This week most of us are
thinking about preparing for the New Year. When we look back at this past year,
and most likely even many years before it, we usually are very disappointed
with our progress spiritually. We might feel like this psalmist in Psalm 116. One
moment he was calling on the LORD to deliver him and help him and then the next
he is down in the dumps and feels like everyone around him is a bunch of liars
and he is struggling to trust the Lord like he should.
As I look back over my 52
years as a follower of Jesus, I must admit it has been a journey of ups and
downs. Not only have I been very often disappointed in what I have experience in
my relationship with other believers, I have been most discouraged and
disappointed in how I have failed the Lord in keeping the many commitments and “vows”
I made to Him especially when I got into hopeless and helpless situations.
I’m reminded of Isaiah 40:31: “But
those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with
wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not
faint.” We started out our Christian
life soaring like an eagle on the wind currents. But we were dependent on the wind,
the circumstances, as to whether we were up or down. In the early years of our experience
as a follower of Jesus, this is what it was like. Then we went on a race,
running everywhere to try and pay the Lord back and serve Him in our own
strength. Then finally we realized that the Christian life is really a walk! A
walk with God, a walk alongside Jesus in His yoke, totally depending on Him to
do work and we get to enjoy His strength, peace, joy and most of all, His
presence as we faithfully day after day trust and depend on His Holy Spirit to fill
us!
In Psalm 116:12-14, the
psalmist is asking the question how he can show the LORD his gratefulness and
thank Him for all His benefits. First, we need to remember that we can never
pay the LORD back for His great salvation that was accomplished through the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God doesn’t desire or need us to pay
Him back! But He does want us to be grateful and thankful, and to faithfully
love and serve Him every day!
The “cup of salvation”
might be referring to the “cup of redemption” at the Passover meal. It represented
the blood of the lamb that was slain and whose blood was sprinkled on the lintel
and doorpost so that the “death angel” might Passover their house and no one
inside would die that night of the Exodus. We should remember that Jesus drank
the cup of our sins on the cross, taking our sins upon Himself and paying the
full price for them with His blood and His death, to give us the opportunity to
drink of the “cup of salvation” and call on His name to save us and deliver us
from the penalty of our sins!
This should be our motivation
to determine to live faithfully for Jesus every day this next year! And we should do this regularly “in the presence of all His people”. Meaning we will faithfully attend the
Lord’s House, His Church, where we fellowship and worship with other believers
and find encouragement and accountability of our own walk with the LORD!
Finally, we also are assured
that our time of death is “precious in the LORD’s sight”. For believers,
death is not an accident but an appointment (Psalms 139:16). If
the Father pays attention to the death of every sparrow, surely He will be
concerned about the death of His saints (Matt. 10:29-31; John 11:1-16). Just as
the blood of Christ is precious (1 Peter 1:19), so our blood is precious to God
(72:12-14). God's servants are immortal until their work on earth is done. They
can be foolish and hasten the day of their death, but they cannot go beyond
their appointed time. That is in God's hands.
It is my prayer that these
chats and my website will be used by the Lord to help us to walk faithfully every
day with the Lord. Please share these chats and visit my website at: https://www.pmiministries.org/
God bless!
