Psalms 145:17-20 ESV
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.”
God is good, all the time. Even though he allows us to go
through times of difficulty, and even though he permits us to be persecuted for
righteousness’ sake, he is still good. And even though he sets boundaries for
us, and he insists that we obey his commands (New Covenant), he is still good.
And even though he establishes requirements for his promises to be fulfilled,
and even though he sets stipulations regarding who can enter into his eternal
kingdom and who can’t, he is still good, and he is kind (gracious).
And even though this passage is from the Old Testament, it
is teaching what is taught in the New Testament, too. For the Lord is indeed
near to those who call on him in truth. For if we do not call on him in truth,
but we fake it, or we are misled, or we are self-deceived, or we embraced the
lies because the lies let us keep on in our sin, then he is not near to us. For
if we do not come to him in genuine God-given faith, but our faith is of the flesh,
and so it does not lead us to die with him to sin and live to him and to his
righteousness, then we are not in relationship with our Lord Jesus.
And who are they who fear the Lord? They are those who honor
him with their lives, who take his word seriously, and who apply its truths to
their daily lives. They believe the Lord, and they believe that what he says he
will do, he will do according to his word, whether it be promises, conditional
upon us doing what he says, or whether it be warnings of judgment if we do not
do what he says. So, they give the Lord the respect that is due him, and they
worship him in truth by surrendering their lives to him to be lived for his
purposes and for his glory and praise.
So, the Lord fulfills the desire of us who fear him, and
that is because when we fear him, his desires become our desires. We desire him
and his will for our lives, and we want to do what pleases him, and we want to
obey his teachings and those of the New Testament apostles. And our will is to
do his will and to go wherever he sends us and to do whatever he calls us to
do.
He also hears our cries when we are going through times of
difficulty and/or when we are being mistreated and persecuted for righteousness’
sake. And he preserves the lives of us who love him. And to love him is to obey
him. And to preserve us is to protect, maintain, and sustain us by his love and
by his power at work within our lives, as we cooperate fully with his work of
grace in our lives, and we do what he says for us to do. He helps and he
counsels and he strengthens us so that we can keep moving forward even against
many obstacles and opposing forces.
But all the wicked he will destroy. And who are the wicked?
They are all who practice wickedness. They are evildoers who make sin and evil
deeds their practice, and for whom righteousness, godliness, and obedience to
our Lord are NOT what they practice. And many of them may be those who profess
faith in Jesus Christ and who are convinced that all their sins are forgiven
and that heaven is their eternal destiny. But they deny Jesus Christ by their
lifestyles and by their refusal to submit to him as Lord and to walk in
obedience to his commands. So, they will be destroyed in the end.
I
Pray for Them
An
Original Work / June 4, 2013
Based
off John 17
“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son
May glorify our God in heav’n.
Father, You granted Him all power
And all authority over men,
That He might give eternal life
To all those whom now
You have given Him.”
“This now then is eternal life:
That they may know You,
Father, and Your Son;
That they may know the only true God,
And Jesus Christ whom the Father sent.
I have brought You the glory by
Finishing the work that You’ve given Me.”
“I have shown You to those whom
You gave to Me out of the world;
They were Yours. You gave them to Me
And they have obeyed Your words
And they accepted them. They knew
That I came from You, and they believed
With certainty, I was sent.”
“Holy Father, I pray for them by the
Power of Your name: Protect them,
So that they may be one as we are,
For they are still living in this world.
I have given them Your word;
Because of Your word, the world
Has hated them.”
“I pray they may have the full measure of
My joy now living within them.
Father, I pray You sanctify them
By Your word; truly Your word is truth.
As You sent Me into the world,
I send them to tell the world to repent.”
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