Walking in Faith

God’s throne is forever.  He isn’t going to rule only for a period of time and then stop.  Satan has some authority over the earth, but it is only for a period of time.  There will come a time when Christ will return and Satan will no longer have any power on this earth.  Am I living for today or am I living for eternity?  God sits on His throne and commands the waters to rise, the rain to fall and the lightning to go here and there.  I can’t even make an ant walk where I want him to walk.  There is nothing comparable to God — never has been and never will be.  He is eternally on His throne.  A throne of righteousness.  A throne of perfection.  He will judge from this same throne.  Hebrews 4:16 tells me that I will be able to approach that great throne so that I may receive of His grace and mercy.

Arguably, this could be an address to the non-Christians regarding Christ and the Church — Christ as the Lord and the Church as his bridegroom.  While I read this, I didn’t necessarily put two and two together on that, I definitely picked up on the repetition of the woman (or princess) and her adornment.  I feel that the riches and glorious robes that she is given is because when we are walking with (or married to) Christ, we can have riches beyond our imagination.  Not earthly wishes, necessarily, but perhaps.  God will bless us in whatever way He deems appropriate.

Impact verse: v6a – Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

God did everything for Israel — He won the battles, He brought them out of captivity, He rescued them from Egypt.  When you stop and think about what the Israelites did, it is rather humbling.  Stories such as Gideon’s men (Judges 7) where God took the troops from 32,000 people to 300 people and allowed them to defeat Midian whose men were as numerous as the sand on the seashore.  It is truly humbling when you think about it!

This becomes very important to me as I am challenged with work and a new boss.  I am trying to figure out what my role will be.  Instead of praying about it and asking God to give me clarity and a peace about my job, I am trying to manipulate and control the people around me to do what I think is right.  That is where I go wrong.  I need to trust that the Lord has a plan for me and He will open the right doors and close other doors to guide on the right path.  Prayer is the answer!  Patience is the answer!  Humility is the answer!  I know what gifts God has given me and what I can do with those gifts at work.  I don’t need to be a braggart or over confident.  God has a plan at work here and He will use me as He sees fit.  Old manager, new manager or managers forthcoming cannot thwart His objectives for me.  That is so reassuring! 

Father God, thank you for providing for me.  You always provide fr me.  You don’t test me, but you allow me to make mistakes.  You love me like a father loves his son only more perfect.  I have to trust You to provide for me and put my life in Your hands.  I should be self-confident but humble at the same time.  Father, guide my ways.  Teach me how to walk in Your light and not the light of the world.  As I travel to another country to meet with my new manager, give me clarity on the role You want me to take.  Give my family a peace about that role and what that means to us.  Make it abundantly clear that this is Your doing and Your objective for me.  Father, I pray for a clear understanding of Your will in my life.  I pray this is Jesus Christ’s holy and precious name.  Amen.

The concluding verse (v5) is the same verse as Psalm 42:

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God. (ESV)

It would seem to me that this Psalm is a continuation of the previous.  However, David is challenging God in this Psalm.  He obviously feels like he is being attacked by ungodly people and the Lord is not raising up to rebuke these people in a timely fashion.  What I am challenged by is the Lord’s timing.  Was David not at peace with the Lord and not being patient, waiting for the Lord to do all good things?  Surely he knew that the Lord would provide!  Why, then, was he impatient here?  Was this written when Saul was planning on killing David?  Was this in regards to Absalom and his movement to become king and remove David from the throne?  Either way, David had already been through enough to realize that God loved him and would provide.  The only thing I can personally conclude: David was a man, just like me.  I can’t seem to wait for anything.  If I don’t get an immediate answer, I tend to move on instead of being patient and listening.  What doesn’t make sense is why I am not patient… why I don’t wait for the Lord to guide me.  My sinful nature takes over and I lose myself to stupidity.  If I rely on God and trust that He will provide for me, I am good.  It reminds me of the verse:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1  Cor 10:13 ESV)

How true and how wonderful!  The Lord will not test me beyond what I am capable.  To put this in practice, I need to prayerfully talk to the Lord and be patient.  I don’t need to look for my answers in five minutes — while they may come that quick, it isn’t required.

The other interesting thing in this verse is the parallelism between himself and all of Israel.  There are some that believe this Psalm would prophesy the woes and cries of the Israelites as they were enslaved by the Babylonians.  While I didn’t personally see that immediately, I can see the connections and perspective.  More important, to me, is the fact that David was very clear — he asked the Lord for direction.  He wanted the Lord to send out His light so that he could follow Him down the right path.  I need to practice this more often.  David knew to rely on God — I need to do the same.

Impact verse (v3):

Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!

My God, and David’s God, is a living God.  He was, is and is to come.  He was the Father of the Patriarchs and is my Father.  He is eternal. 

Hope in God.  There is nothing more profound than these three simple words.  To hope in God is salvation.  While salvation is a gift given to us from the Father when we put our trust in Christ, we can never really get there if we don’t really hope in God.  He is our rock, our shield, our provider, our deliverer.  If we hope in ourselves, we have very little to look forward to.  I am flawed — I am sin.  God is perfect and an everlasting light.  Why would I want to put my trust in myself?  Trust in God.  He will persevere every single time for me.  He will guide me down the right paths.  He will lead my soul to an eternal heaven.

God does not forget us.  We may stray farther from Him in our walk, but he never leaves us, nor does he forsake us.  He wathces us like a father watches his child, but he allows us to make mistakes in our lives.  He disciplines us and praises us just like a father.  Why, then, do we stray so far sometimes?  Because we don’t always appreciate what we have when we have it.  We take for granted the greatest things in our lives because it is common to us — it isn’t the new, latest thing (or toy as the case may be.)  God doesn’t forget us — we forget God.

Impact verse (v5 and 11):

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God. (ESV)

It is only the Lord that we can truly trust.  Man is sinful and will do wrong against us.  If we trust in the Lord, our ways will be righteous and our days numerous.  Our wives (or husbands) will love us but not every moment of every day.  Only God truly loves us every minute of the day.  He may despise the sin in our life, but He opens our heart to His words. 

David says that God will lift him up because of his integrity.  David is obedient to the Lord.  God lifts him up and protects him for this.  David will live forever with God because of his integrity.  How amazing that would be!  Is my integrity such that I should be in the presence of the Lord forever?  How many times in one day do I sin?  How about one hour?  What makes me think that I am deserving of spending any amount of time with the Lord?

My heart and my soul must be right with the Lord.  I must ask for forgiveness of my sins and truly repent.  This is the way to know the Lord.  Repentance and prayer.  If only my life truly revolved around this…

I am curious — why does this Psalm end with two Amen’s?  I can’t say that I have heard that anywhere else.  Is there something more there?  Was this two prayers to the Lord from David?