As we got started in our life, most of us had plans for what we wanted to do with our careers, our family, our many interests. Often, though, our plans don’t come to pass. Our education plans change, and sometimes the path we wanted to take with our career gets sidetracked. Our desires for our marriage and family may fall to pieces. Parents make plans for their children, as well. We like to imagine them growing up to become a great attorney, maybe a judge, perhaps a skilled surgeon, etc., but often those plans, nor our plans for ourselves come to pass. For some, that can lead to depression and discouragement. For believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has plans for us. He has great plans that have been specifically crafted just for us. Can those plans get sidetracked, just like the plans we make for ourselves? Let’s look at what our psalm for this week has to say about this.
Psalm 138 was written by King David. What plans did he have for his life? As a child, the youngest of several brothers, his father did not have very great plans for him. He was assigned the task of helping the hired hands care for the family’s sheep herds. Then the prophet Samuel anointed him to be king in the place of Saul. However those plans did not come to pass for quite a while, and at times didn’t look like they ever would. Eventually, though, God’s plan for David did come to pass. He learned over the years that he could trust the Lord with what He had proclaimed for his life, and this psalm praises Him for that.
As David opened the psalm, and throughout most of this Scripture passage, he sings the praises of the Lord. At the start of the psalm, David gave a statement showing ridicule to the pagan gods and idols of other nations (vs. 1). David knew that these false gods were not real, and did not really exist. However, as a show of mockery to them and those who follow them, he brings worship and praise only to Yahweh.
Though God’s plans for David were being fulfilled, that didn’t mean that his life was free from all trouble. David declared that though he walked in the middle of trouble, God’s right hand would reach out and save him from his enemies (vs. 7). God is mighty to save us, and will quiet us with His love, as the later prophet Zephaniah would state (Zephaniah 3:17). We can rest in this. No matter what our circumstances are, no matter how insurmountable the odds are against us, God has promised to save us in the very midst of our trouble. We know the trials that David went through, and the Scriptures attest that God carried him through them all. He had a great plan for David, and He would bring that to pass, no matter what roadblocks the enemy would try to throw. He has great plans for us, as well, and no matter what, God will bring those to pass.
As we continue in this psalm David declared that God would fulfill all of His purposes for his life, because His love endures forever (vs. 8). This is not only for David, but God has a purpose for our life, as well. With all of His love God formed us with His own hands, and He promises to never leave us. He has a unique plan for each of us that He has promised to fulfill. Our own plans may never come to pass, but we can trust that the plans God has for us will. Paul stated the same thought centuries later when he stated that God began a good work in His children when they got saved, and He will bring that work to completion (Philippians 1:6). God has His plans for our career and relationships, and those plans will not be sidetracked. We may make a big mistake in those areas of our life when we choose to go our own way, but God’s plans are never a mistake. He begins the work in us when we accept Jesus as Savior. He then carries out that work, and will finish it, bringing it to completion. God has promised to work everything out in our life for our good, not to harm us (Romans 8:28).
Our confidence should be grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ. If it is in someone or something else we will fall to ruin, sorrow, and confusion. We can rest in God’s promise to take care of us. David knew, and we should know from Scripture, as well, that the Lord will fulfill His purpose for us, because His mercy endures forever.
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