God's family, God's plan, God's glory

Psalm 69 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Save me, O God, For the waters have threatened my life. ² I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me. ³ I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. ⁴ Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

⁵ O God, it is You who knows my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from You. ⁶ May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, ⁷ Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Dishonor has covered my face. ⁸ I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother’s sons. ⁹ For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. ¹⁰ When I wept in my soul with fasting, It became my reproach.
¹¹ When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. ¹² Those who sit in the gate talk about me, And I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness, Answer me with Your saving truth. ¹⁴ Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink; May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. ¹⁵ May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.

¹⁶ Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, ¹⁷ And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me quickly. ¹⁸ Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it; Ransom me because of my enemies! ¹⁹ You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; All my adversaries are before You.

²⁰ Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. ²¹ They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

²² May their table before them become a snare; And when they are in peace, may it become a trap. ²³ May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, And make their loins shake continually.
²⁴ Pour out Your indignation on them, And may Your burning anger overtake them. ²⁵ May their camp be desolate; May none dwell in their tents. ²⁶ For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded. ²⁷ Add iniquity to their iniquity, And may they not come into Your righteousness. ²⁸ May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

²⁹ But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high. ³⁰ I will praise the name of God with song And magnify Him with thanksgiving. ³¹ And it will please the Lord better than an ox Or a young bull with horns and hoofs. ³² The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek God, let your heart revive. ³³ For the Lord hears the needy And does not despise His who are prisoners.

³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them. ³⁵ For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell there and possess it. ³⁶ The descendants of His servants will inherit it, And those who love His name will dwell in it.

In today’s New Testament reading in Luke 8:19-21 it says:  His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”  In today’s text the psalmist says:  for Your sake I have borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face.  I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother’s sons. For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.    Many of the things David experienced and the things he wrote were a fore shadow of Christ. Jesus says:  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18)   It was through David’s lineage that Jesus was born, so perhaps it makes sense that he prophetically lived, experienced and expressed some of the things Jesus would say and experience. We too, are of that same line. Romans 8:15-17 says:   You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.    Like David, we may bear the reproach of the Lord. Like he and Jesus Himself, we may be separated in some ways from family, for the sake of hearing and doing the word of God. Jesus makes us a promise though, in Mark 10:29-30 He says:  “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. “     If we will truly put God first, we will be adopted into His family. Regardless of what we may have lost, there is nowhere in the world that we could go where there would not be family, brothers, sisters, parents and children; houses and farms shared by the family of God. There will be some persecution. Jesus says: “I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Romans 8:35-39 says:  Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Look at David’s heart as he lifts his request regarding his situation to the Lord. He says: O God, it is You who knows my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from You. May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel.   David is seeking deliverance from his enemies and his situation, but first and foremost he is concerned about the impact his situation will have on those who see. He doesn’t want to bring shame or dishonor to God. When we seek deliverance from our circumstances, is it for our own comfort, convenience and standing, or is our desire, like David’s, for God’s glory? Understand, I believe with all my heart that we are called to be conquerors and over comers through Christ. If we are called to suffer with Him, it is only for a season. Jesus suffering on the cross was beyond what we can imagine. Surely it was beyond what we will endure. Even His suffering though was just for a time. Jesus is no longer on the cross, neither is He in the grave. He is risen, resurrected victorious and we too are raised victorious with Him. It is not our glory though that we should seek or rejoice in. Like David we should seek our deliverance for the glory of God.  

The psalmist says:  But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness, Answer me with Your saving truth. Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink; May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me. Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me.    God’s time is always an acceptable time. He knows the beginning and the end. Regardless of our situation, God says:  I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)   Romans 8:28-30 says: we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.    Like David, we are called to be like Christ, conformed to His image. We are glorified with Him, in both our suffering for His names sake and in our victory through the cross and the resurrection.  

The psalmist declares:  May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high. I will praise the name of God with song And magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the Lord better than an ox Or a young bull with horns and hoofs. The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek God, let your heart revive. For the Lord hears the needy And does not despise His who are prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them.   May that be our declaration and may these words from Psalm 30 be our Psalm and our prayer.

I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.  Amen.   Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, may all that I do bring glory to You. Through the cross and the resurrection according to Your plan, I am Your child.  Amen.