Friday, February 22, 2008

Words of Encouragement

Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. – Psalm 73:27-28

God’s Sovereignty. Don’t be weary of good works. The psalmist starts this psalm talking about how he almost slipped up because of the way he was thinking. He was looking at the wickedness of others and watching the things they were doing. They were prosperous in their ways, they were well in their bodies, they had no struggles, they were not plagued by concerns and struggles and they laid claim to heaven with their mouths. Yet the psalmist said, here I am struggling, bothered, oppressed and plagued every morning, am I doing something wrong?

If we were honest with ourselves we would admit we feel like that sometimes. The wicked seem to have everything going their way, they are pressing you down and burdening you with the things they are doing and it can make you turn your sight for a brief moment and look at them and their deeds.

Yet the psalmist says when he went into the house of the Lord he was reminded of why he trusted in God. His confusion and the oppression of this situation were removed from him. He remembered where the wicked would end up. He was also reminded that God was holding his hand through the situations he faced. It was God that was walking with him and God that would see him safely through.

He was reminded as we enter these verses that the wicked would perish. They season of sin they are enjoying will not last always. There comes a time of reckoning. Those that trust in God can have assurance that the sovereign (all powerful) God will carry them through and he will not let them go. He is that place of refuge (safety). He is the place that keeps us from the destruction of those that would try to hurt us or tear us down.

The psalmist reminds us we do not have to look at those that are disobedient and become burdened by the prosperity we see them receiving. For this is their only reward. It is in fact the trick that the enemy uses to keep them in a place of disobedience. They believe that God is some how turning a blind eye to them and he is “okay” with what they are doing.

We must remember those things about God that are vital for our walk. The sovereign God requires relationship with us. He wants more that our talk he wants us. The sovereign God is the one who can save us from the traps set to destroy us. Let us not become so focused on the wrong things that we miss the opportunities he gives for us to walk into what he has promised us. And finally let us remember that God’s promises are true. We do not have to wonder will he keep them, for he is Truth and he cannot lie.

As we go to worship this weekend, let us go seeking a closer relationship with the sovereign God. He is are total source for all that we need to be victorious in this walk.