Bible League: Living His Word You hem me in behind and before,and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. What does it mean to be hemmed in? It means to be surrounded and shut in by something. It is to be enclosed or confined by something so that one cannot move as long as that something is in place. David is saying that God hemmed him in behind and before so that he cannot go backward or forward. On the one hand, then, he cannot go back. He cannot go back to where he once was even if he tried. The Lord is preventing that from happening. The idea here should not be understood in a negative way. God has providential concern for David and He is preventing him from deviating from His plan. David might otherwise be tempted to leave the place he is at and go back to where he once was. On the other hand, he cannot go forward. He cannot go forward to some new place even if he tried. The Lord is also preventing that from happening. God's plan does not include him moving forward at this time and if He did not prevent that from happening David might be tempted to leave the place he is at and move forward. God's hand is upon David. This does not mean that David is "under God's thumb." It means that God is guiding David, holding him in place so that he doesn't make the mistake of moving backward or forward at the wrong time and to the wrong place. The why and the wherefore of God's guidance is beyond human comprehension. True, at times God gives us glimpses of what He is up to, but at bottom such knowledge is "too wonderful" and "too lofty" for us. God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Our job is not to question God's guidance, but to trust Him that He has our best interests at heart. You may feel a little unsettled where you are today. You may be wondering if you should do something about it. Yet you do not sense the hand of God moving you forward or backward. Trust God. At the right time, He will move you where He wants you to be, and you will be at peace about it for having waited on Him. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDeuteronomy 14, 15, 16 Deuteronomy 14 -- Eating Only Clean Animals; Tithes NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 15 -- The Seventh Year: Debts to be Cancelled, Servants Freed NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 16 -- The Feasts of Passover, Weeks and Tabernacles NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 13:14-37 Mark 13 -- Christ Foretells the Destruction of the Temple and His Return; Day and Hour Unknown NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion The LORD is like a father to his children,tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Insight We are fragile, but God's care is eternal. Too often we focus on God as Judge and Lawgiver, ignoring his compassion and concern for us. Challenge When God examines our lives, he remembers our human condition. Our weakness should never be used as a justification for sin. His mercy takes everything into account. God will deal with you compassionately. Trust him. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Isaiah 62:12 Thou shalt be called, Sought out.The surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were not only sought, but sought out. Men seek for a thing which is lost upon the floor of the house, but in such a case there is only seeking, not seeking out. The loss is more perplexing and the search more persevering when a thing is sought out. We were mingled with the mire: we were as when some precious piece of gold falls into the sewer, and men gather out and carefully inspect a mass of abominable filth, and continue to stir and rake, and search among the heap until the treasure is found. Or, to use another figure, we were lost in a labyrinth; we wandered hither and thither, and when mercy came after us with the gospel, it did not find us at the first coming, it had to search for us and seek us out; for we as lost sheep were so desperately lost, and had wandered into such a strange country, that it did not seem possible that even the Good Shepherd should track our devious roamings. Glory be to unconquerable grace, we were sought out! No gloom could hide us, no filthiness could conceal us, we were found and brought home. Glory be to infinite love, God the Holy Spirit restored us! The lives of some of God's people, if they could be written would fill us with holy astonishment. Strange and marvellous are the ways which God used in their case to find his own. Blessed be his name, he never relinquishes the search until the chosen are sought out effectually. They are not a people sought today and cast away to-morrow. Almightiness and wisdom combined will make no failures, they shall be called, "Sought out!" That any should be sought out is matchless grace, but that we should be sought out is grace beyond degree! We can find no reason for it but God's own sovereign love, and can only lift up our heart in wonder, and praise the Lord that this night we wear the name of "Sought out." Daily Light on the Daily Path John 11:35 Jesus wept.Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. Hebrews 5:8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Isaiah 50:5,6 The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. • I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. John 11:36 So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!" Hebrews 2:16,17 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. • Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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