of men.”  The cross is central to God’s plan and cannot be negotiated.  Christ’s death was not accidental or tragic - it was the ordained plan of God.

Jesus then gave His call to discipleship (vs. 24).  This call has three parts - deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.  To be a true disciple one must renounce any self-will and self-centeredness.  One must embrace death to self and accept suffering for Jesus, and also walk in obedience, loyalty, and submission.  These three commands are not optional.  It is the definition of Christianity.

If we want to follow Jesus we must willingly do the things God calls us to do without resentment.  We must desire to carry the cross He gives us to bear.  Rather than focusing on self-esteem we are commanded to deny ourselves and treat others better than ourselves.  Jesus doesn’t ask everyone to leave home and family, but following Him means denying our selfish goals in life.  To give God top priority in life, we must love Him whole-heartedly, deny ourselves, and follow Him.

Trying to save your life with comforts and self-preservation leads to spiritual ruin (vs. 25).  Losing your life for Jesus Christ will lead to eternal life.  Discipleship is costly, but the cost of rejecting Jesus is infinitely greater.  Your eternal soul is worth more than wealth, fame, power, pleasure, really the entire world (vs. 26).  It is eternal and priceless.  However, once it is lost, it cannot be bought back.

Jesus concluded this Scripture with the promise that He will return in glory with His angels to reward everyone according to their works (vs. 27).  This is a clear affirmation of His deity, and also of future judgment.  When we stand before God, He won’t consult man-made rules and standards.  He will have the final word when He judges our lives.

Many believers often want a comfortable Christianity.  Most of us will happily follow Jesus as long as He’s going where we want.  But what happens if He leads us down a road of sacrifice, self-denial, suffering, or death?  Will we still trust Him and keep going?  Jesus calls us to embrace His plan, even when it includes suffering.  Are we following Jesus on His terms or our own?  The world only offers temporary gain.  Jesus offers eternal rewards.

This Scripture passage is a call to abandon ourselves and embrace Jesus as a true disciple of His.  Jesus did not merely teach self-denial, He embodied it.  He did not merely command cross-bearing, He carried His own.  And He did not merely warn of judgment, He will personally execute it as the returning King.  Remember - the cross comes before the crown.  Obedience comes before reward.  Suffering comes before glory, and faithfulness comes before vindication.  This was the pattern of Jesus’ life, and therefore should be the pattern of every true disciple.

A Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-8

After spending time in training for a career or some skill, your teacher or instructor then wants you to go out and practice that skill, to put it to use.  The medical student is sent out to be an intern and then a medical resident.  The young attorney goes out to practice under a more experienced one.  The cook heads into the kitchen to begin baking.  None of them just take their diploma and go home and sit on it!  That is the same idea that St. Paul gives us today in our Scripture.

In Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, the first eleven chapters were focused on teaching doctrine.  Now as we begin chapter 12, Paul will start focusing on practical Christian living.  The word “therefore” in verse 1 points back to everything that has been said before in the previous chapters, the doctrines of human sin, justification by faith, union with Jesus Christ, life in the Spirit, and God’s mercy.  Now Paul will instruct his readers to respond, and to put all that into practice in their lives.

The first thing that the Apostle tells us to do is to present ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice (vs. 1).  This pictures in our mind the sheep and oxen that God’s people would bring to the altars, where the priests would then sacrifice them to God.  However, unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, this is not for atonement, as Jesus has already accomplished that with His death on the cross.  Instead, we present ourselves completely to the Lord as an act of grateful devotion.

Paul then gives us an important instruction, that we must not be conformed to this world, but instead be transformed by renewing our mind in the Lord (vs. 2).  Our lives are to be set apart for God.  We set ourselves apart by renewing our minds with God’s Word and cleansing our minds from the filth of this world.  To follow God’s plan we need to surrender our rights to Him, and embrace His way.  Our minds can be changed from being worldly to godly only with a steady application of Scripture.  We can find ourselves out of God’s will when we put other things or people ahead of Him.

