God is Good to You
Ps 116:7 -14 - Return to your rest, my soul for the Lord has been good to you. For you, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I trusted in the Lord when I said, “I am greatly afflicted;” in my alarm I said, “Everyone is a liar.” What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up my cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
I love the genuineness of David’s heart in his writings. You never have to wonder what was he thinking? He consistently pours out his soul (mind, will and emotion). He was the real deal; real struggles in real trials and real victories were obtained. Oh that we could be so authentic.
Here in this verse he makes the statement, “Return to your rest, my soul.” This was an evaluation of his present condition having experienced stress on his mind, will and emotions, his soul. He knew there was a rest that he was presently not in. He was speaking to his soul as he was prone to do. Sometimes, all of us need to have a conversation with our own soul, especially when our meditations settle in self-pity or severe inward gazing. David was reminding himself of the truth that God is good!
For many people the concept that God is good is foreign. Often the wounds from the past or the present have aided in securing the belief that God is not good. The reality is that we evaluate and judge all things with the knowledge and understanding we have gained so far in life. It’s a very real perspective, but so limited in its ability to understand acurately the present view. It has been said, “Confidence is what you have until you understand the situation.” I have found that when I become aware of the whole truth of something, I am often deeply humbled and I am embarassed because I thought I knew everything. I know you have never done that. When it comes to my determining if God is good, I find that I have no ability to judge that because I cannot see like he sees. So, I choose to trust and believe what he says. He is perfect in all his ways including what I don’t see or understand.
Again and again, we have been rescued from disasters of our own making. David’s statements of deliverance may have been a mixture of both poor choices that he made and maybe the choices others made that harmed him. One thing is certain, we can make our choices but we unfortunately cannot choose the consequences of our choices.
In this scripture, I imagine that David recalled the many times when God intervened in his life. He understood being not just feeling “whelmed” with circumstances beyond his control but he was “overwhelmed” by them. He repeatedly cried out for God’s merciful intervention because He knew God was good and gracious and full of mercy. He knew what it was to live in situations where he felt like he would die and he also experienced the joy of being in the land of the living.
Please note David’s question and response,“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” This is a statement of deep gratitude and thanksgiving. David’s heart was to honor his Lord even in the times of anquish and pain, not understanding the “why’s” in the midst of the trials. He knew that God is Good and he could trust him.
“I will lift up the cup of my salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” David highlighted God’s deliverance, his salvation. I will lift up the cup. I will tell of what God has done and how mighty he is. He put praise where it belonged it was vertical. He knew he did not deliver himself from his troubles and he knew that he could not make his world work. David excercised his humility because he had experienced pain because of his pride!
“I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” He was committed to keeping his promises to God. After all, God had kept his promises to David. The commitment to God was very deep in spite of his painful experiences.
Possibly today you are in a place of feeling exhausted from the battle. So many things may not make sense to you and you feel overwhelmed by it all. This is where faith steps in. Like David, we can trust God even when we do not understand the situations we find ourselves in. God will not fail you, he will not forsake you for a short time or a long time. He is not capable of failing because he is God! He loves you and he is committed to you. Hold on, don’t quit. You will soon see God’s salvation and in time, you will understand so much more than you do now. You are in a perfect place to offer in faith sacrificial praise to God because, he is good and he is good in all he does!
You are loved!
I love the genuineness of David’s heart in his writings. You never have to wonder what was he thinking? He consistently pours out his soul (mind, will and emotion). He was the real deal; real struggles in real trials and real victories were obtained. Oh that we could be so authentic.
Here in this verse he makes the statement, “Return to your rest, my soul.” This was an evaluation of his present condition having experienced stress on his mind, will and emotions, his soul. He knew there was a rest that he was presently not in. He was speaking to his soul as he was prone to do. Sometimes, all of us need to have a conversation with our own soul, especially when our meditations settle in self-pity or severe inward gazing. David was reminding himself of the truth that God is good!
For many people the concept that God is good is foreign. Often the wounds from the past or the present have aided in securing the belief that God is not good. The reality is that we evaluate and judge all things with the knowledge and understanding we have gained so far in life. It’s a very real perspective, but so limited in its ability to understand acurately the present view. It has been said, “Confidence is what you have until you understand the situation.” I have found that when I become aware of the whole truth of something, I am often deeply humbled and I am embarassed because I thought I knew everything. I know you have never done that. When it comes to my determining if God is good, I find that I have no ability to judge that because I cannot see like he sees. So, I choose to trust and believe what he says. He is perfect in all his ways including what I don’t see or understand.
Again and again, we have been rescued from disasters of our own making. David’s statements of deliverance may have been a mixture of both poor choices that he made and maybe the choices others made that harmed him. One thing is certain, we can make our choices but we unfortunately cannot choose the consequences of our choices.
In this scripture, I imagine that David recalled the many times when God intervened in his life. He understood being not just feeling “whelmed” with circumstances beyond his control but he was “overwhelmed” by them. He repeatedly cried out for God’s merciful intervention because He knew God was good and gracious and full of mercy. He knew what it was to live in situations where he felt like he would die and he also experienced the joy of being in the land of the living.
Please note David’s question and response,“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” This is a statement of deep gratitude and thanksgiving. David’s heart was to honor his Lord even in the times of anquish and pain, not understanding the “why’s” in the midst of the trials. He knew that God is Good and he could trust him.
“I will lift up the cup of my salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” David highlighted God’s deliverance, his salvation. I will lift up the cup. I will tell of what God has done and how mighty he is. He put praise where it belonged it was vertical. He knew he did not deliver himself from his troubles and he knew that he could not make his world work. David excercised his humility because he had experienced pain because of his pride!
“I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” He was committed to keeping his promises to God. After all, God had kept his promises to David. The commitment to God was very deep in spite of his painful experiences.
Possibly today you are in a place of feeling exhausted from the battle. So many things may not make sense to you and you feel overwhelmed by it all. This is where faith steps in. Like David, we can trust God even when we do not understand the situations we find ourselves in. God will not fail you, he will not forsake you for a short time or a long time. He is not capable of failing because he is God! He loves you and he is committed to you. Hold on, don’t quit. You will soon see God’s salvation and in time, you will understand so much more than you do now. You are in a perfect place to offer in faith sacrificial praise to God because, he is good and he is good in all he does!
You are loved!
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Good word, needed to read this, this morning.