Beautified in Salvation

Psalms 149:4-9 
For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.   6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two- edged sword in their hand,  9 To execute on them the written judgment — This honor have all His saints.   Praise the Lord!

All who are drawn by God, who humble themselves under His mighty hand of certain judgment on their sin and find mercy in the cross of Jesus Christ - these He delights in and saves from their fallen state.  We then who are His see the need in this Psalm to praise God and wield the sword - in David's time to kill, now as the sword of His Word that shows the judgment to come; we only execute the serving of the death warrant, those who hear need to be reconciled to God in Christ. 

Glorify God!

Psalms 148:13

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

For His name alone is exalted;

His glory is above the earth and heaven.

Everything, living and created by God, should praise Him - showing and telling His greatness and worthiness.  Everything in nature does this, so why do we who are made in His image not do likewise at every opportunity and in all situation? 

Healing of Sovereign Grace

Psalms 147:3-5, 11   
He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.   4 He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.   5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.   11  The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.

What a God! He heals our broken souls, He knows more than all our glimpses into the universe could even begin to reveal.  He understands everything perfectly because He made it all by speaking it into existence.  And He wants us to bow down to Him, submitting in fear while trusting completely in His mercy to forgive and love us! 

Eyes Opened to Hope in Freedom

Psalms 146:5-8 
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God,  6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever,  7 Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry.   The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.   8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous.

True joy is in knowing the God who calls us out, knowing the awe of all He made around us - giving credit to the Creator.  He is always true because He is truth.  He is just and merciful, yet hates continued disobedience and must deal with it.  He sets us free from the bondage of our rebellion of sin against all He wants for us - and opens our eyes to see it as He does.  He lifts up those seeking Him and trusting Him. 

Live in Shadow of Salvation’s Wings

Psalms 91:1, 14-16  
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.   15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.   16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

God delivers those who love Him in Spirit and in truth.  We can then stay close to Him, living in His protection.  We can cry out to Him as a very present help in trouble, knowing He honors those who honor Him.  This is what brings us to salvation from sin and its due wages, and leads us on with Him towards eternity with Him. 

Bless His Holy Name!

Psalms 145:21   
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.

Do we show God in Christ to be the best there is to the world?  Everyone will eventually speak highly of Him - either in this life or the next.  Every knee will bow in submission and worship to admit He is Lord over all.  So we must do this now. 

Call on Him Who Delivers and Preserves

Psalms 145:18-20  
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.   19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.   20 The Lord preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.

God is up close and personal with those who cry out to Him for rescue (salvation) from all things we face.  Yet He goes further to remind us to fear Him and not demand what we want.  If we truly so love Him, we will be guarded as with a hedge of thorns to keep the evil one at bay.  And though He is not willing that any die without Him, He still hates evil and will punish them by giving due wages of their actions they refuse to turn from... So turn from the evil we all are born with, and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ - only He is the way, truth, and life! 

Gracious and Righteous

Psalms 145:16-17   
16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.   17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.

How our Father loves us, to give so freely to us - such grace!  Yet He does all things good and right, unlike us, and this guides how and what He does for us.  It is always what is right by His standards, not what we desire wrongly. 

Praise and Glory to the Sovereign Lord

Psalms 145:10-13

All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, And Your saints shall bless You.  11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power,  12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.   13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

Because eternity with God is now possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one with absolute power and authority over life and death, we must let others know about all the great things He has done, from Eden to the cross, and to a new creation that begins in each of us! 

Greatness of the Lord and His Works

Psalms 145:2-5

2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever.   3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.   4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.   5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,And on Your wondrous works.

Do we tell God each day how great beyond measure and how perfectly good He is?  Do we praise Him with lips and feet and hands?  We should be also telling our children and theirs of all He has done and will do, and think long, hard, and deeply about His character of majesty and all He has done as told to us in His word. 

God Chooses to Love His People

Psalms 144:3, 15

3 Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?  Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?  15 Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!

God chooses to care for us, to even love us - when we deserve nothing of ourselves.  Yet we are made in His image and He shows mercy and undeserved love (grace)!  This is what makes us happy, knowing He cares for us and watches over us.  He is our God who is Lord of all. 

Trust and Following His Will

Psalms 143:8-10

Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.  9 Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter.  10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good.  Lead me in the land of uprightness.

Each day we can turn to God in prayer, trusting Him as we look for direction, strength in opposition, and shelter from enemies.  We can ask for wisdom to be holy and righteous as He in all we do, becoming more as Jesus Christ, our example of God-among-us.  He is good, and lives now in His people as Spirit.  We can do all things through Him who lives in us! 