It is a lie that we have to be like the world in order to win them to Christ.  Jesus never compromised His beliefs or moral standards in order to win people to the Father.  When Christians compromise, everyone loses.  Stop allowing the world to shape you into its mold.  Stop giving the outward appearance and lifestyle that is inconsistent with your inner being.  Replace old erroneous thought patterns with the truth of God’s Word.

Paul continued by instructing that as we put the faith that we learned into practice, we must not think of ourselves more highly than we ought (vs. 3).  Pride destroys unity and usefulness in the church.  When people think more highly of themselves than they should, they stop relying upon divine guidance in making decisions.  Terrible consequences can often result from such wrong thinking.  Pride always drives a person away from God’s path.

The Apostle Paul then, in verses 4-5, used the human body as a metaphor of Christians being part of the body of Christ, something that he did several times in his other Epistles, particularly in I Corinthians 12:12-27.  Just as a human body has many different parts, each with its own specific function, the Church has many different members making up the body of Christ, and we each have our God-assigned function of service in the Church.

Paul then concluded this segment of Scripture with listing some of the different gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to believers (vs. 6-8).  One is that of prophecy, which is speaking God’s truth with clarity and boldness.  This Spirit-empowered proclamation is consistent with Scripture, not any new revelation.  Another gift is ministry or service, which meets the needs within the church.  A third gift is teaching, which in this instance would be explaining the Scriptures accurately and systematically.  Then there is exhortation, which is encouraging, admonishing, and urging believers towards obedience.  Paul mentions the gift of giving, which is sharing one’s resources with simplicity and sincerely, without an ulterior motive.  There is the gift of leadership, leading the flock with diligence, responsibility, and faithfulness.  The last one he mentions is showing mercy, demonstrating compassion with cheerfulness, reflecting Jesus’ heart.

In closing, this Scripture from Romans shows that genuine salvation will lead to a transformed life.  Renewing our mind requires the Bible as the final authority for faith and for practice.  Surrendering ourselves to God is the most reasonable response to His mercy.  As believers, we need to present ourselves to God each day in prayer and obedience, rejecting worldly thinking by saturating our mind with Scripture, and then identifying our spiritual gift and using it for the Lord.

Doing Right When We've Been Done Wrong

Psalm 26

Have you ever had someone tell a really nasty lie about you, and the aftermath and consequences were really bad?  You had to struggle to do damage control, and you may have even wished you could take some sort of revenge on that person.  Many people may have believed that lie, and you wanted some sort of vindication.  Our psalm today, Psalm 26, is a prayer that David prayed when he was faced with people making false accusations against him.  Let’s see how he handled this situation.

We don’t know the specific instance that David was praying about, but rather than take things into his own hands, he appealed to the Lord for vindication based on his integrity, his separation from evil, and his love for God’s house.  He appealed to God to judge him righteously and vindicate him from false accusations.  In spite of the painful mistreatment David determined to trust in God and not slip or slide under the load.  He had done nothing to deserve the mistreatment, and he would walk with integrity.

As we begin our psalm, David asked God to judge him (vs. 1-3).  He knew that God knew his heart, so he appealed to Him in the middle of the false accusations that were brought against him.   David had integrity, as he sought to always live a life consistent with God’s truth.  He had faith in the Lord as his Savior, and also faith that God could help him no matter what his needs were.  David asked the Lord to examine his heart, with a willingness to have his inner life tested.

As Christians, we need to always walk with integrity.  None of us will have sinless perfection, but our lives should strive to have sincerity and consistency with God’s Word.  A genuine believer will welcome God’s examination through His Word (Hebrews 4:12).

One way that David showed his integrity was by refusing to fellowship with evildoers and the wicked (vs. 4-5).  As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, we need to separate ourselves from sinful lifestyles, and keep deceit and hypocrisy from our  life.  We also need to be spiritually strong and keep ourselves and our churches free from associating with false teachers and corrupt assemblies.  Evildoers, the wicked, and false religious leaders are enemies of the Lord.  Paul also taught this in his epistles when he said not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers and to come out from among them (II Corinthians 6:14-18), and to have no fellowship with the works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11).  The Bible teaches that we must reject associating with those who would compromise our holiness.

