Wednesday 13 May, 2015
Psalm 118
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever.” 5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. 6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. 9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. 11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. 12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them down. 13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord is my strength and my defense[a]; he has become my salvation. 15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! 16 The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” 17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. 18 The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 23 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. 25 Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.[b] 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up[c] to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
The goodness of God is worthy of my praise, my attention, my repetition.
I love the Psalms – because they put into words all manner of emotions and situations and trials and celebrations – and they always lift up the name and the goodness of God. Ps 118 starts with “Give thanks to the Lord, because He is good. His faithful love endures forever.”
The Psalmist goes on but I am staying here at v1 Lord – reminded again that You are good and Your loves continues, it endures forever. Enduring love – love that survives ALL difficulties and ALL manner of let downs. Enduring love – that is not frozen or captured or overcome or diminished by any failure on my part.
Charles Wesley – a great Hymn writer from the 1700’s wrote these words:
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
My psalm of thanksgiving and praise to you today Lord is to echo Charles Wesley’s words: Amazing love! How can it be, that You my God, should die for me?
Thank You Lord.
Written by Ps. Linda Quinn
His love endures forever is the refrain of this Psalm. A powerful reminder that God is continually engaged in our lives.
I love the words endures and forever.
Endures conjures up for me a stability and strength that is solid, God’s love has a sticky quality that never gives up, it keeps turning up.
Forever evokes that longevity that means without end. It is a simple yet powerful word that also gives the sense of stability.
The Psalm tells us of situation after situation of where God’s love never fails and it is clear to the Psalmist that God is actively working on their behalf.
Like the Psalmist it is good for me to look out for the activity of God in my life and to remind myself of His love and goodness. I need to see His enduring love and grace everyday.
Father help me to keep my eyes open to all you are doing that my refrain may also be “Your love endures forever!”
Amen! Enduring, everlasting, incomparable, imdomitable Love. What and whom shall I fear with eternal love like that for me!
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…”
As I reflect on this particular verse, I consider how Christ himself referenced this passage in Matthew chapter 21- that it was a prophetic statement about Jesus being rejected by the Jewish people of the first century.
Reading this section of scripture here in the context of verses 21 to 27, I am not sure that the Psalmist had full insight into theIr prophesy at the time of writing!
For me, this has two applictions:
1) when I am building something in my life, I need to be careful not to reject something just because it seems odd in its shape or doesn’t seem to fit. God throws me curve balls and it is a challenge to me when there seems to be disorder, but the better I get at working with Godly disorder, the stronger my buildings (figuratively) will be.
2) Prophesy is only a narrow insight from God designed to strengthen and encourage me. I need to be careful not to assume that because God has revealed something, that everything will be peachy right along the path to his revelation. I need to be aware that although the long term will indeed be awesome, there might be significant discomfort and disorder along the way.
Lord, help me to embrace your goodness and trust you, even when I might unexpectedly walk through the unexpected.
The writer was outnumbered in a battle against the odds. The enemy was defeated in spite of the apparent unlikelihood of that outcome. The knowledge that God was with the writer in that victory has revealed God’s eternal and amazing love to the writer.
With God on your side you can achieve anything. If you have faith, follow God, and yet you don’t succeed, it means that it wasn’t God’s plan for you at this time. So how do we know whether God wants us to persist or to change direction? We know that our God teaches patience, plus in Psalm 34 we are reminded that if we delight in the Lord, he wishes to give us the desires of our heart. So maybe victory in that particular battle is still in God’s plan for you, but just not right now. Conversely, it is possible that victory isn’t set out for you in that particular conquest, and you have to shift direction. I think it comes down to drawing close to God and listening for his voice, and his influence on your heart. If God continues to give you the desire for a particular outcome, but you struggle to get there, maybe he’s not turning you away from the task/project/goal, but he’s saying “Try again, but try a new approach”.
The life habit to master is to always have faith in God in spite of what the world is showing you, follow him, and have comfort that your failures are not failures, but God’s hand influencing your life.
Father, always remind me to look to you for direction in the battles and my path in life. Give me the desire for the direction that you have laid out for me, correct me lovingly when I step away from that direction, show me your amazing and eternal love.
Great thoughts Travis