Has everyone gotten their dose of cough and colds yet? I guess this is what’s to be expected, considering the sudden change in temperature. Why, just last week we were still enjoying 10+ degree evenings, and all of a sudden now we’re having to change from our thick blankets, and even considering turning our fans on already.
It’s been a bother because I don’t like this feeling in my throat and nose in the mornings – feels like the body’s rested but the air passageways were working overnight. Routine feels difficult enough; Well, it’s not much the routine more than the cobwebs in my mind that need to be cleared, and then you have to deal with recovering from a bad bout of fever, cough and colds.
But here we are, faithful, thankful of God who’s absolutely faithful even when we are faithless. No matter what holds us back, there’s always more to be thankful for. No matter what reasons we have to slack off, there’s always value waiting to be found in the Word.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Here’s a long one.
Psalm 31
The LORD a Fortress in Adversity
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness.
2 Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me.
3 For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.
In distress, we shall testify of the Lord’s trustworthiness. When all we see is danger, with no signs of hope, we shall continue to speak of God’s faithfulness, even in the dark.
We shall remember how we are able to run to Him in our time of trouble… and no, He will not say, ‘let it be‘; No, lest we cry out to Him first, I imagine He’d remind us, ‘Trust in Me’, He’d say.
He protects us as a Fortress, He directs us as our Guide and He serves as our Strength, keeping us away from snares and traps.
5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6 I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the LORD.
Couldn’t help but consider that the crucified Christ quoted from verse 5; He committed His Spirit to the Father, silently acknowledging the rest of the verse – that He has been redeemed. This brings the order of the so-called 7 Last Words into mind, because at one time Jesus called God, Father (forgive them, for they do not know what they do), and then called Him God (‘why have You forsaken me?!‘) and then, right after saying ‘It is finished‘, He calls Him Father before His last breath.
It’s as if to say that when we call ourselves redeemed, we remember that Christ became our sin and became forsaken, so that we become His righteousness – that we could call God our Father as well.
Because of Christ’s finished work, we have been reconciled to the LORD. We have been declared righteous before the God of Truth, much so that we are now able to call Him our Father, in whom we trust.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities,
8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.
I like where David says it, because I want it and am thankful that it applies to us – we, too, shall rejoice in the mercies of the Lord, because as a Father, He considers our trouble… To me this means that He cares about us that much that He is not merely hushing us when we cry as babies, but goes so far as to seek the root cause of our trouble and distress; And He does so, with empathy, knowing our soul in adversity, no doubt flowing from His everlasting love for us.
And, should our enemy be responsible for our distress, we are further assured that we will not completely fall into their hands. And we shall be balanced – not because of who we are, but because we have enough space around us, we not only have a firm but a wide Foundation to stand upon.
There’s another picture of how much we can trust Him – so much that we can step in bounds that may seem awkward or reckless, but in the end, we remain standing.
9 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body!
10 For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my bones waste away.
11 I am a reproach among all my enemies, But especially among my neighbors, And am repulsive to my acquaintances; Those who see me outside flee from me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
17 Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You; Let the wicked be ashamed; Let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be put to silence, Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
So much to take in here, but all I’m seeing for now is that we are able to come so freely to our Father that we can be so real with Him – with our distress, with our pain, with our regrets; We can come to Him and cry out when our enemies seem to have the upper hand.
We can be honest with the Lord. Yes, we know that His perfect love casts out all fear, we can keep on asserting that we are new creations, but this doesn’t keep us from telling Him how the fear is seemingly more overbearing than His Word; As David did, so we could also tell Him how broken we feel.
We can trust in our Father so much, that when we are slandered, and when our enemies come together and consult with each other to bring us down, we can stay silent, knowing at that moment that our Father is also our God, and He is as able as He is willing to help us.
We may be exposed, we may even be brought to weeping, but our Father will not allow us to be ashamed. Truth prevails, and all the lies shall cease.
I’m thinking of all the scandals and the church leaders who, themselves, have been exposed. What about them? What about me? Well, newsflash – we are just as human as everyone else, and probably seemingly more inhuman than most. We have taken on this responsibility knowing that we shall be judged on a higher standard, and even so, we are also deceived, considering that the allure of temptation is far greater than the warnings of (inevitable) consequences.
Sometimes we concede into believing the lies more than the Truth – and in these cases, we are our own enemies. In these cases, perhaps it is grace that we be exposed, that godly sorrow would bring us to repentance.
Sobering warnings, there.
19 Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!
20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.
Indeed, we are surrounded by enemies… and, quick reminder, the true enemy of our soul is relentless in stealing from us, killing us and destroying all there is about us, that he will not hold back in causing us to doubt ourselves.
Yet we continue to take steps forward, we are able to stand and run in boldness and confidence, knowing that in the fullness of time, God’s goodness is laid up for us; We are hidden in the shadow of His wings, far from the reaches of those who would try to deliver the final blow.
In the fullness of time, Christ comes through as our Faithful Advocate, ensuring our absolute safety from those who speak out against us.
What a blessed assurance.
21 Blessed be the LORD, For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!
22 For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You.
23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.
24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.
This was a rollercoaster. A warning, and an assurance.
Through it all, God be glorified. He is our faithful Father, indeed.
Now before we go into what Proverbs 31 is really known for, let’s not forget the choice advice provided to King Lemuel, who, by the way, is another fellow without a cross-reference and is probably not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture:
3 Do not give your strength to women, Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.Proverbs 31:3
6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
7 Let him drink and forget his poverty, And remember his misery no more.Proverbs 31:6-7
8 Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.Proverbs 31:8-9
Kings prioritize Truth. We aren’t saying we should stay away from women – God forbid. No, I believe that if we put all of these together we see that if we DO prioritize them, placing them on the pedestal where only Truth deserves to be, we’re set on ways and paths that destroy us – bringing us to perishing, and bitterness of heart.
Yeah, sure, I’m probably just basing this out of my own experience. Not denying that. But, in response to rejection, in response to pain and uncertainty, I shall take in the Truth.
And in so doing, I don’t open my mouth out of bitterness, but out of compassion – for as Christ had compassion on me, so we are able to express and project compassion upon the speechless and the condemned.
In prioritizing Truth, we practice, promote, and strengthen righteous discernment.
We seek Wisdom, and we find her.
You Are The Rock Of My Salvation,
You Are The Strength Of My Life,
You Are My Hope And My Inspiration,
Lord Unto You Will I Cry.
I Believe In You, Believe In You,
For Your Faithful Love To Me,
You Have Been My Help In Time Of Need,
Lord Unto You Will I Cleave.
Our hope and trust shall ever be on our God, who has been faithful to us countless times in the past, and shall always be faithful and true to us, in the future, unto forever. Amen.
For everything we see in this world, and in all we need and all we’re concerned with; For His faithfulness to us in all this, we give Him all the praise and glory. Amen.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
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