David also had a deep love for God’s house and worship (vs. 6-8).  At this time the Temple had not yet been built, and the people worshiped in the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant still was.  The Temple would be built during the days of David’s son, Solomon.  However, David loved to go and worship.  He preferred God's house over the meeting places of the wicked.  We too should love to gather with other believers where there is Biblically sound preaching and godly worship.

The psalm continues with David praying that his soul will not be gathered with sinners and those full of mischief and bribes (vs. 9-12).  He is determined to show integrity and be dependent upon God and His mercy, while they live a life of wickedness.  David knew that there is coming a time when God will separate the righteous from the wicked at the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).

David strived to live a life of integrity and righteousness, but like us, was not perfect.  However our psalm points forward to the sinless Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who did walk in perfect integrity.  He too was falsely accused.  Jesus had a deep love for the sanctuary, and was also separated from sinners in that He never sinned (Hebrews 7:26).

Though he was not sinless, David sincerely desired to follow the Lord.  We must also strive for holiness (I Peter 1:15-16).  David trusted God to vindicate him from the attacks of the wicked.  Likewise we must rest in God’s justice rather than fighting others to defend ourselves.  Let’s examine our heart regularly through the Scriptures and guard our associations, avoiding worldly influences and false doctrines.  We must strive to walk in integrity, even when falsely accused, and trust that God will vindicate us in His time.

Standing Alone Against the World

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Have you ever worked on some project, something that was very good and would help a lot of people, only to have others turn against you, verbally tearing you to shreds?  Some of us have had that experience.  It leaves you very disillusioned.  If what you were doing was for the Lord, then you might even question your faith a bit.  This is where we find the prophet Jeremiah in today’s Scripture.  As we study this passage, we will see the Lord’s encouragement to one of His most faithful servants.

Jeremiah lived from around 650 - 570 BC, and had one of the most difficult ministries possible, preaching to the apostate people of the southern Kingdom of Judah, right prior and during when the Babylonian Empire overran the country.  He faced harsh opposition from both the political and religious leaders of the country.  Jeremiah was overwhelmed by the hostility from the people he was trying to save, and as we read in our Scripture and throughout his whole book, he poured out his inner turmoil before God.  All of the words of his preaching to the people, urging them to return to faith in Yahweh, and the consequences if they didn’t, made him a target of hatred and persecution.  Similarly, when we seek to follow what the Lord has told us to do, especially if it is bringing His message of repentance and salvation through Jesus to others, we face hostility from the unsaved.

Faced with this treatment, Jeremiah prayed to the Lord, and he asked Him four things (vs. 15).  The first was for God to remember him.  Jeremiah wanted God to take note of his suffering and his faithfulness to Him.  He also asked God to “visit” him.  This was requesting comfort, strength, and assurance of God’s nearness.  Next, he asked God to take vengeance on his enemies.  This was not a sinful vengeance, but a righteous vindication.  Finally, Jeremiah asked that God not “take me away”.  He was pleading for the preservation of his life in the middle of threats.  He reminded God that the persecutions he suffered were the direct result of faithfully proclaiming God’s Word.

Jeremiah continued by stating how important God’s Word was to him (vs. 16).  God's Word was as important to him as food.  The prophet internalized them deeply.  He devoured God's Word, and it was the joy and heart’s delight for him.  It was like a fire within him (Jeremiah 20:8-9).  We should be like the prophet, and have such a devotion to the Bible, letting it shape our life.

Yet the same Word that delighted Jeremiah, also isolated him socially.  He sat alone because of God’s hand upon him (vs. 17).  His separation from worldly attitudes was costly.  Jeremiah felt abandoned (vs. 18).  He even compared God to an “unreliable stream”, something that should always bring refreshing, but sometimes fails to.  That is how deep his anguish was.

