Psalm 119:32

Psalm 119:32

I will run in the way of your commandments

when you enlarge my heart.

The aim of the life of a believer is to know God, and knowing God necessitates finding out who He is and what He wants. God's desire is that we obey Him; therefore, He gives us the resources to do so. Our obedience is dependent on His grace.

In order for us to obey God, the very core of our being must be expanded. Our knowledge and wisdom must grow. The source of our love and passion must overflow with yearning for the LORD.

A common mistake of modern Christianity is the mindset that thinking is noble and feeling is evil. What a tragic lie this is. The same God who created human thought established human emotions. He gave us taste so we would hunger for Him, joy so we would find our gladness in Him, and minds so we would think on Him.

With all that is in us, let us run after obedience to God (compare Heb. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 9:24). All energy, all passion, and all hope are to be set on Him. He enlarges these that we may seek Him more. Let us do so. Let us run.

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 49:7, 15

Psalm 49:7, 15

Truly no man can ransom another, 

or give to God the price of his life...

But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will receive me.

Ransom of a life is far too high a cost for the resources of mortal man. An atheist once declared, "No deity will save us; we must save ourselves." Yet if we were forever separated from God's grace, none could ever be saved at all - by a friend or by himself. The cost is too great.

"But God" is the best news in the Bible. In these two words, hope begins. They mean that we are helpless but He is not, that we are sinful but that He did something about it. That man is not sinless as is God is terrible news. But that God is not sinful or helpless as is man is the greatest news ever.

In His mercy, God ransoms us from the power of death; in His grace, He gives us eternal life. WE are not left without a savior; we are given a Redeemer. Having been delivered from the dominion of darkness, we are accepted as children of light. No evils or powers can stand against us because God is for us (Rom. 8:31). We have been ransomed on Earth; we will be received in Heaven.

Psalm 107:9

Psalm 107:9

For he satisfies the longing soul,

And the hungry soul he fills with good things.

All of creation is dependent on God for life and sustenance. Yet there are souls who long for more than living for temporary pleasure, and they are blessed because God fills them (Matt. 5:6). Again, there are souls who have been abused by the ills of this world and long for comfort. It is they that are met by God's grace (Matt. 5:4).

It is not as though God could not satisfy the rich with greater riches. Yet His mercy chooses those who feel they have no alternative but Him. They are in greatest position to be filled because they are most hungry. They are readily met by the Saviour because they desperately need the Saviour.

God is the One who mercifully gives to the poor and clothes the naked. He has no obligation and gives not out of compulsion but out of love. There is no one to aid or assist Him and nothing to add to His kindness. And therefore He is most glorified for His gracious gift, and those who are satisfied by His grace are truly satisfied in His grace. For God Himself is the true satisfaction for every man.