Psalm 119:81-82

Psalm 119:81-82

My soul longs for your salvation;

I hope in your word.

My eyes long for your promise;

I ask, "When will you comfort me?"

Our souls' greatest need is God. It is when we are in distress, feeling distant from Him, that we begin to realize our need of Him. When we lack of Him, we call to Him. It is for Him we long.

But on what premise can we rightly trust God? How do we know He is faithful? Our hope comes from His word. We know God stands because His truth stands; it is unbound perfection (v. 96). His word will never fall (Is. 40:8).

As Jacob persisted for a blessing (Gen. 32:26), so our prayers must also be persistent in times of adversity. Let us always be hoping in God's word and longing for His promise and comfort. May we never give up seeking Him. Rather, long for Him, for in seeking we shall find.

Psalm 119:71

Psalm 119:71

It is good for me that I was afflicted,

that I might learn your statutes.

It is at times the most difficult of circumstances that brings about the greatest rewards. When can hardship be counted as good? Only when it works together for good (Rom. 8:28). It is not the affliction itself but the result effected by the affliction. Even in David's greatest struggle, he would eventually look back and see the benefit.

It is an essential practice of our faith to never waste affliction. We have full assurance that God always works for our good. Although we may not always be able to see that good, we can always trust Yahweh because He is faithful. Through suffering we can see more of him and learn to better obey Him.

This is the center of why difficulties are good for us. If an event pulls us closer to our God and His word, the pain is worth the bearing. Knowing Christ is of surpassing value (Php. 3:8). All that we do and all we endure must be aimed at Him.

Psalm 59:16

Psalm 59:16

But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me a fortress

and a refuge in the day of distress.

God is a refuge (Ps. 62:8), a stronghold for His own. No matter what the circumstances in a person's life, God's children can always run to their loving Father and find His faithfulness proven. No task is too difficult for God (Job 42:2; Dan. 4:35), and no earthly or heavenly power is so great as to dismantle His.

A great hope for God's people - indeed, the hope - is that God is strong. It is because of God's strength that He offers grace in redemption (1 Cor. 1:18) and in preservation (2 Cor. 12:9-10; Ps. 42:8). God's might is the very song we sing, our only prayer (Ps. 42:8). We are totally dependent on the power of God for all things (2 Pet. 1:3-11).

These precious promises are our full assurance. All we are and all we have hangs on the power of God, and God does not fail. Therefore we rejoice, we praise Him, we love Him, we seek. And we sing. From the dawn of each day, our hope is secure, so at every sunrise we have every reason among every creature to sing.

Psalm 118:1

Psalm 118:1

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever.

The cry of David's heart is the praise of the goodness of God. God's goodness demands our full thanksgiving; there is no other qualifier given. God is good; therefore we praise Him.

But why is God good? What is the determining factor that reveals His goodness? It is His steadfast love. God is supremely good because His kindness, love, and faithfulness are supremely enduring. Not even for a moment is His favor withheld from those who are kept in Christ. The love of the LORD is inexhaustible. No event, no power, no distance could remove or keep God's love from His children (Rom. 8:38-39).

This is ultimate peace. We are kept secure by the everlasting love of God (John 3:16-17; 10:27-28). And in light of this truth, we have nothing to fear (1 John 4:18); God is for us, and no one can stand against us (Rom. 8:31). Poverty cannot rob us of His love, nakedness cannot strip us of His care, fear cannot cause His kindness to flee, torture cannot twist us from His grasp, and burdens cannot fall us from His faithfulness. Unemployment, divorce, shattered families, lost friendships, cancer, and loss of loved ones are no match for God's love. Neither life nor death nor time itself can oppose it.

Amor vincit omnia.

Psalm 57:10

Psalm 57:10

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

God's unfailing love is manifest to man in three mains ways: His goodness, His kindness, and His faithfulness. He is completely righteous, yet He is also merciful. God upholds His justice against sin, yet He is still forever loyal to His people. His divine wisdom in the truths of the Gospel is profound. "His understanding is unsearchable" (Is. 40:28).

These core attributes of God - His goodness, kindness, and faithfulness - are what lead us to praise Him internally and externally (see vv. 8-9). They are the deepest source of our hope and our motivation for evangelism. They cause the believer to sing, praise, and give thanks to God. They lead us to desire God's glory to be magnified over all (vv. 5, 11).

It is only when we stop treasuring God's lovingkindness that we sin. And yet it is then that the very same steadfast love draws us back to Him.

Psalm 54:4

Psalm 54:4

Behold, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Oftentimes when we most need something, we see that God is that something. There are two ways we can go about this. The incorrect way is to make God into who we want Him to be so that He can fill our needs. A right approach, however, is one in which we realize that we are far too weak to do anything about our circumstances but that God is not; He is the Remedy. Therefore in our time of need, He is the helper; in death He upholds us.

David could not get a firm grasp on this until his life was in danger (v. 3). He needed a Savior, and that Savior was the Lord. It was not merely God's help that David sought; it was God, the Helper, the Upholder.

We need not seek individual gifts. It is unsatisfying and foolish. Rather, at all times let us seek that Giver, the God who sees and satisfies. He will be an unfailing Refuge amid times of evil. He will bring comfort by His own goodness and faithfulness. He is the Upholder.

Psalm 106:7

Psalm 106:7

Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works;

they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,

but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Time and time again in the Psalms, God's works are mentioned. They are contemplated much because the reason people rebel against God is because they forget His works, namely His love toward all He has made (Psalm 145:13, NIV84). When we sin, we deny God's saving work in the Gospel, forget the faithfulness of His promises, and ignore His love in creation.

The person with an obedient, humble heart meditates on God's works. He considers them (Psalm 8:3) and realizes his insignificance (Psalm 8:4). And at last, the faithful slave beholds God's love toward man (Psalm 8:5-8) and is led to heartfelt worship (Psalm 8:9).

Meditate on God's loving works, lest we forget and rebel.