“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” Psalms 138:7 NKJV
Reflection: why does God give life?
Over the past few years, we have been witnessing so much death, so much destruction around the world. We hear from many world leaders that this necessary, a price that “we” must pay, as humanity. It is the cost of freedom. That we need to root out evil people, wherever they are, and whatever the consequences for the innocent who are implicated. But this destruction, this killing of even the innocent seems to be something much deeper, something more fundamental than just removing evil people for the sake of freedom. If you have been paying attention, you have also seen many “cheering” for this death and destruction. Some even celebrating the killing of the innocent. This mindset is so dark, so evil, and really is a “death cult”. It certainly is so very counter to who our God is,
Our Creator of Life.
The focus verse today is from a short psalm written by David, where he recognizes who God is, and therefore has to start by giving God praise. Let’s read from the beginning. “I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.” Psalms 138:1-2 NKJV.
And David continues, explaining what the joy in his heart, the praise comes from, “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD, When they hear the words of Your mouth. Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD. Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” Psalms 138:3-7 NKJV.
There is a bit of a hidden gem here, I don’t want you to miss. Notice the phrase “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;”. This word “revive” has multiple meanings and dimensions. It can mean to “keep alive”, to “restore”, to “rescue”; it can even mean to “bring back, to restore to health”. And, we see here the heart of God.
He is the Giver of all Life.
while the enemy is the life taker, the thief of life. He tries to steal our joy, our health, our life. He seeks to destroy relationships. The Lord God is the complete opposite, the contrast to our enemy. We must be aware of who we are praising, who we are cheering for. When we see destruction; when we see innocent lives being taken and families destroyed, we must understand who is behind this. Even if this action gets presented to us as an act to protect freedom, and regardless of who is presenting it (even church leaders), we must reject it. We must recognize the work of our enemy, as can be seen by the fruit.
David ends this beautiful praise to our God declaring that “The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” Psalms 138:8 NKJV. David recognizes the ongoing work of the Lord in his life, and that he needs the continued mercy of the Lord. But, notice his last words “Do not forsake the works of Your hands”. Don’t you find this reminder to the Lord, endearing? Although the Lord doesn’t forget, David still “reminds” Him. I think this shows the closeness of the relationship David had with the Lord.
Do you need Him today, to give you life?
That is what God does, because that is His character. He is life itself. As Jesus explained “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” John 14:6 NKJV. We can use the psalm that David wrote as a framework for approaching our Lord God. Starting with praising our Lord God, recognizing Him for who He is, and His mighty work in our lives, protecting us, strengthening us, saving us, and we can ask Him to revive and restore us when we desperately need life; need Him. We can even remind Him to finish what He started in us.
He is our Life Giver.