Tag: Loyal Love

Posted in Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time

From Sickness & Death To Thanksgiving

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17 They acted like fools in their rebellious ways,
and suffered because of their sins.
18 They lost their appetite for all food,
and they drew near the gates of death.
19 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
20 He sent them an assuring word and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.
22 Let them present thank offerings,
and loudly proclaim what he has done.

Psalm 107:17-22

As he did in verses 6 and 13, the Psalmist once again calls the people to “give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” He not only calls them to give thanks but to sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and to declare the LORD’s works with rejoicing. What wonderful encouragement these passages are. They are good and necessary reminders that if we are going to cry out to the LORD in our trouble, we should first look for the deliverance He will surely bring, and seeing it, we should give Him offerings of thanksgiving1 and declare His works with rejoicing. This not only glorifies God but also opens the door for others who may be in a time of trouble and need to know that there is a loving and faithful deliverer!

When the people cried out for help in verse 13, we read in verse 14 that “He brought them out of the utter darkness, and tore off their shackles.” However, in today’s passage, when the people cry out to God for help, the Scripture says that not only did He bring them out of darkness, but He also sent His word and healed them, and He delivered them from their destruction.“Oh, how glad I am that we serve a God who will lead us out of darkness, even darkness that we have brought upon ourselves through rebellion, whether the darkness of sin or death, or other distresses. His Word and the testimonies of His people bear witness to His faithfulness to rescue and deliver us when we cry out to Him.

  • “All that God has to do, in order to save us, is to send us his word. He has done that by sending his dear Son, who is the incarnate Word. He sends us the word in the shape of the Holy Scriptures; he sends us the word in the preaching of his servants; but what we want most of all is to have that word sent home by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Spurgeon)

Friends, how have you seen God “heal you” with His Word? Perhaps you are in a season of darkness or destruction now. If so, take heart and call out to Him, for He is able to deliver you out of your troubles.

The More We Know
Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, LGG Study, Quiet Time, The Importance of Prayer, The Importance of Prayer

Committed to Being Satisfied in God

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Read: Psalm 63; SOAP: Psalm 63:3-4

Because experiencing your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.  For this reason I will praise you while I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 63:3-4

Have you ever noticed how sometimes God seems so close that it feels like you could touch Him or hear Him but other times it seems as though He is no where to be found? David’s description is much like that – while at some point he has been able to experience God’s loyal love and see His power and splendor in the sanctuary David’s current situation in the desert seems vastly different. He finds himself longing for God, thirsting for Him as one who has been without water (1-2). Yet he was able to find satisfaction in his previous experiences and knowledge of God and declare the bold statement of verses 3 and 4.

Once we have experienced God’s love, once we have tasted and seen His power and His splendor nothing else satisfies. His LOVE truly is better than life- so much so that even in the midst of drought and storms – we are satisfied by the comfort and hope of recalling His LOVE AND POWER – and we are moved to praise and worship.

I have had these verses committed to memory for several decades now and have drawn peace and comfort from them and used them to turn some of life’s hardest times into a time of praising God but until now I never looked at them as verses that spoke of being satisfied. However, as I was considering the idea I was reminded of a time shortly after the my grandson was born. I was holding him while my daughter took care of some things she needed to do. When he began to fuss I walked with him, that helped for a few minutes but the fussing grew more agitated so I offered him the pacifier, which, like the walking, soothed him for a while but the growing urgency of his fussing made it clear that what he needed was the one who could hold him and had the power to feed him and satisfy his hunger. The pacifier and the walking were simply temporary fixes that did not truly satisfy – the only thing that could do that was the comforting, satisfying supply of his mother’s milk. You would think the analogy stops there, for surely this sweet baby can not simply live on the recollection of his mother’s milk. Yet, his persistent cry, even after offering a different position such as walking or something soothing like a pacifier, are reminders in themselves. A lesson, if you will, for us to not become satisfied with the false securities of life that may be offered to us in the deserts or the storms of life. Instead, may we persistently cry out for and be satisfied only with the life-giving supply of God’s love that truly is better than life.