“Your word, Lord, is eternal.
it stands firm in the heavens.
Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.
Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts.
The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder your statutes.
To all perfection I see a limit,
but your commands are boundless.”
Psalm 119:89-96 NIV
When I was reading this Psalm, I felt hope. Why does he have hope?
“But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, ‘I believe in God, so I spoke.”
2 Corinthians 4:13 NLT
Life will try to place limitations on us and keep us small and afraid.
You have brown skin;
you’re a woman;
you’re a man;
you’re too short;
you’re too tall;
you’re too skinny;
you’re too fat;
you’re not smart enough;
you’re too smart;
you’re not perfect enough;
and you’re not “fill-in-the-blank.”
But we have something the world doesn’t have. We have God!
I believe in God! So. I. AM!
I have faith in God. I bring that faith into every circumstance and because of that belief, I am good and even able to thrive in all circumstances of life that I find myself in.
So, let’s look at the Psalm again!
“Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.”
Psalm 119:89 NIV
We trust in the infallible word of God that never changes and never fails.
“Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth and it endures.”
119:90 NIV
God is faithful to those who believe. God established the earth.
“Your laws endure to this day.
for all things serve you.”
119:91 NIV
Life seems random and chaotic, but we live life believing in a God that is intentional, orderly, and everything is under His control.
“If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.”
119:92 NIV
Our belief and faith in God gets us through every season of life.
“Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts.”
119:94 NIV
We educate ourselves on the Word of God. It guides and protects us.
“I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.”
119:93 NIV
This life has suffering. We meditate on the Word of God because that is how we are able to thrive in this life.
“The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder on your statutes.”
119:95 NIV
People will people. Jealousy and envy; darkness and light is in all people. People will try to harm you and it will not have anything to do with you. The psalmist teaches us to not even be caught up in it all; instead meditate on the Word of God.
“To all perfection I see a limit,
but your commands are boundless.”
119:96 NIV
God has no limit.
Even as I was writing this, I was thinking, “You’re God; you could make everything good.” Except, that isn’t the way life works. Instead we have to know that the world, will want to shrink us. It will attack our self-esteem, self-worth, our character and value. We engage with the world like the psalmist example. We educate and meditate on the Word of God. We bring our value, our belief and faith in God to the world.
“The Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
Genesis 2:15 NIV
Imagine what the world would be if we all brought our goodness and belief in God to the world.
God is hope he sustained us in the midst of our enemies,he also endowed us with mental capacity to overcome that which threatened us for greed and gratification!
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Psalm 119:103 NIV
You just described God’s wisdom; where every part of life is so purposeful and prep for the journey ahead!
When reading this I’m reminded of Gods anger against sin and also of Gods compassion and mercy. Yes he could make everything good but then where would he get His Glory! Thank you Lord for giving us the power of choice, I choose YOU! Amen!
Yes to all of this!