I waited patiently for the Lord, and He heeded me; And He heard my supplication, And brought me up out of a miserable pit And from miry clay; And He established my feet on a rock And kept straight my steps. He put a new song in my mouth, A hymn to our God; Many will see and be afraid, And shall hope in the Lord.
Personal Challenge
Life never seems to operate at the pace that we wish it would. We have a tendancy to be very impatient, especially with God. When we acknowledge that He knows the best timing for our needs then we begin to see His patience for us. He always comes through when the timing is best for us, and as you read through this Psalm you realize how much He blesses us for waiting patiently on Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
And now what is my patience? Is it not the Lord? And my support is from You.
Personal Challenge
Where does true patience come from? It certainly is not from within ourselves. Our Lord is the source of patience. Sometimes it seems like God has spent my entire life waiting for me to trust Him and to submit to His plans for me. This is the way that it has been since the beginning of humankind. He has always, and continues to be, patiently waiting on us. That is how we know that our support comes from Him. Glory be to God!
For those who bless Him shall inherit the earth, But those who curse Him shall be utterly destroyed. The steps of a man are guided aright by the Lord, And he shall desire His way. When he falls, he shall not be broken to pieces, For the Lord supports him with His hand.
Personal Challenge
So, mankind, in our fallen state has a desire to conquer and inherit the earth. Just look at what is being perpetrated against Gaza, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and a myriad of other places around the world. It is a so evidenced in the racism, sexism, ageism, and all the other ism’s in our society. So, how is it that the Psalmist tells us that those who bless God shall inherit the earth? Blessing God really has nothing to do with how much noise comes out of our mouth about how much we love God and want to bless Him. It has everything to do with the state of our heart and the actions that flow from it. Jesus summed it up in His parable of the last judgment.
Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
If we desire to be a blessing to our Lord and not a curse, then our actions must align with His expectations, which will alienate us from those within our culture. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have sinner!
Better the little with the just man Than the great riches of sinners; For the arms of sinners shall be shattered, But the Lord supports the righteous. The Lord knows the ways of the blameless, And their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in an evil time, And in days of famine they shall be filled.
Personal Challenge
We are seeing many of the comparisons in this passage play out here in America. A just person with little wealth is better off than those with great wealth and hostile to their fellow mankind, their neighbor. The oligarchs of today who are abusing their positions of power at the expense of the lowly and needy will not see it bode well for them. Over time, sometimes in the hereafter the righteous will be supported and the oppressors judged. Our Lord knows the ways of the blameles and supports them, giving them an eternal inheritance. We can proclaim to be followers of Christ but God truly knows the state of our hearts and the behaviors that flow from there. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Submit to the Lord, and supplicate Him; Do not be envious of him who prospers in his way, Nor of him who transgresses the law.
Personal Challenges
So if I am professing to be a follower of Christ, what am I to do, how am I supposed to live my life? The Psalmist provides some insight here. I am supposed to submit to the Lord and supplicate (entreat) Him. This means spending time and energy finding out what He would have me to do and not acting on my own impulses. We are also not to be envious of others, especially those who are prospering in the world. Envy destroys. We are also not to be envious of those who transgress God’s law and get away with it. His law, to love God and love our neighbor, should be our driving focus to glorify Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
Hope in the Lord, and work goodness; Dwell in the land, and you shall be nurtured by its riches. Delight in the Lord, And He will give you the requests of your heart. Reveal your way to the Lord, And hope in Him; and He will do it.
Command with a Promise
This passage is filled with guidance for what we are to do, coupled with what God will do for us. We are called to hope in the Lord, work His goodness, and dwell in the land where He has placed us and we will be nurtured by His riches. This is not necessarily the rishes that the world desires but godly, spiritual riches. We are to delight in our Lord and He will hear our prayers and answer them. We are to reveal our way to Him, which He already knows but desires our confession to Him, and put our hope in Him. We will see Him active in our lives. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
How You multiply Your mercy, O God! The sons of men shall hope under the shelter of Your wings.
Encouraging Words
We are so used to living in a performance based society that we easily slip into a mode of doing things in order to receive rewards. This is contrary to how God works. He bestows His mercy and grace upon us no matter what we do or who we are. And then He multiplies that mercy even more. We never deserve it. We can never earn it. He just gives it. Because of this great love we put our hope in Him and seek shelter under His wings. Glory be to God!
You saw this, O Lord; do not keep silence; O Lord, do not be far from me. Arise, O Lord, attend to my judgment, My God and my Lord, to my cause.
Personal Challenge
Our Lord promises to be near to us at all times and He keeps that promise. Those times that it feels like He is far away and not speaking to us are those times that we have moved away from Him and shut Him out of our lives. In His grace, He continues to pursue us even as we pull away. He desires that we stay close to Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Verse of the Day 