GETTING THE MESSAGE/Temporary trials and our eternal hope

GETTING THE MESSAGE/Temporary trials and our eternal hope

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Psalm 93 looks ahead to the reign of the Messiah, which means the ascension of Christ to the place of all power and authority at the right hand of God, after making atonement for sin on the cross and being raised from the dead.

In verse 1, we read, “The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.” When the Lord Jesus was in the world, he suffered at the hands of men. He was disrobed and nailed to the cross, but his death on the cross he endured voluntarily, and of his own free will. He was under no compulsion. He was a willing sufferer to atone for sin.

In his exaltation, he has unequaled majesty and absolute power to spread salvation to sinners to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 52:7 looks ahead to that time: “The Lord has bared his arm before the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

As a Christian, the fact that the Lord reigns is assurance of salvation. In Revelation 1, after the apostle John was frightened by the vision of the exalted Christ’s glory, the Lord said to him, “Fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of death and hades.” His glory means salvation to all who belong to him.

Verse 3 of the psalm show us the opposition there will be against the redeemed of the Lord while they are on earth: “The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.” The floods indicate opposition outside of our power to resist and overcome. 

In Revelation 12, the serpent “poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with a flood.” The flood of the devil can take the form of deception or persecution. The intent is to take the believer away from Christ and destroy his faith. 

We see from where our help must come in verse 4 of the psalm; “Mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!” The Lord is mightier than the serpent, not us. So, we must live by knowing our dependence upon the Lord. 

Men are dependent upon the Lord for all things. But there was a great difference between the dependence of a healthy man for the daily exercise of his sight and the dependence of a blind man upon Christ for the restoration of his vision. The origin of spiritual life is supernatural. It is a work of God’s Spirit. 

We are also dependent upon the Lord for the continuance and exercise of the spiritual life we have been given. He is the vine; we are the branches. We can do nothing apart from him. If the Lord withdraws his power, the believer sinks like a rock and is made to feel and experience his weakness and where his strength lies. It is not in anything he has attained and can call his own, but in the grace, power, and faithfulness of his Savior.

Jesus spoke of floods coming at the end of the Sermon on the Mount when he said that the wise man is he who hears these words of mine and does them. When the wind, rain, and floods came, his house did not fall. Faith that endures floods of opposition is a humble faith. Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

The poor in spirit know their dependence upon the Lord. One who knows he is destitute ascribes honor to Christ and has the foundation of true humility, which results in much prayer and a fixed dependence upon Christ and all that he has spoken in his word. The greater dependence we have, the greater notice we should take of that dependence. 

In verse 5, the psalmist says, “Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O Lord, forevermore.” Floods, troubles, and temptations will challenge our faith, but we have the sure word of the Lord to live by whatever our circumstances may be. The temporary trials we have are no comparison to Christ and the eternal hope that he has promised to those who love him.






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