You have given me the inheritance

Psalm 61 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Confidence in God’s Protection. A Psalm of David.

Hear my cry, O God;
Give heed to my prayer.
² From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
³ For You have been a refuge for me,
A tower of strength against the enemy.
⁴ Let me dwell in Your tent forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah.

⁵ For You have heard my vows, O God;
You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name.
⁶ You will prolong the king’s life;
His years will be as many generations.
⁷ He will abide before God forever;
Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him.
⁸ So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may pay my vows day by day.

The psalmist says:  Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.  In Jeremiah 29:11-14 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. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.   Like the psalmist we can cry out with confidence, knowing that the Lord will hear us. The current health crisis extends all around the earth; every continent except Antarctica has been touched by the pandemic. God hears from the ends of the earth. He hears and gives heed to the prayers of those who cry out to Him. The psalmist prayer is that God would lead him to a rock on which he can stand. In Mark 11:23 Jesus says: “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.”   Have you ever considered the significance of a mountain being cast into the sea?  When I meditated on this verse, I saw a picture of that mountain becoming an Island of refuge for those who are drowning in the sea of fear, hopelessness and despair. Lord God we speak to the mountain that is covid-19. We tell it to be cast into the sea and to become a rock for those who are fearful and desperate. May they take refuge in You Lord; in the shelter of Your wings.

The psalmist says:  You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name.  You will prolong the king’s life;
His years will be as many generations.  He will abide before God forever;
Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him. So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may pay my vows day by day.     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.  We have been given the inheritence of Christ. He is the King of kings. Just as He is eternal, so to has our life been prolonged, through Him we have inherited eternal life. We will abide before God forever, both now in this life and forever with Him in the heavenly kingdom. Our vows to God are not promises of what we can give Him, but they are our love for and obedience to Him. In Deuteronomy 6:4-5, God’s commandment is:  The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  In John 14:15;23-24 Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Heavenly Father, hear my vow. I indeed love You with all my might; with all of my heart and soul. Holy Spirit empower me to keep the commandments of God; to walk in His ways. Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for reconciling me to God; for restoring me to share in Your inheritence, that I might abide with God forever, both here on earth and in the eternal heavenly kingdom. Thank You that I can have the confidence to know that You will hear my cries; move mountains and be my rock and refuge, in whatever comes my way.  Amen.