Blessed Be My Rock – Psalm 18:46

“The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock!  Let the God of my salvation be exalted.”

At a church we attended in San Diego, our music leader seemed to work in the song with this verse at least once a month.  I love it.  It is a song of praise as a result of victory in a surprise battle.  Even as I think of it now, it makes me want to stand up and sing.  It is a boisterous song.  The music director had the congregation answer the choir in song, there was a lot of clapping and it was fun.  I have been singing it in the field since I read this verse this morning.  Here is a link to a version fairly close to what we used to sing: enjoy!

It is so amazing that God has arranged for us to call him ours.  David makes a habit of it in this psalm.  “My strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my support!”  In His unconditional love, God has made Himself all these things to us, and much more!  He is our Provider, our Protector, our Healer, our Redeemer, our Counselor and our Righteous Ruler, our Prince and our King.

What a Mighty God we serve, and yet He interacts with us on an individual level.  “He bowed the heavens also, and came down…” (Psalm 18:9).  I am so thankful for such a wonderful Heavenly Father.  Does it not make you want to sing praises to Him?  “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name.” (Psalm 18:49)

When we call upon God for a situation, we cannot help but describe Him for His deliverance in that situation.  “For there is that in God which is suited to all the exigencies and occasions of his people that trust in him.  He is my rock, and strength, and fortress.” (Matthew Henry)

What names do you ascribe to our God and our Creator?

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my Blessed Rock and the God of my salvation. 

As For Me – Psalm 17:15

“As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”

Throughout this psalm, David’s prayer is one of confidence.  The confidence in his relationship with the LORD and in the LORD’s ability to deliver David not only from his enemies, but from his own sin.  Near the end of this psalm, David asks the LORD to “deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword, with Your hand from men, O LORD, from men of the world who have their portion in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure.  They are satisfied with children, and leave the rest of their possession for their babes.” (Psalm 17:13-14)

It is after David’s description for these men of the world that he says ‘as for me.’  David differentiates himself from these men of the world regarding eternal life.  He is confident that he will see God face to face.  He rejoices in the knowledge of God’s righteousness.  A righteousness that is possessed by no other.  David knows that, while joy is available on this earth to the believer, true satisfaction can only be obtained in the presence of our Creator, when we shall be like Him.  “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

The things of this world will expertly distract us from the things of our loving God.  They feed our fears…if we listen to them.  Evil desires to steal our joy and our hope.  Brothers and sisters, we must keep our eye to the hope eternal we have in Jesus Christ.  He has all authority, in Heaven and on earth.  Evil may reign this on earth for whatever time as God has designated, but Jesus Christ shall reign eternal.  This life verses eternal.  Why is it so hard for us to grasp the glaring difference?  “For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  (James 4:14) 

Jesus has given us life, abundant life.  As ambassadors to this foreign world, in this vapor of a life, we are here to serve our King and bring glory to His name.  In this short life, we are to live for our Master.

“Do any of you know what it is to live on the future—to live on expectation—to live on what you are to have in the next world—to feast yourselves with some of the droppings of the tree of life that fall from heaven—to live upon the manna of expectation which falls in the wilderness, and to drink that stream of nectar which gushes from the throne of God? Have you ever gone to the great Niagara of hope, and drank the spray with ravishing delight; for the very spray of heaven is glory to one's soul! Have you ever lived on the future, and said, "As for me I shall have somewhat, by-and-bye?" Why, this is the highest motive that can actuate a man. For this the missionary ventures the stormy sea; for this he treads the barbarous shore; for this he goes into inhospitable climes, and risks his life, because he knows there is a payment to come by-and-bye. I sometimes laughingly tell my friends when I receive a favor from them, that I cannot return it, but set it up to my Master in heaven, for they shall be satisfied when they awake in his likeness. There are many things that we may never hope to be rewarded for here, but that shall be remembered before the throne hereafter, not of debt, but of grace.” (Charles Spurgeon) 

David’s confidence in his salvation is not exclusive to him.  It is available to all of us.  Our Creator can bring us to the point of saying not ‘I hope,’ but rather as David said, ‘I will’ and ‘I shall.’  To anyone who has surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and accepted His grace of forgiveness, such knowledge beyond faith is available as a gift of God.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)  These fiery trials we face now, or faced in the past, prove out that faith, molding us like steel from a forge in a blacksmith’s hand.  Without the fiery trials faced by David, we would not have this psalm to strengthen us.

Some verses you just want to write out and put on your refrigerator.  This may be one of them.  I thank God that He has brought me through such trials in life so that I can know I will see Him face to face, I will survive standing in His holiness because He has made me to be in His likeness, and my soul shall no longer want for anything, but will be completely and perfectly satisfied.

That is ‘as for me.’  So it begs the question, what about ‘as for you?’

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

David The Prophet – Psalm 16:10-11

“For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.  You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

“This psalm is entitled Michtam, which some translate a golden psalm, a very precious one, more to be valued by us than gold, yea, than much fine gold, because it speaks so plainly of Christ and his resurrection, who is the true treasure hidden in the field of the Old Testament.  David speaks of himself as a member of Christ, and so he speaks the language of all good Christians, professing his confidence in God (v. 1), his consent to him (v. 2), his affection to the people of God (v. 3), his adherence to the true worship of God (v. 4), and his entire complacency and satisfaction in God and the interest he had in him (v. 5-7).” (Matthew Henry)

If there is any question whether the latter part of this psalm is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit put that to rest by explaining it to us.  On the Day of Pentecost, after being filled with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-4), Peter preached to the devout Jews of every nation.  His sermon included the reference and explanation of this psalm.   “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.  This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.  Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.” (Acts 2:29-33)

In the event we still some help understanding the prophetic nature of this psalm, the Apostle Paul also makes reference to it in his discussion of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  “And we declare to you glad tidings – that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.”  (Acts 13:32-37) 

There have been doctrines and beliefs in immortality.  It is not limited to Christianity.  However, Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever resurrected from the dead.  And this resurrection is well documented, it was witnessed by hundreds and could not be refuted by the Pharisees.  God the Father gave this prophecy to David that was fulfilled by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  When God says He is going to do something, it will happen.  This consistent faithfulness by God to His own Word is what helps strengthen our faith.  It turns our faith into more than a belief.  For those of us who have experienced fulfillment of our Mighty God’s promises, and who have seen His Hand in action, our faith and belief turns into knowledge.  We do not just think God exists, we know God exists and we know that He loves us, because we have experienced it. 

Death does not end us.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ led the way for his heirs.  Someday, those of us who have surrendered to our Lord Jesus will be raised incorruptible, to live with Jesus for eternity.  “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)  

I understand that our spirit will be with Jesus immediately upon the death of our body.  “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.  For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” (Philippians 1:21-23)

How it is that our bodies shall be raised is a question I cannot answer.  The Apostle John did not attempt to describe such a thing.  “Beloved now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

Every trial we go through with Jesus should strengthen our faith and turn our belief in God to a knowledge of God.  Friends, I pray your faith is strengthened, because this world is going to give us trials.  It is not a matter of if the trials come, but rather of when.  As we live through these ‘latter days,’ have faith, or better yet know, that God will never leave you nor forsake you.  He says what He does and does what He says.  In the midst of David’s prayer, this golden psalm, he writes of the resurrection of the coming Messiah.  What a gracious God we have that, in the middle of our prayers of praise to Him, He will bring us to remembrance of this precious hope.  Jesus Christ is coming and soon there will no longer be a need for faith, for we shall see Him face to face.

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.