Protected by God

 Psalm 16; I Peter 1: 3-9

Psalm 16 is written by a refugee who finds himself in a land that chooses to worship another god. The Psalmist however takes refuge in the Lord asking God to protect him from these others. He delights in the noble holy ones in the land who worship the true God. The terms used in verses 5 and 6 such as portion, lot, and boundary lines reflect what will be distributed in the promised land. In verses 8 and 9 he talks about God being at his right hand keeping him from being moved. Due to this his heart is glad and rejoices and his body rests secure.

This Psalmist is confident that God will not give him up to death instead God shows him the path of life where there is joy and pleasures forevermore. This use of “forevermore” brings up the concept of eternal life. Thus, the Psalmist feels protected by God.

The apostle Peter in one of his sermons to the Jewish people in Acts 2 quotes verses 8 and 9 of this Psalm his audience is familiar with. In I Peter, Peter is writing to several groups of exiles. He tells them in verse 5 that they are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation. He tells them in earlier verses that God has given them a new birth into a living hope – through the resurrection of Jesus.

He tells them about an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance kept in heaven for them. This inheritance goes along with the theme of a promised land brought out by the Psalmist. Peter talks about the various trials they encounter where their faith is being tested to prove its genuineness.

He defines faith as loving and believing God when we don’t see God now. So, what is the outcome of what many may call blind faith? It is the salvation of your souls. Like the Psalmist talks about fullness of joy – Peter talks about rejoicing with an indescribable and glorious joy. This salvation is not only from sin but from the death the Psalmist asked to be kept from. Our promised land is life eternal with God. Let us rejoice in our inheritance.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Join Me on a Lenten Journey

For those of you not familiar with Lent, it is a season of forty days, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of themselves for others. Easter comes early this year. Many of us not brought up in this tradition can still embrace its emphasis of focusing on the gifts Christ has brought into your lives and finding ways to share the love of Christ to others. This emphasis of love goes along well with the beginning of Lent this year, Ash Wednesday, falling on all days – Valentine’s Day. So whether or not you plan
Read more

Setting Your Hope in God

 Disclaimer: Paul talks about the Rapture in this passage a concept I still struggle with. I believe that once you die you go direct to the Lord, so bodies awaiting till the rapture to rise is hard for me to grasp. I can see how Paul was comforting the Thessalonians here but was his concept correct? Add any comments you wish to this bafflement of mine. That said, I wrote this per the text. What do you all think? Psalms 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18   The psalmist in Psalms 78 is not only telling his current audience to listen to his teaching but to pass it on from one generation to the next. Just like he has heard it from his ancestors, he asks the Israelites to teach them to the coming generations. They are to teach them to the children yet unborn so that these children will teach their children. Why? So, they should set their hope in God, not forgetting God’s works. Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is passing on this hope to the Thessalonians. The question these bel
Read more

Do What they Teach, Not What they Do

  Matthew 23: 1-12; I Thessalonians 2:9-13   Jesus when he talks about the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23 basically says: “Do what they teach but not what they do.” What he questions most is their motivation. They do what they do to be seen by others. They wear fancy robes and love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect. All this Jesus sums up in the word pride or not being humble. He states then that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Years later Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling how he did what Christ had instructed. That he was humble leading a life worthy of God, his motivation being for God’s glory not his own. He tells that not only are the Thessalonians his witnesses of this but God also. They have seen how pure, upright, and blameless his conduct has been. He encourages the Thessalonians to do the same. To live a life worthy of
Read more