Settled in

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SETTLED

Ps 68:1-10

68:1 For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him. 2 As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God. 3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD — and rejoice before him. 5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

7 When you went out before your people, O God, when you marched through the wasteland, Selah 8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. 9 You gave abundant showers, O God;you refreshed your weary inheritance. 10 Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.

NIV

We have to break this psalm up as it has thirty-seven verses and is way too long to handle at one time. There is plenty great truths in these verses for us to ponder. May God arise sounds almost like he is laying down, but that is not the case, it is more like David is praying for God to act, for him to rise up against, to take a stand against his enemies and scatter them from his presence. This is prophetic in nature as this is a picture of the last day, the Day of Judgment. Where else are the enemies of God scattered as the wind blows smoke? Where else are they melted as wax before fire? Where else will the wicked perish, other than on the day they are cast from his presence into the burning lake of sulfur? However there is a twofold picture of the righteous. We surely will be glad and rejoice before God on the Day of the Lord and we will be happy and joyful. But should that not be our condition in the here and now? Many lyrics have been written from the words of this song. The first verse being one, and well as the forth. See, he is riding on the clouds, extol his name, his name is the LORD. Another picture of the end times when Jesus comes riding on a white horse to defeat Satan and establish his reign on earth. But God is already here, the Spirit is here, dwelling within us. His kingdom is already, in that sense. His kingdom dwells within us. Through us, he is a father to the fatherless. We are admonished to care for the orphans and the windows.

James 1:27

27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

NIV

But there is also another aspect of this father to the fatherless and defender of widows. Jesus tells us that he will not leave us as orphans, but that he will send us a comforter, but that also he will come to us.

John 14:15-21

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans ; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." 

NIV

Jesus will look after us, comfort us through the work of the Spirit. We find all sorts of reasons to be glad and rejoice because we have not been left fatherless, we are not orphans, and we are not a widow, because we are the bride of Christ. Jesus defends us against the enemy of our soul, he defends us against death, and he defends us before God the Father. Jesus is our defense. God sets the lonely hearted people, those who know they are lost, and seek him, in his family. He has adopted us as sons. We are co-heirs with Jesus. We are in the family of God. He has lead us from the prison of sin and death into his light. He has set us free and if God has set us free, we are free indeed. Our chains have been broken, Jesus breaks ever fetter, we are no longer chained to a life is doom and gloom. We can rejoice and be glad. God has led us into a land flowing with milk and honey. Yes, historically some of this song speaks to the actions of God for the Israelites, but it speaks to our lives as well. Perhaps only in a metaphorical sense, as we do not physically live in that land. But we do live in the kingdom of God. We do live in the presence of our Lord. He does go before us, He does provide for us. He does protect us and brings us great joy. Our spirit has been settled. He has settled us into his presence. To be settled in carries so much meaning. We no longer wander in a wilderness. We no longer are in some void, some darkness not knowing our way. We are settled into the kingdom of God, and he has sent the Spirit to seal us in that settlement of God. Praise his name above all the earth. We belong to his kingdom. We have been settled in.