“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.
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