The last verse of this Psalm caught my attention. Especially the idea of doing daily what we ought to do. The Christian life is not lived from Christmas to Christmas, or Easter to Easter, or month to month, or week to week, but every day, all the time.
Exercise institutions will experience their greatest enrollment at this time of the year. Many of those who sign up will not go over a couple of times. More people will say, “I’m going to lose some weight,” at this time of the year than at any other time.. Now certainly I’m not expert in Physical fitness, but I’ve figured something out about it just through observation and common sense. I’m sure if I have figured it out, you have known it for a long time, but I’ll tell you anyway. The reason I’m so bent on telling you is because there is a parallel between maintaining physical well being and maintaining spiritual well-being. Before I tell you, let me say that when I speak of physical well being, I’m talking about controlling weight and muscle tone and cholesterol and blood pressure. Now, I am aware that there are some of you that I could call on, who could speak with far more authority than I on these matters, but I believe you will not disagree with what I have to say. When I speak of spiritual well being, I’m talking about living in a closeness to God, where you realize His presence and power in your life. Where He is not just a philosophical ideal, but He is the Friend in your life that sticks closer than a brother. Okay, here it is, this is what I’ve figured out: Whatever you do, you can’t just do it one time and forget about it, you’ve got to continue it every day, all the time. That’s true if you want to lose weight, or if you want to draw closer to God.
I saw a man on C-Span, who had written a book entitled, “It’s Getting Better All The Time.” He said there has been more progress within the human race in the last 50 years than in all of past history. No one can argue that we have made great progress in many things, but as Bible believing Christians, we are aware that we have regressed in some very important matters. We have gone the wrong way instead of the right way! We have not merely forgotten God, we have deliberately pronounced that we do not need God.
David, King of Israel, is the writer of the 61st Psalm, as he is the writer of many others. Being King, he had a wealth of human resources at his disposal, but in his circumstances, human resources wasn’t enough. No generation has ever lived on the face of the earth, who have come close to matching what we have in human resources. In spite of all we have, it’s not enough. It doesn’t begin to be enough. We can buy the finest in treatments, medical and otherwise, but we cannot buy health. We can buy a beautiful house, but we cannot buy a happy home. We can buy the finest foods, but we can’t buy a good appetite. We can buy our way to about anywhere we want to go, but we cannot buy our way to heaven. (Well, you get the idea.)
There is a need to be heard by someone who can help.
The circumstances of this Psalm is that David’s son Absalom had led a revolt against David, and David had run away to keep from having to kill his son, or to keep his son from killing him. If that’s not enough, the northern part of the kingdom was rebelling, and one of Saul’s sons, named Ishbosheth had taken the throne there. A couple of men, who thought they were doing David a favor, went in while Ishbosheth was asleep and cut his head off and brought it to David. David had those men put to death. Everything seemed to be going wrong. David knew where to turn, he turned to God. He felt like he was at the end of the earth. He felt like his heart was overwhelmed. He was at that place, where we all get, when he was thinking, “I don’t know what to do, I don’t think I can go on.”
Sometimes we think we just need somebody to listen to us, but we really need somebody who can help us. God can! David didn’t just say, “Let me pray more,” he said, “Lord, here me when I pray, attend to my prayer.” (Answer it for me!) The Bible tells us that if we want God to answer our prayers, there are some things that we have to have in place in our lives: 1) Sin must be forsaken, (Is.59:1-2); 2) God’s word must be believed, (Ja.1:6-7); and, 3) Christ must be received, (Jn.14:6). I want to live on “praying ground,” don’t you? I know that there is a “rock that is higher than I.”
There is a need to be thankful for what God has done.
When David started asking God for what he needed, he immediately began thinking about how faithful God had been in the past. A shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy, he said. God has provided for us. He has given us abilities and strength, and in cases where those blessings are removed from us, our faithful God steps in and meets our needs just the same. God has protected us in more ways than we are aware. Recently, my wife and I were driving down the road, and a vehicle passed us on a hill, on a double yellow line, then passed the car in front of us in a curve, and an oncoming car had to pull onto the shoulder. I thought, “If that car had been two seconds earlier...” Maybe you’ve heard about the man who was complaining because he didn’t have a good pair of shoes, but then he saw a man who didn’t have any feet!
David, no doubt, thought about how faithful God had been in His promises. He was probably thinking about the promises God had made about how he would establish and sustain David’s kingdom. There are a lot things we can think about, when we think about the promises of God to us.
There is a need for determination to maintain spiritual well being all the time.
David said, “I’m going to abide your tabernacle forever.” The tabernacle was a place of worship for the people of God. David was saying, “It is going to be a central part of my life.” Church will not save your soul, but it will point you repeatedly t the One who can. Church will not make you spiritual minded, but it is a roadmap, pointing the way; it is a support group, providing encouragement. A Christian not faithfully involved in church is like a ball player not on a team; or, a tuba player not in a band. A preacher went to visit man who had gotten out of church, and pulled one red coal out of the fire, then sat in silence, as the ember quickly lost its glow. The man said, “Okay preacher, I get your message, I’ll be back Sunday.” (I wish it was that easy with everybody!)
David said, “I will trust in the shelter of Your wings, Lord.” In other words, “You will be my security.” David had the finest of the fine, when it came to earthly things, but he was smart enough to know that these things were not much security. Even now, he had left them and was out in the wilderness. David didn’t say, “I’m going to take a vow of poverty,” but he did say, “I’m going to put my trust in God.”. The book of James says that we don’t know what a day will bring forth. But, we know that God holds tomorrow, and we know that He can do all things.. He can break the power of the strongest sin. He can change the heart, cause the mouth to speak wholesome words, and make the future sure.
We can look around at the beautiful world and know that God is good. But, we see His goodness most in the gospel of salvation. David didn’t do everything right, as a matter of fact, he did some things really wrong. But when he looked to God in true repentance, he found out just how good God is. Many years after David, a man who had become a Christian, by the name of Paul said, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” He was giving testimony of just how good God is. Many years after that, here we are today, about to turn the calendar over to a new year, and God is just as good now as He has ever been. In Him there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. He changes not. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
If you see that you have a need for a “rock that is higher than you,” then turn to the rock of ages. His name is Jesus.
