“God allows suffering to come into our lives to refine us, as it were, to teach us how to be more and more dependent on Him.”
+R.C. Sproul
Trust God to Protect and Provide for You
This is my plea to you today. I preached a sermon a couple months ago expounding on this truth. Psalm 121 is a blazing star in the night sky. It beams with hope from the pages of Scripture and into the heart, nestling in with warmth and grace. The first two verses set the tone: “I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” The only action we are commended to take in the psalm is to lift our eyes to God in faith. To lift one’s eyes is to set the mind, feelings and affections on something of value. The Old Testament saints looked forward to the periodic return to Jerusalem in order to worship God at the temple. A song of hope, the psalm instilled faith in the sojourners. No doubt the journey was filled with hills and valleys, mountains and rivers. All different types of terrain and struggles peppered the way to the mountain of hope, Zion. A symbolic representation of God, the mountains in the first verse shined with expectation and purpose.
Trust in Christ’s Return
Today we face mountains and valleys of our own. Just as God’s people Israel labored towards Jerusalem, we labor towards our heavenly home. One day, Christ will return and gather his people to himself in brilliant glory. What a glorious day that will be! My prayer for you and I today is that we will lift our eyes, set our hope and affection on the return of Jesus Christ. It will be the most thrilling experience as well as the most awe-inspiring. Our help comes from the Lord Jesus, his power and his presence in our lives. Watching over our steps, our Shepherd guides the way and makes certain our heavenly hope. The psalmist ends with this truth: “The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever” (vv. 7-8). In his work The Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “God is the convoy and body-guard of his saints. When dangers are awake around us we are safe, for our Preserver is awake also, and will not permit us to be taken unawares” (15). God protects us from harm, defends us from the enemy and brings refuge to weary saints. Do you need rest today? Say a prayer, ask Christ to fill your heart with peace. God delights in protecting and providing for his children. Amen.
*Image by Andrey_Kuzmin
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