The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. Psa 138:8
THE MOST HIGH REGARDS THE LOWLY
THE MOST HIGH REGARDS THE LOWLY
This is the first of a cycle of Davidic psalms, based on 2Sa_7:1-29. God’s promised favors are the theme of devout thanksgiving. No idols could have achieved such generous and great results. Even God had outdone Himself by magnifying His word above His name. Prayer had played its part, for in the day that it was offered it had been answered. Even kings in their various spheres would add their praises, Psa_138:4. Yet this would be only the beginning of wonders. God can never rest with an incomplete or an unfinished work. When He puts His hand to the salvation of a soul, He pledges Himself to perfect the good work until the day of Jesus Christ.
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Trust God, amid all disappointment and heartache. He will wipe away all tears, explain all mysteries, and place the topstone on the structure of your life. [F.B. Meyer]
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Trust God, amid all disappointment and heartache. He will wipe away all tears, explain all mysteries, and place the topstone on the structure of your life. [F.B. Meyer]
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me"
There is a Divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by the human reason. There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering. When the suffering soul reaches a calm sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask God to deliver it from suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown.
It is in this state of the perfection of suffering that the Holy Spirit works many marvelous things in our souls. In such a condition, our whole being lies perfectly still under the hand of God; every faculty of the mind and will and heart are at last subdued; a quietness of eternity settles down into the whole being; the tongue grows still, and has but few words to say; it stops asking God questions; it stops crying, "Why hast thou forsaken me?"
The imagination stops building air castles, or running off on foolish lines; the reason is tame and gentle; the choices are annihilated; it has no choice in anything but the purpose of God. The affections are weaned from all creatures and all things; it is so dead that nothing can hurt it, nothing can offend it, nothing can hinder it, nothing can get in its way; for, let the circumstances be what they may, it seeks only for God and His will, and it feels assured that God is making everything in the universe, good or bad, past or present, work together for its good.
Oh, the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus.
-- Soul Food
The great thing is to suffer without being discouraged. -- Fenelon
[Streams in the Desert]
It is in this state of the perfection of suffering that the Holy Spirit works many marvelous things in our souls. In such a condition, our whole being lies perfectly still under the hand of God; every faculty of the mind and will and heart are at last subdued; a quietness of eternity settles down into the whole being; the tongue grows still, and has but few words to say; it stops asking God questions; it stops crying, "Why hast thou forsaken me?"
The imagination stops building air castles, or running off on foolish lines; the reason is tame and gentle; the choices are annihilated; it has no choice in anything but the purpose of God. The affections are weaned from all creatures and all things; it is so dead that nothing can hurt it, nothing can offend it, nothing can hinder it, nothing can get in its way; for, let the circumstances be what they may, it seeks only for God and His will, and it feels assured that God is making everything in the universe, good or bad, past or present, work together for its good.
Oh, the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus.
-- Soul Food
The great thing is to suffer without being discouraged. -- Fenelon
[Streams in the Desert]
A Work in Process
He will complete what he has begun. He will not begin to interpose in my behalf, and then abandon me. He will not promise to save me, and then fail to fulfill his promise. He will not encourage me, and then cast me off. So of us. He will complete what he begins. He will not convert a soul, and then leave it to perish. “Grace will complete what grace begins.”
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever - See the notes at Psa_136:1.
Psa 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Forsake not the works of thine own hands - What thou hast made; what thou hast begun to do. Do not leave me to perish. Prayer is one of the means - and an essential means - by which the saints are to be kept unto salvation. The doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints.” is not inconsistent with prayer, but rather prompts to it; and he who professes to rely on that doctrine, and feels so safe that he does not need to pray, and does not pray, gives certain evidence that he has never been converted, and has no true religion.
[Albert Barnes]
He is Able-Maranatha Singers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYnE7eTYJqI
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever - See the notes at Psa_136:1.
Psa 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Forsake not the works of thine own hands - What thou hast made; what thou hast begun to do. Do not leave me to perish. Prayer is one of the means - and an essential means - by which the saints are to be kept unto salvation. The doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints.” is not inconsistent with prayer, but rather prompts to it; and he who professes to rely on that doctrine, and feels so safe that he does not need to pray, and does not pray, gives certain evidence that he has never been converted, and has no true religion.
[Albert Barnes]
He is Able-Maranatha Singers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYnE7eTYJqI
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