Psalm 119:17-24 ESV
Deal bountifully with
your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I
may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
I am a sojourner on
the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
My soul is consumed
with longing
for your rules at all times.
You rebuke the
insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
Take away from me
scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
Even though princes
sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your
statutes.
Your testimonies are
my delight;
they are my counselors.
Computer Technology
We are all going to have enemies in this world. As followers
of Jesus, Satan is our enemy, and he has many who are working for him and
against us, too. And, their goal is to trick, to deceive, to defraud, to
manipulate, to confuse, and to attempt to instill fear within the hearts of
those who have put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
One of the ways they may do this is via technology. For,
many of us are not computer geeks, and thus we must often depend on others who
have more knowledge of how things work to assist us with setting things up or
with fixing errors. And, Windows 10, for example, puts all kinds of things on
our computers which we don’t ask for and we don’t know how they work.
In my opinion, this operating system seems much more
intrusive than others before it. But, if we are going to use computers for what
we do, then we are somewhat dependent on them to do our work, and so we are
also subject to whatever they put on our systems, and to whatever things are oftentimes
running in the background, too, of which we are totally unaware.
So, we just have to trust God and pray for wisdom, and
believe him for our security. For, there is just so much over which we have no
control.
For example, I sent an email to someone this morning and it
attached a downloadable document to what I sent that I did not send. Someone
cloned one of our telephones the other day and made phone calls from it,
causing our account to be suspended. I had no control over any of this. But,
God is still on the throne. He is still in control, so I put my hope in him.
Sojourners on the
earth
A sojourner is a stranger, a visitor, a guest, an alien, a
foreigner, i.e. someone who is just visiting a place, but for him or her, this
place is not his or her permanent home.
That is how I feel when I am using my own computer. I am a
stranger on here, not knowing the ins and outs of how things work, and not in
control of most of it. I am just being allowed to use it, for a time, to do the
work the Lord has given me to do.
And so it is for us who believe in Jesus to be Lord and
Savior of our lives. We are just guests on the earth, put here by God for a
season to fulfill his purposes, but this world is not our home. Heaven is our
home. We are just here temporarily. And, this is one of the reasons the Bible
often talks with us about not becoming attached to the things of this world
which are just passing away, but how we need to cling to God and to His Word.
Also, scripture teaches us that we are not to love this
world. We are to love the people in this world, but not the things of this
world. They are not to be what we live for. They are not to be our obsession.
We are not to put our dependency in the things of this life, for they are all
going to pass away. And, we are definitely not to prefer or be partakers in the
lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life, which are all
part of this world.
Thus, we should not feel at home on this earth, and those
who are of this world should not love us as their own, too, but they should
hate us, reject us, persecute and despise us for our walks of faith with Jesus
Christ.
We will meditate
So, what are we to do when things go crazy and when our
enemies defraud us? We are to call on God in our suffering, and we are to draw
near to him, and we are to trust him with our lives and with our circumstances,
for he is still God, and he is still in control, absolutely sovereign over all
things.
We must also get into God’s Word and let his Word speak to
our hearts, for here we learn how to respond to difficult and confusing
circumstances. And, here in God’s Word we gain understanding, and we learn to
put our trust in the Lord in all things. Here we learn of God’s faithfulness to
us, that he will not leave or forsake us, but that he will see us through every
difficulty.
Here in God’s Word we receive his counsel, too. And, his
counsel to us is often to not be afraid, but to trust him. And, it is to lean
on him for our support, and to believe that he is watching over us, and that he
has allowed difficult circumstances in our lives to fulfill his purposes in our
lives.
And, in God’s Word we are given direction regarding what way
we are to go, and regarding what God would have us do, and how we should
respond to our difficult circumstances. And, we are told much to put our lives
in God’s hands, and to trust him even when we can’t trust other humans or
technology or other circumstances over which we have no control.
Psalm 119:25-32 ESV
My soul clings to the
dust;
give me life according to your word!
When I told of my
ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
Make me understand the
way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for
sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
Put false ways far
from me
and graciously teach me your law!
I have chosen the way
of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
I cling to your
testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way
of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!
When we go through difficult circumstances, and our enemies
are advancing hard against us, and things happen to us over which we have no
control, it can be troubling to our minds and hearts. And, so we need to pray
for guidance, for wisdom, and for the peace of God to rule our hearts.
We definitely need understanding from God in these times,
although we are not going to understand everything, i.e. we won’t know why this
happened or that happened or even how it happened. Some things are just going
to remain a mystery, and we just have to accept that. We can’t solve every
puzzle, although I would like to. I hate loose ends.
But, this is where trust comes into play. This is where we
have to trust God even when we don’t understand it all, and even when we can’t
tie up those loose ends and make sense of it all. And, we just have to pour our
hearts out to God, cry it out to him, and let him heal us in our minds and
hearts.
All we can do is just keep following our Lord, walking in
his ways and in his truth, leaving those things which are out of our control to
God. We must rely on his strength and follow his counsel, and do what he says.
And, we have to believe that God loves us, that he has allowed these
difficulties in our lives, and that he is going to work all things for good for
those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose (Rom.
8:28).
Then, we can be at peace and at rest, and our troubled
hearts and minds will be renewed with the strength of the Lord and with his joy
and peace. Amen!
His
Tender Mercies
An
Original Work / January 26, 2014
Fear not! I’m with you.
Be not dismayed!
God watches o’er you.
Trust Him today.
He’ll lead and guide you;
Give you His aid.
He’ll love and keep you
With Him always.
Walk in His footsteps.
He’ll lead the way.
Trust in His love;
Believe that He cares.
He will not leave you.
Faithful He’ll be.
His tender mercies
Now you will see.
Fellowship with Him
Throughout the day.
Tell Him your heartaches.
He’ll heal always.
Rest in His comfort.
He is your friend.
Your faith He’ll strengthen,
True to the end.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
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