God then gave His response to Jeremiah.  The prophet had begun to falter under the immense pressure and persecution he faced, so God called him to return and renew his wholehearted devotion (vs. 19).  He was to separate the precious from the vile - to reject discouragement, doubt, and any sinful attitudes, and to continue to speak what is pure and true, proclaiming God’s Word without compromise.  God wasn’t rebuking Jeremiah, just encouraging him to stand firm.

God promised Jeremiah that he would stand like a fortified wall of bronze, unbreakable under pressure (vs. 20-21).  He promised that his enemies may fight him, but will not prevail, and that He Himself would deliver him.  God is faithful to those who remain faithful to Him, even in seasons of intense opposition.

As we see through the life of Jeremiah, sometimes suffering is not due to personal failure, but because we stand for the Lord’s truth in a time of rebellion against God.  Faithful ministry often brings reproach.  But like Jeremiah, we may need to be spiritually renewed.  Holiness is essential for effective ministry.  We need to be “eating” God’s Word.  It will sustain us even when outward circumstances collapse.  There are times when we may feel abandoned, but remember, God never forsakes His own!

Who Do You Think Jesus Is?

Matthew 16:13-19

Sometimes in life we are faced with very important questions that we have to answer.  It might be while we are in school or college.  Perhaps we are called as a witness in a court case, and the prosecuting attorney questions us.  In our Scripture today from St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus asked His disciples a very important question, which Peter quickly answered.  That question is of vital importance to us today, as well.  Let’s take a look.

As our Scripture opens, Jesus has taken his disciples to the city of Caesarea Philippi, which was about 25 miles north of the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, at the far northern edge of Israel.  Caesarea Philippi was a very Greek influenced city, filled with pagan idols, shrines, and worship.  It was also a very important site of worship to the Greek god Pan, a pagan nature god, and god of sheep and shepherds.  In this spiritually dark setting, Jesus asked the most important question that we all must one day answer.

First, Jesus asked the disciples who the people are saying He is? (vs. 13-14).  They respond by saying that some said He was John the Baptist.  Others said He was Elijah, or Jeremiah, or some other great prophet.  These answers showed that though the people admired Jesus, and thought He spoke a message from God, they did not see Him as the divine Messiah.

Today we see that is the case with so many people.  If you were to take a survey of people’s thoughts on Jesus, many would say that they admire Him as a great teacher or moral example.  However, having respect for Jesus is not saving faith. Unless they acknowledge and confess Jesus as Lord and Christ, they will remain lost, as lost as the pagan or atheist.

Then Jesus turned the question on His disciples there with Him.  He asked them who they thought He was (vs. 15-16).  This is the dividing line of eternity.  Every soul who has or will ever live must answer this question.  Peter was the first to respond, saying that he believed Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah, and that he believed He was the Son of the living God.

Peter’s confession contained two important doctrines, beliefs that are essential for genuine salvation.  First, Peter believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Greek word meaning “Anointed One”.  It means the same as the Hebrew word Messiah.  This meant that Peter believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies.  Peter also believed that Jesus is the Son of the living God, that He was not merely a prophet, but that He was divine. The apostle didn’t believe that Jesus was merely a good teacher, but that He was God in the flesh.  This confession is the foundation of saving faith.  Genuine salvation begins with recognizing who Jesus truly is.

Jesus followed up by saying that this spiritual truth was revealed to Peter by God the Father (vs. 17).  Human intellect cannot produce saving faith.  God must open the heart (John 6:44; I Corinthians 2:14).  True conversion is supernatural.  It is not emotionalism or human persuasion.  It is the work of God.  Peter’s confession showed that he had been born again.

In verse 18 Jesus made a serious statement, but also used a play on words.  He spoke to Peter, using his name, which in Greek is “Petros”, which means a rock or stone, something that a person can pick up with their hand.  Then Jesus said that upon this rock He would build His church.  The word “rock” He used here was the Greek word “Petra”, which means a large rock, crag, or large boulder, much bigger than a “petros”.  The rock upon which Jesus would build His church was the confession of faith that Peter had given, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.  Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church.  Hell cannot stop the advance of the Gospel, and Jesus guaranteed the church’s ultimate victory.

