PSALM 62:1-8 – For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah”
THEME OF THE DAY: WHERE GOD WANTS TO TAKE US. It is a good Bible study technique that is essential if we are to rightly divide and apply God’s Word. This technique is found in today’s scripture – repetition of either sentences or words. Please go back up and do a quick Bible study looking for repetition. Okay, now that we are back, what did we discover? For God alone appears twice and the word alone an additional time. What about the application? Let David state it by example. He is struggling. He has been shaken by the fear and verbal abuse of men. He is reaching a level of weakness that is alarming him. And at this point, he is seeing and feeling that within himself, there is no strength, no help, nothing to overcome what he is enduring.
In the many trials and difficulties of life, one of the chief lessons the Lord would have us learn through them is the words “For God alone. Alone” meaning all of the Christian life, each day in our walks with Him, is for God alone and by God alone. There is no Christian life lived that is “Jesus plus my effort” or “Jesus plus anything else.” Please don’t misunderstand me. It is the poorest of theology saying, “Let go and let God.” The Christian life demands discipline, demands striving, and demands all that we are and have, but it is not done in the strength of self. The Apostle Paul gives us the picture of this truth – But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me (1 Corinthians 15:10). We must admit, the greatest Christian ever to live seems to paint a picture of contradiction; he works harder than anyone, yet, it was the grace of God doing the work in and through him. But it isn’t a contradiction. He is showing us the Christian life. We work in harmony with God. Augustine once said, “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. Sound like Paul.” Sounds like David in today’s scripture.
So, as life unfolds with all its difficulties, remember God is taking us to the point of total desperation and emptied of self-sufficiency. Why? To take us from simply proclaiming “It is all God alone” to living out its reality!
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I am reluctant to go through the pain of discipleship forgetting it is for my good.”
QUOTE: “The Christian life is not ‘Jesus plus my effort’ or ‘Jesus plus anything.’ ‘God alone’ defines the Christian life.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim