PSALM 119:153-160 – Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law. Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise! Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes. Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules. Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies. I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands. Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love. The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
THEME OF THE DAY. GOD’S PROVISION FOR LIFE. God provides for His own. He will take care of our needs. My previous sentences may immediately cause us to think physically. And that is true. Jesus told us in His Sermon on the Mount that our Heavenly Father does provide for our temporal needs. He preached these words, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33). But I am extending God’s provision to our spiritual lives. The Apostle Peter wrote, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). I know I am stating the obvious concerning God’s provision for our spiritual lives, but I find in my own spiritual life, it is often the obvious I either neglect or take for granted. That is a dangerous thing to allow. When we take for granted the obvious or what is familiar to us in the scriptures, we will lose the “awe factor” of who God is and what He has done. This is a constant challenge the longer we live as Christians. With each passing day, unless we guard our hearts and minds, the wonder of God’s love and amazing grace will lose its wonder. Our hearts won’t be like a child Christmas morning when we read John 3:16. So, I know the danger of the obvious and familiar but today’s nugget is to be a reminder of the obvious and familiar when it comes to what God has provided for us in our spiritual lives. In today’s scripture, there are three spiritual provisions from our great and glorious God for living out the Christian life for His honor and good pleasure.
First, there is the provision of spiritual life itself through His promise – “Give me life according to your promise.” A person becomes a Christian by repenting and believing God’s promise. Jesus said, “All who come to me (for spiritual life) I will never cast out” (John 6:37). We enter into the new life as a new creature in Christ “according to His promise.”
Next, there is the provision for direction to live this new spiritual life – “Give me life according to your rules.” All of us likely know and have memorized the “compass verse” in the Psalms that shows us how to live the Christian life. It is found in the one-hundred and nineteenth Psalm – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). In order to avoid shipwrecking our lives, we must steer our lives by the sure rules of God’s Word. It will keep us in the safe harbor of His Presence as we navigate through the dangerous waters of this sin-cursed world.
Finally, there is the provision for power and motivation to live this new spiritual life – “Give me life according to your steadfast love”. The keys to living the fruitful Christian life, the abundant Christian life, the joy-filled Christian life, and the influential Christian life is to strive to do two things; abide in Christ’s love and be under the control of Christ’s love. It is when these two things are happening, we begin to understand the Christian life. It is when Christ’s love is replacing self-love, and a life of self-denying service to others follows, the Christian life is grasped and lived as defined by the Bible” (John 15:9; 2 Corinthians 5:14).
God does provide for us. His provision is sufficient. Let’s ensure we don’t restrict our understanding of His provision to just the physical realm. He provides for all of life to include our spiritual lives.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for all that You have richly given me for life; promises, rules, and love.”
QUOTE: “God’s grace is sufficient not only for salvation but for everything necessary to live for His good pleasure”