“I AM With You” to Hear and Fear

Haggai 1:12-14  
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord 's messenger, spoke the Lord' s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the Lord.” 14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and  they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,

These obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, feared the presence of the Lord, received assurance from His word that, “I am with you, says the Lord."   Then they came and worked on the house of the Lord.   The pattern - hear and fear God, find encouragement and strength of assurance from the Bible, then do all God has called you to do for Him.  So must we make disciples and grow them in The Lord as our labor of love for Him and them. 

Cry Out When Overwhelmed

Psalms 142:1-5   
1 I cry out to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.   2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble.   3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.    5 I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.

God is always listening to His people, even those who once were not His.  So I can pour out my troubles and weakness when I am overwhelmed before the throne in time of need.  He knows me and each step I take before I do, so I have hope of answers and a safe place to rest both now and forever in Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God! 

Difficult and Revealed Things of God

2 Peter 3:16-18

as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.   17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Some change God's word to fit what they want to believe instead of trying to understand what God said, while others look to twist it on purpose to justify their evil.  We who know the truth need to remain aware, stay the course of truth, avoiding false teachers such as Joel Osteen, and grow instead - in His grace and knowledge.   Study to show yourself approved to God, not men.  Fight the good fight and run the race to His goal, knowing some things are difficult (Deu.29:29) and we are to follow what is revealed. 

Diligent Perseverance toward Holiness

2 Peter 3:14-15   
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,

Do we look forward to the world as we know it coming to and end before a new beginning? If so, we need to live right, at peace with God.  It is because He patiently waits to allow others to be made right with God in Christ that this goes on longer than we might think or like, but it is His love driving the wait to give as many as possible the unearned chance. 

Be Ready for the Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:10-13   
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

All we see will be burned up and melted away.  All our legacies will be gone - except those which honor God, pleasing Him and loving others.  This certain end should remind us then to look forward to the end of corrupt things and the start right now of good and holy ones.  The future holds good and right things, so we need to run to that goal and not fleeting ones which are burned up in the end when seen for what they are, wood and hay and stubble. 

Scoffers Have No Eternal Perspective

2 Peter 3:3-4,9  
knowing this first:that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “ Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”   9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Our timing is not God's, and ignoring what He will do in the end will not change it - only allowing scoffers to taunt God's promises and our witness to them.  What these do not see is that God still loves them enough to keep calling till the end of this world so they should also turn from the disobedience of their sin and towards Christ in faith who died in their place to reconcile them to Himself. 

God’s Guidance in Speech and Vision

Psalms 141:3-4, 8, 10 
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.   4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice wicked works With men who work iniquity; And do not let me eat of their delicacies.   8 But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute.   10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, While I escape safely.

Praying, I seek to have God guide my words; in my heart, leaning away from sin and indulgence.  Eyes I put on my Lord and God, Jesus Christ, trusting in all He has done in my place to put me under the shadow of the Almighty.  So I know those opposed to Him will reap what they sow, while I gain unearned mercy and grace to help in times of need! 

He Hears His People’s Prayers

Psalms 140:6  
I said to the Lord:“You are my God; Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.      

Psalms 140:12-13   I know that the Lord will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.  13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence.

God hears my prayer; He protects those who are attacked and seeks justice.  So I thank Him in all things, knowing He will do all this now and forever.  So I will live near Him also now and into eternity in Christ. 

Love your Enemies, Hate God’s Enemies

Psalms 139:21-22
Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?  And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?   22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.

Whose enemies, ours or God's, and why?  Love your enemies, not God's.

Matthew 5:44-45   But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 

God’s Predestined Personal Knowing

Psalms 139:16  
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

How amazing is God's absolute knowledge beyond time!  He knew me and all I will do my entire life because He made me.   In the end all I do will be seen in the book of all my actions and thoughts...yet God gave me a will to choose also, not a schedule to follow as an actor of a play as Shakespeare would say.  The truths of foreknowledge and free will demonstrate God's sovereign rule and control. 

Be Witnesses of God’s Work in Christ

Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

We are to show the world Jesus Christ and all He did for us, rescuing from our sin, reconciling us to Himself.  Then baptizing to help realize the cleansing and new life given.  And so we do not abandon them, but teach them all things that the Bible spells out in commands, principles, and examples of how to live, hope, and love.  He is with us and in us to give us the authority and power, the ability, to do all this. 

Unending Mercy Will Not Let Us Go

Psalms 138:8

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands.

God promises to finish the work He began in us, and by His mercy He forgives us when we do not do as He says.

    Philippians 1:6. -  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

    Hebrews 13:20-21

20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.