Bible League: Living His Word My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.— Psalm 119:50 NIV This verse is from Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, the longest list of all the ways the believer can esteem the law of God. In its 176 verses, the psalmist comes up with dozens of synonyms for God's Word. One of the many is "promises." In our passage, the psalmist says that God's promises comfort him in suffering. Are you suffering? Perhaps it is a sickness that's brought you down. Maybe it's a severe financial set-back. Or, maybe unjustified legal actions against you have gained a hearing. There are a thousand different ways you can be brought low and made to suffer. Whatever it is, the point now is not to dwell on how bad you have it. The point is to find out what to do about it. Where do you turn when the bottom has dropped out and you're falling so fast that it takes your breath away? On what do you base your hope when things seem hopeless? On the Word of God and the promises it contains. Sure, there are many earthly things you could hope for in your situation. If you're sick, you could hope for a good doctor to come along. If you're in financial straits, you could hope for a bail-out of some kind. If you're in legal trouble, you could hope for a legal loophole to save you. All these things are possibilities, but the psalmist has something deeper and more important than these in mind. In the final analysis, he derives comfort from the promises of God. Our God shows love to a thousand generations who love Him and follow His commands (Exodus 20:6). Our God inspires courage, because He will be with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9). Our God knows what we need and provides it (Matthew 6:30-34). Our God is a refuge and very present help no matter what goes on around us (Psalm 46). Our God is the great physician of body and soul (Psalm 103:3). And best of all, our God is gracious and merciful, forgiving our sins at the cost of His own Son (Psalm 103:8-14). All the other factors may or may not play a role in your recovery, but the promises we read in the Bible play the most important role in every situation. They are anchors for the soul when all seems lost. They are the comfort and hope of first and last resort. If you believe them, if you place your trust in them, then you've taken the first and most important step to end your suffering. If you're suffering today, then find comfort in the promises of God. They'll literally preserve your life. 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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