Jesus gave the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (vs. 19).  Keys symbolize authority, and He gave the authority of the Gospel message.  When believers preach the Gospel, they open the door of heaven to those who believe.  When unbelievers reject the Gospel, the door remains shut.  When a believer speaks the Word of God in the Name of Jesus, Satan and his minions know that they have to obey.

Accepting that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, is Himself divine, is central to saving faith.  Peter’s statement is the foundation of the Church, and the Gospel message is the key that opens or closes the Kingdom.  Hell cannot stop the advance of Christ’s Church, so stand firm on the identity of Jesus and proclaim the Gospel to others.  Trust in Christ’s promise that the Church will prevail.

One final statement to all who read.  Jesus still asks the question to everyone - Who do you say that I am?  Your answer will determine where you spend eternity.

A Doxology of Praise

Romans 11:33-36

If ever you have written an important paper, or an article in a major publication, or did significant research for an important project, you undoubtedly wished to receive acknowledgement for your work.  You would have wanted some congratulations, some commendation of some sort.  That’s only natural, it’s only human to want that.  However, the Apostle Paul had accomplished some rather spectacular things, and instead of seeking praise for himself, we see him turning the praise over to someone else.  Let’s look at our Scripture for today.

Our Scripture is the last few verses of chapter 11 of the Book of Romans.  Up to this point in his letter to the folks at the church in Rome, Paul had been building a massive theological mountain.  In the first three chapters of Romans he had shown humanity’s universal guilt.  Then in chapters 3 through 5, he explains the doctrine of justification by faith.  In the next three chapters, 6-8, Paul explains sanctification and the believer’s union with Christ.  Then he concludes this first half of the letter with showing God’s sovereignty in election and Israel’s future in chapters 9-11.

In order to learn all of this, Paul would have had to do a lot of studying and research into the Bible, in addition to much praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Yet when he reached this point in his letter to the Romans, he didn't pause to congratulate himself.  He didn’t expect a lot of pats on the back for what a great scholar he was.  Instead, Paul falls down upon his knees in worship of God.  He hands all praise over to the Lord, not himself.  Sound doctrine produces reverential awe, not intellectual pride.

The Apostle Paul begins this short segment with giving praise to God’s wisdom, knowledge, and His judgments (vs. 33).  Instead of trying to point out how wise he was in writing those earlier chapters of theological doctrine, Paul points to God’s wisdom, that it is bottomless, abundant, and inexhaustible.  God’s judgments cannot be fully traced or analyzed, and His methods cannot be pulled apart to find out how they all work.  God’s power, authority, and control is not some sort of puzzle to be solved, but instead is a reality to be worshiped.  All of human reason bows before God’s divine mystery.

Paul continues in verse 34 by stating that God needs no counselor, no one to advise Him or give Him guidance.  Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 40:13).  God has never needed our advice or input on any matter, and He has never needed correction for anything He ever did.  We are not in any position to critique God’s actions, and He is certainly not accountable to our expectations, philosophies, or preferences.

God is never indebted to anyone or anything.  Paul gives another quote from the Old Testament to back this up, this time from Job 41:11.  No one has ever given God anything that obligated Him to them.  He owes no repayment to anyone.  The salvation we have received from Him is entirely by grace, and grace is always undeserved when given to us.  We do not earn grace by any human merit, or by any righteousness we have done, as we have no righteousness on our own.

Paul finishes this Scripture passage with proclaiming that God is the source, the means, and the goal of all things (vs. 36).  Everything begins with God, is sustained by God, and exists for God’s glory.  We owe God everything, and He has already given us more than we can ever repay.  Our greatest desire in life should be to give Him all glory.

