PSALM 68
Sunday, 17 March 2024
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. -Psalm 68:19 [ESV]
The Psalm celebrates a victorious God! We have and serve the Lord GOD who is sovereign, Almighty and all powerful! His supremacy and authority are incomparable- none can stand before Him! Yet He is our Saviour, the defender of the weak and protector of those who trust in Him, the One who daily carries our burdens. The Psalmist writes at the end: “Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.”(V.35).
The Psalmist is reminded of the Lord’s deliverance of His people from their enemies. His protection and provision for them through the wilderness journey cannot be forgotten. He provided abundant showers and refreshed the weary (V.9) and finally settled His people in their promised land. The Lord is always happy with those who trust and rely on Him for their security and well-being. Psalm 31:19 NLT says: “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.”
Let’s meditate on our key verse. There are many who are weary and burdened today- weary from wandering away from God and His presence; weary from the toils and troubles of the world; weary of the events happening around us… Restlessness is extensive in our day. But this verse reminds us that we have a Father in heaven who daily bears us up! We don’t need to be weighed down by the burden of sin or the cares of this life or the pressures of anxiety—for if we are anchored on the One who carries our burdens, there is rest for the weary!
Christ Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt.11:28). For the one who is weary of sin, He is the Saviour who has paid the full penalty that should have come upon you so that you can be fully free in Him! His blood that was shed on the cross can wipe out every stain of sin in your life! He invites you to His rest today- to be free from the sins that held you captive all these years- would you truly turn away from them and receive Him into your life that you will enjoy His peace and walk in a brand-new life with Christ? Hebrews 4:11 says: “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”
To those who are burdened about life today and tomorrow, listen to what Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, ….Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”(Matt.6:25-27). If you are assured of your life hidden in Christ Jesus, He cares for you much more than you could ever do for yourself!
For those facing certain storms in life, the Lord will be Your shelter—“For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” (Isaiah 25:4). He is able to rescue!
Would you today enter into the rest that Christ Jesus offers? Let go off your burden and let Him bear it for you so that you can walk free in Him and with Him!
Prayer: Dear LORD please keep me in perfect peace as my mind is stayed on You as I trust You. Amen. (Isaiah 26:3)