Holding hands with God

DEVOTION

PSALMS

HOLDING HANDS WITH GOD

Ps 37:18-24

18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever. 19 In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. 20 But the wicked will perish: The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish — vanish like smoke. 21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously; 22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be cut off.

23 If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; 24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

NIV

We continue with this comparison between the righteous and the wicked. It is sad to consider the fate of the wicked. Knowing they are going to perish should inspire us to share the gospel with them in hopes they will turn from their wicked ways and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Still we can rejoice that we are among the blameless. It is not that we are perfect, far from it, but because we are in Christ, God sees us as holy and blameless. In reality we can be at blame for our faults, but that would be in the reality below the line, in the temporal. Above the line in the eternal we are blameless and God knows all our days. That is our life is lived out before the Lord. He watches over us, he protects us, being our shield. He provides for us. He has given us an inheritance that will last forever. Some children receive an inheritance from their parents and when they spend it, it is all gone, but ours will never be gone, it is eternal. Even in the here and now, it would appear we will not wither when difficulty finds us. When hard times come our way, we will continue to stand firm in our faith. It seems hard to understand the in famine we will still have plenty. Could some of this be speaking about the things to come, the eternal aspects of life? It certainly is when it speaks about the wicked vanishing, or perishing, so it might also be about our eternal blessings, our eternal home, always in plenty. Even though we might be in famine in the here and now, we will be in plenty in the eternal. However when we look around we see how plenty we have now. There are believers who do not have the plenty we have, and that is difficult to grasp. But what is plenty? The Hebrew word means to be filled to satisfaction. Certainly we are filled to satisfaction with the Spirit. But this also carries the meaning of having a good life, content, satisfied, fulfilling and enjoyable. We can enjoy our life in the here and now as well as be satisfied that we are going to enjoy eternal life in the new creation. God delights in our ways, because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Certainly he does not delight when we fail him, when we commit some type of sin, whether that be in thought, word or deed, or for that matter when we do not do that which we should. That is failing him as well. Nevertheless because we are in Christ he delights in us, and in our ways. He is the one who makes our steps firm. That implies we cannot make our steps firm. If our walk was up to us, we would stumble for sure, we cannot take one firm step on our own. But he is the reason we walk firmly, without stumbling around in the dark. His word is a lamp unto our feet, he shows us the way we should go. His right hand upholds us, we can be confident he is there with us, alone the way, holding our hand. As a parent holds their child’s hand to both guide them and keep them safe, God holds our hand. What a great thought, we are holding hands with our Father. As Adam did, we are walking in the cool of the day in the garden holding hands with God.