The Pinnacle of Trust

Psalm 115 cont’d:

…O Israel, trust in the Lord, He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.

Note the way these verses read…as if the writer is commanding Israel and Aaron and we who fear the Lord to TRUST him!  But then the in between verses are statements – “He is their help and their shield.”

We have to speak directly to our souls to trust and fear the Lord, because we are tempted and apt to wander and wish for “gods” that we form to do what we want.

But as we read yesterday, nothing we can fashion or form or create is able to arise and act.  Even our best attempts cannot create life, compassion, love, and power. 

We are reminded three times here that God is our help.  God is our shield.

It is God who acts when he hears our cries, it is he who rescues.

It is God who covers us and keeps us safe and warm in the middle of storms.

And…it is God who knows how and when to answer our prayers.  

And that is the pinnacle of trusting Him, resting in that fact alone.

They Can't

Psalm 115 cont’d:

^…They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk;They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.

These verses again are talking about other “gods” that people make for themselves, in order to suit their own needs.  Physical golden idols that the people of the bible made had no ability to converse, were unable to see, couldn’t hear and so on, as mentioned above.

It’s interesting that the writer takes the time to list all of the things a dead idol cannot do, but when we think of it in contrast to what our God does…it’s encouraging!

Our God speaks to us daily, he sees everything that concerns us, he hears every prayer and cry.  He senses our hearts and he has felt our pain.  He runs to meet us and he can roar and send enemies into the woods.

Those dead gods? Well, those who worship them become like them…unable to sense anything as well.

But our alive God…he enables us to become like him…alert and keen in every way…just like him!

What an amazing, alive God we serve!

To Your Name

Psalm 115 contrasts other “gods” to our God.  It’s a very interesting read.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your loving kindness, because of Your truth. Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands.

I love the part in these verses where we are reminded that He is God and we are not.

When man makes idols to worship, even those of silver and gold, they are fashioned to be a type of god we imagine, one we envision, and one which we control. 

We don’t realize it sometimes, but that’s exactly how we think we want our God to be.  But do we really want our God to be fashioned as we please…or as he pleases?

If we fashioned him, he would come to our every beck and call, he would sit on the shelf when we tire of him, and he would perform magic tricks at command.  Is that really a God we want?

God is not like us, and that’s a great thing.  He is up there, doing what it is that pleases him, and he gives us the privilege of partnering with him in his greatness. 

Because of his loving kindness and truth, we can trust that whatever “He pleases” is best and right and holy and just.

That God is worthy of worship.

The Result

Psalm 112 cont’d:

He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever;

His horn will be exalted in honor. The wicked will see it and be ^[vexed,

He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.

These are the last verses of this chapter on the prosperity of one who fears the Lord.

Once we have trusted him, delighted in his commandments, and put our fears in their place, we are free to give to the poor because we have no fear of lack for ourselves. This includes those who are poor in spirit.  We can give out of our fullness to those who are lacking, because we realize that in him we lack nothing.

Who are the wicked?  They are those who practice evil.  And when they see his righteousness enduring forever in those who fear Him, even through dark trials, even through hardships, it will upset them…until their desires perish.

What does that mean?

I like to think that when we live a life pleasing to Him, those who desire to inflict evil on others will lose their desire to do so, because as we lift up the name of the Lord, others will be drawn to Him.

The best way we can be a witness to the wicked and draw them to Him is through delighting in the Lord and obeying his commands, giving freely to those who are without, and living a life of peace and joy in the homes in which we live.

There is no fear to those who trust in him.  And those who live in fear will experience a melting away of their evil desires and be drawn to the light, as we walk in the light.

The Righteous

Psalm112 cont’d:

The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.

These verses list the characteristics of the righteous.

Do you know why we will be remembered forever, if we walk uprightly with God? It’s because of what we read earlier.  Our offspring will reap the benefits of God’s righteousness in us.  And the next generation after that.

We will not fear bad or evil news. There has been plenty of that lately in the world, and if we dwell on that news, we won’t sleep at night.  But we don’t have to fear when we pray to the God of the universe for peace, for rest, and for salvation for all.

A steadfast heart doesn’t waver.  It doesn’t trust in the Lord today and forsake him tomorrow, because a steadfast heart is one that knows the love of God that never fails.

The heart of the righteous is upheld – it won’t be crushed or broken. Why?  Because it trusts in God to keep it safe and beating strong.  Relationships here on earth are fleeting and even at their best, they disappoint.  God never disappoints.

The righteous WILL look with satisfaction on our adversaries of fear and evil.  Fear and evil are our enemies and they were defeated at the cross.  We can live a life that looks them both in the eye and defies the very glare with which they appear to us in the wee hours of the morning, just before the light comes…

What a blessing His righteousness is in our lives….now and forever.

Light's Rising

Psalm 112 cont’d:

Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.  For he will never be shaken;

I find it interesting here that we are not told that we will always have it “easy.” There may be dark nights where we can’t see the light of day, due to sorrow, pain, or trouble.  However, there is hope.  Light WILL arise, for the upright.  We can count on that.  We can look for it to peek through the window and we can see it in full view.

Those who delight in the Lord are gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Again, there are certainly days when we feel none of the above.  We’re at our last nerve with that situation, we’ve got nothing left to give anyone, and we feel anything  but righteous.

However, during those times, if we continue to fear the Lord, delight in what he instructs us to do (show compassion and grace even when we don’t feel like it), it will be well with us.

We will never be shaken.

I’ve been shaken before, to the very root of my faith.  But as I continue on serving God, each time the shaking is less violent and I fall back a few steps, instead of sliding down the mountain. 

Sitting in darkness?  The light is coming…

How Blessed

Psalm 112: How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who greatly delights in His commandments.  His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.

When’s the last time you “delighted” in God’s commandments?  Most of the time, we delight in God’s blessings on our lives more than we do in what he’s told us to do.

God has told us to love him with all of our hearts and to love others as we love ourselves – that sums up his commandments to us.

When we learn to delight in that which delights Him, then we will be blessed.  In fact, our children will be blessed.  Wealth and riches will be present in our houses.  That includes peace, harmony, joy, and all the fruits of the spirit. 

And…his righteousness endures forever.  That means time, or flood, or hardships, or famine – nothing can erase the blessings of those who fear the Lord and take delight in what he tells them to do.

Instead of looking around expecting more blessings to come our way so that we can be “happy,” let’s look up and ask direction from him today and see what makes him happy.

Then we will be blessed.