Psalm 116:1-4 ESV
I love the Lord,
because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined
his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I
live.
The snares of death
encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the
name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
This is not just once. This is forever! Our salvation is not
a one-time event in our lives. It has a beginning, but it is continuous, and
when our Lord returns, it will come to completion.
The Lord didn’t just deliver us once. He delivers us on an
ongoing basis.
We all need continuous mercy. We need the Lord to hear our
cries daily. The snares of death visit us on a regular basis, for Satan is
always working to destroy us.
We regularly suffer distress and anguish as each day brings
new challenges into our lives. And, every day we need to be calling on the Lord
to deliver us from all evil and to direct our paths.
And, if our hearts are in the right place, and we are
sincere in our prayers, and if we are willing to listen to the Lord and to do
what he says, he will help us. And, he will strengthen and empower us to
overcome all obstacles that come our way and to be able to walk righteously
before him all our days.
Psalm 116:5-9 ESV
Gracious is the Lord,
and righteous;
our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the
simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to
your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered
my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the
Lord
in the land of the living.
Our Lord watches over and keeps those who trust in him with
simple childlike faith, who are sincere in their trust in the Lord, and who are
not conniving and mischievous to get what they want, but who wait on the Lord
for him to answer their prayers for mercy.
When we go through trials and tribulations which test our
faith, he saves us when we call on him. He keeps us from fearing or caving to
our circumstances and from fretting over what other humans may do to us or say
about us.
When we are going through difficult times which cause pain
and suffering to come into our lives, he keeps us from stumbling, if we will
listen to him, and if we will heed his counsel to us. And, he fills us with his
peace.
He lifts us up out of the pit of despair, and he puts a new
song of praise on our lips and in our hearts. For, He is amazing! He can do
what no other can do in mending our broken hearts and in turning our sorrow
into joy.
Psalm 116:10-11 ESV
I believed, even when
I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”
I hate lies! God hates lies! I think that one of the most
painful things we can go through in this life is to be betrayed by those we
love and by those who we trusted with our hearts and with our emotions. For,
those who have that childlike faith often are those who love others sincerely,
and who are prone to having their hearts stomped on, too.
I have to say that I sympathize with this statement, “All
mankind are liars.” Now, I know that not everyone practices telling lies. But,
there is so much deception right now going on in the world, and within the
church, too, that it is difficult to believe anyone these days. And, that is a
sad, sad situation.
Psalm 116:12-14 ESV
What shall I render to
the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
I will lift up the cup
of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to
the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord
and Savior of our lives, we are entering into a covenant relationship with
Almighty God, much like a marriage covenant between a man and a woman. For, we
who believe in Jesus are his bride and he is our husband.
When we enter into this covenant relationship with our Lord,
we do, in essence, take vows of fidelity, too. For, when we believe on our
Lord, we agree with him to die with him to sin that we might live with him to
righteousness.
Thus, we willingly leave our “single” lives behind us in
order to enter into this marriage relationship with our Lord, and to become
united with him in heart and in mind.
Our vows to the Lord, then, in order to come after him, are
that we agree with him to deny self and to take up our cross daily (die daily
to sin) and to follow him (to walk with him in obedience). And this is daily,
one day at a time, each day choosing to say “No!” to sin, and to say “Yes!” to
God.
Psalm 116:15-19 ESV
Precious in the sight
of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
O Lord, I am your
servant;
I am your servant, the son of your
maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you
the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to
the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the
house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Oh, indeed! When we choose to follow our Lord in death to
sin daily, and to walk daily with him in his righteousness and holiness, this
is precious to him in his sight. For, this is the reason he died for us on that
cross, that we might die with him daily to sin and self, and that daily we
might walk with him in holiness and purity.
For, Jesus didn’t die that painful death on a cross merely
to forgive us our sins, and definitely not to then give us carte blanche to
continue living in sin. When he died on that cross he put sin to death on our
behalf that sin might be put to death in our lives, and that we might now be
free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin. Amen! Glory to God!
Too many people these days are taking God’s grace for
granted. They think of his grace as free license to continue in their sinful
practices, only now without guilt or need for remorse. Thus, they deride God’s
precious gift of salvation to us which was intended to deliver us out of our
bondage to sin.
Nonetheless, we are to honor our Lord, and to thank him
daily for dying for our sins so that we might be delivered from our slavery to
sin. And, we do this by walking in obedience to his commands and by serving him
with our lives. We do this, too, by forsaking our sinful lifestyles to now walk
with him in purity of devotion to him. And, this is our expression of love for
him who saved us from our sins.
I
Need Thee Every Hour
Hymn
lyrics by Annie S. Hawks, 1872
Ref.
by Robert Lowry, 1872
Music
by Robert Lowry, 1872
I need Thee every hour, most gracious
Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace
afford.
I need Thee every hour; stay Thou
nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou
art nigh.
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is
vain.
I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy
will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed
Son.
I need Thee, O I need Thee; every hour
I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to
Thee.
Saturday, August 24, 2019
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