Run With It: Hold On Tight! Don't Let Go!

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Hold On Tight! Don't Let Go!

“Depart from evil and do good,

So you will abide forever.

For the Lord loves justice

And does not forsake His godly ones;

They are preserved forever,

But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

The righteous will inherit the land

And dwell in it forever.

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

And his tongue speaks justice.

The law of his God is in his heart;

His steps do not slip.

The wicked spies upon the righteous

And seeks to kill him.

The Lord will not leave him in his hand

Or let him be condemned when he is judged.

Wait for the Lord and keep His way,

And He will exalt you to inherit the land;

When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.” (Psalm 37:27-34 NASB1995)

This is written under the Old Covenant God had with his people Israel (Jews only), but much of it parallels over to what is taught in the New Testament under the New Covenant that God has with his people Israel, the body of Christ, his church (Jew and Gentile by physical birth, but who are spiritual Israel, only by faith in Jesus Christ). For under the New Covenant we are also taught to depart from evil (die to sin) and to do good (obey God). And this is so that we will abide (live, continue) forever with God, in Christ Jesus.

The Lord does not forsake his godly ones. And the godly ones in the New Testament are all who, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, have died with Christ to sin and who are now walking (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord’s New Covenant commands. They are those who live righteously, in practice, and who no longer make sin their practice. And to live righteously is to live according to what God requires of us in holy living, in obedience to his commands, committed to serving the Lord with our lives.

But the wicked hate the righteous. The righteous are an offense to them because they remind them that what they are doing, and how they are living is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, and that if they continue to live in sin, and not in surrender to the will of God, in walks of obedience to his commands, that they will not inherit eternal life with God, even though many of them do make professions of faith in Jesus Christ. And so the wicked may well spy on the righteous and make plans to do away with them in one way or another.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:1-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

So, when this says here that the Lord does not forsake his godly ones, and that the Lord will not leave the righteous in the hands of those who seek to do away with them, we need to read this in the context of the New Testament teachings on the subject of sufferings and persecutions. For, although it is true that the Lord will not forsake his righteous ones, he also teaches us that to follow Jesus will mean that we will be hated and rejected and persecuted as he was, and even put to death for our walks of faith.

But even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for God is with me, and he comforts me, and he has prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and surely goodness and lovingkindness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (see Psalm 23). So, though trials may come, and though enemies come against me, it does not mean that the Lord has forsaken me. I just need to hold on tight to him, and he will help me.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-39; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after You

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

To You alone may my spirit yield

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70