Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Imitating God
Have you ever had something inside you that you felt God was trying to say to you but you just could not quite put the words together? What I mean is when you try to tell someone what you feel God is doing in your life or saying to you about your life, the words just did not quite tell the whole story. Today’s title is a little like that for me. I began by reading and praying in Psalms 91, but ended up in Psalms 89. Psalms 91 is about the secret place of the Most High and how God defends us when in that place.
Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
This scripture has always been a great comfort to me and to many. Sometimes I struggle with matching this scripture up with what seems to be the reality in which I live. God is on our side if we abide in Him, because really He is on His side and that is where we need to be. But I have not “arrived” at perfection. If you feel the same reading this, then perhaps you will benefit from the rest here. I love the idea of the secret place – who wouldn’t, right? The real question for me is, how do I get there?
Many scriptures address this idea, but today I found additional help to understanding “getting there” in Psalms 89. The Psalmist begins with praising God, and also God speaks in return. In verses 3-4 we read,
Psalms 89:3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
God says He established David’s family forever. This He did in giving us the Messiah from the lineage of David. When we repent and ask Jesus (Yeshua) to be our Lord, we are born again into that bloodline, forever. Jesus is then with us and in us. (If you want a theological explanation beyond that I am really not the guy to give that to you, I can only tell you it is true in my life.) What I found curious is the building up of the throne to all generations. The Hebrew for throne here means “covering” or “covered seat”. The word for “build up” means to both make and to repair. But Jesus is perfect, right? So what is being built and repaired? We find the answer further on in Psalms 89. In verses 30-32 God warns against sin,
Psalms 89:30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
But the good news comes in verses 33-37, where God promises to restore His loving-kindness after the course correction He provides,
Psalms 89:33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
God is in the business of building up His people. That means He does not forgive us once and then smash us forever when we make a mistake. He is a loving Father. He is in the business of giving us the new birth, and providing course correction when we mess up, and then repairing us when we turn back to Him. He builds us up, He edifies His people, forever! This is a part of God we are called to imitate – we are to build one another up!
Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Master Builder King. Thank You for giving us new life in the Messiah! And thank You many times over for providing course correction and repair. Please forgive us for those things we have done wrong, to You and others. Please restore us today, Father. Please bring us back into Your secret place that no man might say that You utterly cast us off. Please help those that read this today. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.