Skip to main content

Day 24 - Mountain Security

Yesterday I wrote about the precarious nature of life.  One minute your walking this pilgrim journey and the scenery couldn’t be more exhilarating; the next moment something happens that stops you dead in your tracks.  It’s not fun, and the Psalmist made it clear that as he walked there was only one way to keep walking, with our Help being the Lord.

Today the journey continues and the footing is more secure than ever…rock like, not slippery surfaces, but real solid footing.

Psalm 125:1-5
1  Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
2  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.
3  For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.
4  Do good, O LORD, to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts.
5  But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel.

Jerusalem was the highest point in Israel.  “A city built on a hill” is the way it’s described.  David founded it as the capitol of the nation a thousand years before Jesus.  When Solomon built the Temple in it, it became the hub for all pilgrimages.  It was “rock solid”.

We still desire safe things.  We use seat belts (or should), smoke detectors, stove mitts, and other assorted things to keep us safe.  Just because we’re believers doesn’t mean we’re immune from accidents.

God is safe.

We trust IN Him.

The LORD surrounds His people.

Empty words, rhetoric?  I believe with all my heart that God has surrounded and kept me from all sorts of harm. And someone says, “But what about me??? I didn’t deserve what happened”.  And I would agree.  

Accidents happen. 

But the Psalmist isn’t saying that nothing can happen.  He’s not denying difficulties, he’s saying….
God is rock soiid.

Here's the main point:  What I FEEL about life circumstances don’t change the FAITH I have in God.

My security is in HIM…the rock solid God.
Your security is in HIM…the rock solid God.

The alternative?  The Pilgrim reminds us that we are free to make the choice to do another way.

4  Do good, O LORD, to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts.
5  But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.

So many of the questions come from our unwillingness to examine our own ways.  He reminds us to do so frequently.

God’s covenant with us does not change because we fail.  He is Rock solid even when we waver.  We are not secure because we are sure of ourselves, but we are sure of Him.


Peace

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but l...

Joy to the World - Help is On the Way

It’s the first day of Advent– while you prepare for Worship this morning at church take a minute to ask God to direct you through this season that you might be prepared to “receive your King”. In the first week of Advent we celebrate the PROMISE of His Coming. His promise is based on our need. We were made in his image, but there is emptiness in our soul that is the result of the Fallen nature of sin. But why did Jesus come? What in his coming announces God's heart? His desire for us to know and experience? 10 BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT BE AFRAID; FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY WHICH WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE; 11 FOR TODAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID THERE HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. GREAT JOY! Did you know that God is Joyful? 1 CHRONICLES 16:23-27 (NASB) 23 SING TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH; PROCLAIM GOOD TIDINGS OF HIS SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY. 24 TELL OF HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS WONDERFUL DEEDS AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES....

The Gospel of Matthew - Coming: An Exposition and Devotional on the Life of Jesus

Preface  I just finished writing a daily devotional of the book of Matthew with an emphasis on expositing the text and bringing some daily devotional thoughts to the text.  It will be a 40-day journey reading the book of Matthew and the things I wrote within it. Why do it?  Well, first of all, I have loved reading the Scripture for over 50 years now.  I taught the Scriptures on multiple levels from Sunday messages in a Church, to Bible Studies, to Young Adults' discipleship formation, to lectures in a college setting.  I love the Scriptures because it is the Word of God delivered to us from God through human authors, and as Paul reminded Timothy, “it is profitable”. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus, also called Levi, he was not like most of the other disciples. Many of the disciples were middle-class, some commoners, and several were fishermen by trade (which made them middle-class commoners).  We don't know what all of them did, but we do know what Matthew ...