Psalm 112:1-3 ESV
Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who
fears the Lord,
who
greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be
mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be
blessed.
Wealth and riches are
in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
We are blessed of God in so many ways when we walk in the
fear of the Lord. We are at peace, our hearts are filled with joy, we are
satisfied with good things, we have purpose and direction for our lives, and
God uses us in other people’s lives to minister his love and his grace to them,
etc.
And, to walk in the fear of the Lord is to honor God with
our lives. It is to show him respect, and it is to walk in obedience to his
commands. It is to leave our sinful lifestyles behind us to walk (in lifestyle)
according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God and no longer to walk in the
ways of our sinful flesh (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
And, the riches he pours out on us are the riches of his
grace, and the fruit of the Spirit, and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We have a oneness with our Lord, too, when we
forsake our former lifestyles of living for sin and the flesh, and when we
unite with our Lord in mind and heart and actions with his purposes for our
lives.
Psalm 112:4-6 ESV
Light dawns in the
darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the
man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
For the righteous will
never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.
For those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus
Christ to be Lord (owner-master) and Savior of our lives, a Light has dawned in
our hearts and lives, and that Light is Jesus Christ, and it is truth and
righteousness. And, this Light changes who we were, and our Lord transforms our
hearts and minds away from sin so that we are now becoming like Jesus.
Our old sinful lifestyles are no more. We are not perfect people.
We still live in flesh bodies. We are but clay in the Potter’s hands. But,
daily by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh and we are
walking by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ according to his ways and his truth,
in his power and strength at work within us, to the glory and praise of God our
Lord. Amen!
And, our lives are beginning to take on the character of
God, because God is living within us and we are yielded to him and to his will
for our lives. Therefore, the righteousness of God begins to shine through our
lives and through our character so that we care about what God cares about, and
we hate what he hates, and we cling to what is good.
Thus, we are also loving others with the same love that God
has for us, caring about their basic needs and what is the most beneficial for
them, and we are meeting those needs as God directs and as he supplies. Thus,
we treat others as we want to be treated, and we care not only about their
physical needs, but also about their spiritual needs.
Most of us will not do this perfectly, though, yet lack of
perfection should never be used as an excuse for not obeying the Lord and for
not loving others as God loves us. So, we press on, not having yet obtained all
this, but we move forward in our relationships with our Lord and with others,
forsaking our sins, yielding to the Lord, and following our Lord in the ways of
his love and his grace towards others.
Psalm 112:7-9 ESV
He is not afraid of
bad news;
his
heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady;
he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his
adversaries.
He has distributed
freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
When we are truly walking with the Lord in the light of his
truth and in his love, we are not to fear bad news. Now, we are still human. We
still have hearts and emotions, and we can get injured and be sad and we can
grieve loss, so we don’t become emotionless or stop feeling. So, it isn’t that
we won’t be impacted by bad news. But, we are not to be afraid of it.
We are to keep reminding ourselves that God is sovereign
over all things, and that he is still in control. He is still on the throne,
and nothing can thwart his plans for our lives. What comes into our lives he
has allowed, and he has allowed it for a purpose, which is to mature us in
Christ, to purify our hearts, to make us holy, and to conform us to his
likeness. So, when bad news does come, we are not to be afraid of it, but we
are to commit our lives to the Lord, inquire of him as to what he wants us to
learn through it all, and then step out in faith and follow him. He will carry
us through.
For, Satan wants us to be afraid. He wants us to doubt God.
He wants us to take matters into our own hands and/or to give up and to quit.
One of his biggest weapons against us are his lies which can instill fear
within us if we listen to and if we believe his lies he whispers to us in our
ears. So, we have to reject those lies and put on the truth, and follow the
truth. And, in that way we can look in triumph on our enemy and claim the
victory that is ours in Christ, our Lord, to the glory of God. Amen!
Psalm 112:10 ESV
The wicked man sees it
and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish!
Now, this is so true! When we are truly walking with the
Lord, in the light of his truth, and when our hearts are given over to him to
do what he desires, those who are refusing him, and who are walking in wicked
ways, are going to hate us, and they will even be angry with us, for the
righteousness of God will be an affront to them. And, they may indeed gnash
their teeth at us.
But, we are not to fear their anger or their rebukes. We are
not to be afraid of their disdain or their ill treatment of us, either. It
doesn’t mean we won’t feel anything or that we won’t be injured physically or
emotionally by their anger towards us. For, if we have tender hearts towards
God, and towards others, we are going to feel it when our love is returned with
hate. But, God will heal our wounded hearts if we will let him.
Yet, we are not to fear what evil man might do to us, or
what he might say about us to others. But, we are to continue to walk in the
ways of the Lord and keep on loving even our enemies, praying for them and
doing good to them. And, we need to pray for them to turn their hearts to God.
God is allowing wickedness to exist on this earth for now.
He is allowing evil to reign and for wicked people to do wicked deeds. And, he
is giving us all a choice to either continue on in evil ways or to forsake our
evil ways to follow him in obedience to his commands, and in surrender to his
will. But, with those choices comes rewards, which could be good or could be
bad.
For, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will
reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirt, from the Spirit we will
reap eternal life. If we walk (in lifestyle) according to our flesh, we are
going to die in our sins, but if we walk (in practice) according to the Spirit,
then we have eternal life with God. So, make it your choice to leave your
sinful lifestyles behind you and to follow our Lord in obedience, for your
eternity depends on it (See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal.
5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8).
Have
Thine Own Way, Lord
Words
by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music
by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
*copyright
status is public domain
No comments:
Post a Comment