Either or,not Both And

DEVOTION

PSALMS

EITHER OR NOT BOTH AND

Ps 107:33-43

33 He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, 34 and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. 35 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; 36 there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. 37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; 38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow; 40 he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste. 41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks. 42 The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43 Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.

NIV

 Again we are reminded about how this psalm can be all about the life of the Israelites and their exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. It also shows how their refusal to enter caused them all to wander in the desert until they all died and then their children entered. But it also speaks about the daily life in a believer of today. Well, maybe a believer and maybe just a lip service believer. It also speaks about mankind in general and the difference between the righteous and the wicked and how each lives in a different realm or reality. For those who refuse to enter into his land, his realm, rivers will become deserts and flowing springs will be thirsty ground. What was fruitful will be a salt wasteland. This is the land of the wicked. This is the life of a worldly person. What they think is the good life is nothing at all, for it is not in the realm of God, they are on the outside and don’t even know it. They have nothing and their end is to perish, just as the children of Israel wandered in the desert until they perished. However, there are others, the people who believe, not just in lip service, but believe in their heart, their whole heart, not a divided one. We remember about the divided heart, half in each realm, but not totally in either, that is the lukewarm heart and the destiny of the divided lukewarm heart is to be spit out from the mouth of God. Either be totally in or out but we should not try to live in both realms. For those who decide to get all in, live only in the realm of God, he turns the desert into pools of water and parched land into flowing springs. He brings the hungry (those who hunger and thirst for him) to live. He gives them eternal life and they will dwell in the city of God forever. There they will settle forever. Within the realm of God, his kingdom, we will sow fields and plant vineyards, and yield a fruitful harvest. This speaks about our lives as believers within his kingdom. It speaks of our sowing the word of God in the world, of our planting his word within the realm of the wicked, and how, because of our sowing and planting there will be a fruitful yield of new believers. Because of this we are blessed and our numbers increase. Again, a comparison of those who are under the oppression because of their wicked ways and how he pours contempt on those who either refuse to enter and how they are destined to wander. But we have to also think of how the Israelites fit this description. And this could mean how some believers might fut this description. They knew God, but also wanted the world, they looked back to their life in Egypt at times, they grumbled about their current situation of following God. It is if they wanted both the world and God. We saw that with Lot’s wife, following the directions of the Lord, but looking back wanting what she had, wanting both, a divided heart. We can see this in the life of the Israelites even after they were in the land of milk and honey and had it all, everything, but instead of staying in the realm of God, they adopted the realm of the foreign gods and the result was disaster. God allowed them to be overrun, hauled off in exile as captives, slaves in a foreign realm. We cannot afford to live in both realms or even try. Yes, we are in this realm of the world, but we are not of it, we do not live according to their rules, their customs, their ways. We live in the realm of God and live in his ways. It comes down to a single united heart bent toward God. We either believe or we don’t, we cannot sort of believe, trying to abide in both. We are all in, we will believe God every time on all issues, until our last breathe.