Paul proclaims in these few verses, not his own wisdom or greatness, but that of the Lord’s.  Any intellect we have is miniscule compared to the wisdom of God.  Paul proclaims that God rules over all creation, salvation, history, and all nations.  We cannot fully comprehend His purposes.  Salvation was and is entirely His initiative, and all things ultimately serve His glory.  God’s ways are perfect, even when hidden, so we can fully trust Him.

What God Puts Above His Name

Psalm 138

Most of us would like to see our name treated respectfully.  We don’t want to hear bad rumors where our name is tossed in there.  We don’t want to hear our name linked with a curse.  We would much rather have our name spoken of with praise or admiration.  Reading through the Bible, we see that God is the same way. He values His Name, and He even made that one of the Ten Commandments.  We are not to take the Name of the Lord in vain.  However, there is something that God sets even above His Name, which we will read about as we study our Psalm for today.

Today’s psalm is one of many which King David wrote.  In it he praises God for answered prayer, for His covenant faithfulness, and for His unmatched supremacy over all earthly powers.  David was not one to give God half-hearted worship.  When he worshiped, he did so with his whole heart and spirit (vs. 1).  There was even a time when David broke out into an exuberant dance while worshiping God when he brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem (II Samuel 6:14-15).

David didn’t hide his worship of Yahweh, either.  He said that he would praise Him “before the gods”, all of the myriads of false deities that the pagan people living around them followed.  This shows his public loyalty to Yahweh even when surrounded by unbelief.  As Christians, we should not hide our devotion, either, tucking it away where others can’t see.  We should stand for the Lord and His Word publicly, even when surrounded by unbelief.

As David continues, he makes a statement in verse 2 that sticks out to me, which is that God has magnified His Word above His Name.  This is one of the strongest statements in Scripture about the supremacy of God’s Word.  It affirms the verbal inspiration of the Bible, and also its absolute authority.  It is also evidence that God binds His reputation to His Word.  God’s Name represents His character, and naturally that should be held in the highest esteem and regard.  Yet here God states that He places His Word, the Bible, even above that.  If God magnifies His Word, believers must do the same by reading it, obeying it, and defending it.

All throughout his life, King David knew that when he was facing a problem or trouble, he could cry out to the Lord, and He would answer him (vs. 3).  He could give many personal examples of when his prayers were answered.  God not only answers prayer, but He also gives strength for the situation.  David was confident that God would literally intervene for his needs, and he would depend on Him, rather than human solutions.

Next David indicated that God’s Word would go forth all over the world, as other rulers and kings would hear of Him, and thus be compelled to praise Him (vs. 4-5).  He foresees a future day when all earthly rulers will acknowledge the Lord.  This anticipates the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, when kings will literally bow before Him (Philippians 2:9-11).  We do not need to fear any earthly powers, as God’s truth will outlast every government.

God is infinitely exalted, however He cares intimately about each one of us, no matter how lowly we are (vs. 6).  Though God’s greatness is so high above us, He is near to each one of us.  He draws near to the lowly, but distances Himself from the proud.  Their pride keeps themselves from coming to Jesus for salvation and His help.

As we know from David’s life, he was often in the middle of some sort of trouble, especially as a young adult on the run from King Saul and his men.  He knew that God would revive or rescue him, protecting him and delivering him by His right hand (vs 7).  God actively protects and preserves His people.  No matter what our circumstances are, no matter how insurmountable the odds, God promises to save us in the very middle of our troubles.  God’s right hand will reach out and save us from our enemies.

David ended this psalm with a very comforting verse (vs. 8).  He states that God completes what He begins.  His mercy is everlasting, and He does not abandon His people.  God will finish the work that He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6).  Our life is not random.  God is actively shaping, guiding, and completing His plans for us.  I might wonder what plan God could possibly have for someone like me, however He has a unique plan for each of us that He has promised to fulfill.  We can rest in His promise to take care of us.  The Lord will fulfill His purposes for us.

This psalm is a reminder that God is both infinitely exalted and intimately involved in our lives.  He hears our prayers, strengthens our heart, and will complete every purpose He has for us.  Let His Word be your anchor, and rest knowing that His mercy is everlasting.