The Lord Completes What He Begins

Psalm 138

Have you ever worked on a large jigsaw puzzle, one that has 1,000 pieces or more?  Some people are good at those, and are especially patient and can work them to completion.  Others get frustrated and after awhile quit, and put it all back in the box. Some people like to read really long novels, while others get tired of them and never complete the story.  Others may find an art project such as a painting or sculpture, or a sewing project appealing. Have you ever started something like that, but never finished it? Completion. In our psalm today King David reminds us how God does not leave things uncompleted.

When we go through a particularly difficult time, a time of problems and troubles, we might feel like the Lord has forgotten about us.  We might feel as if we have been set aside, like an unfinished puzzle, art, or sewing project. King David, who wrote this psalm, probably felt like that at some point in his life.  However, the Lord let him know that was not the case, and at the end of this short psalm, David shares with us that the Lord will perfect or complete that which concerns us (vs. 8).

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we give our lives over to His care.  However, when those big problems in our life happen, we may feel that He has given up on us, that we’re like that project that gets shoved aside and forgotten.  Or we feel like we are in American football, where our life is the ball that has been passed into the hands of a player who is to take it and run to the endline goal.  However part way there, the opposing team tackles him and the ball is dropped, never making it to the end. Let me assure you, God has a firm hold on the ball, on you, and He will make it all the way to the end, to complete the play.

David knew that God would never abandon him, nor forsake the work of His hands.  Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, reminded the believers there, and us as well, that God began a good work in us when we were saved, and He will complete it until the day the Lord returns (Philippians 1:6).  God has a purpose for each of our lives. He promises to never leave us, and He will fulfill that purpose for our lives. Oh yes, Satan will try to thwart that purpose. He, like the opposing team in that football game, will try and stop that purpose from being completed.  God is bigger and more powerful than the biggest, burliest football player ever, and He has a firm grip on us. He will safely carry us to the end. He will take care of us! We are not forgotten!

The Lord never gives up on us, either.  We may give up on a project, but God doesn’t.  As the Lord spoke to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18:1-6), we are like a clay pot that a potter makes.  If it isn’t turning out right, the potter remakes the object. That’s what God does with us. He doesn’t just toss us aside.  (Isaiah 64:8).

Even when we walk in the middle of trouble, surrounded by them, God’s right hand will reach out and save us from our enemies (vs. 7).  He is mighty to save us, and to calm us with His love (Zephaniah 3:17). We can rest in this promise. No matter what our problems are, God promises to save us in the midst of them.  We need to lean upon Him.

How can we be sure of this?  Because God has promised this to us in His Word.  As David said early in this psalm in verse 2, God has magnified His Word above all His Name.  God’s Word, the Bible, is supreme above everything else in the world. The Bible is not just any “good book”.  It is God's Word. It is His holy revelation to humanity. Our confidence and hope should rest in nothing less than the Lord and His Word.  God is the One who has begun a good work in us, and He is the One who will carry it on, not us.  What the Lord begins, He completes.