Many Christians read the Psalms for comfort and encouragement, so I thought we might end this week’s blogs by reading the last verses in Psalms 91 and 92.
God doesn’t want us only to Survive but to Thrive!
Psalm 91 speaks mainly about God’s protection for His people in a time of widespread sickness, such as today;
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91
But the psalm ends with some wonderful words from God;
14 ‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honour him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.’ Psalm 91
The key to receiving these blessings, simply to Love the Lord and acknowledge His Name.
Psalm 92, speaks of Flourishing, not a word used by many believers in our day, but the psalmist was inspired to write it. The title of this psalm claims it was a song for the Sabbath, so it would have been used repeatedly in worship.
12 The righteous will FLOURISH like a palm tree,
they will GROW like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 PLANTED in the house of the Lord,
they will FLOURISH in the courts of our God.
14 THEY WILL STILL BEAR FRUIT IN OLD AGE,
THEY WILL STAY FRESH AND GREEN,
15 proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’ Psalm 92
We see the word ‘Flourish’ quoted twice in these verses, it’s not in doubt. How wonderful to ‘be Planted’, in the House of the Lord, the perfect place to be. It’s in His Courts that we will Flourish. Verse 7 of the psalm tells us that the wicked may flourish, but only for a time, their time is passing;
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed for ever. Psalm 92
The psalm promises that even in old age, the Righteous will still bear fruit, TIME NEED NOT DIMINISH THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A SERVANT OF GOD, unlike the wicked their strength abides. They will stay ‘Fresh and Green’, the inheritance of God’s people.
We will continue to proclaim the goodness of our God, ‘He is our Rock’.
There is much blessing to be had from these verses, please take some time to consider them and receive God’s blessing for yourself.
God bless and keep you today.