Don't get me wrong when I say this, but this is a longer Psalm than I have time to deal with. I mean, come on, it would take forever to finish every last detail of these 22 wonderful verses. This is just what you have to understand about the Bible - there is too much good stuff to cover for how short life is (start studying now ... you will never reach an end of good study). Even so, the show must go on. We've got to cover something right? Right! SOOOOO ... Let's talk about Jesus. Let's talk about how He not only had the power to make the lame walk and the blind see but also the love and compassion to reach out to those people in the first place. Our God is an awesome God, but chooses to make Himself open to forgiveness ... ready to offer second chances ... joyful in the opportunity for new lives to be started in Him. BUT ... are you choosing Him or something else?
Verses 4-5 Imagine being on a freeway overpass about to go to school. You mom/dad passes the normal exit you would take to head to a long, boring day of learning. For a moment, you get unbelievably excited because you think that you're off the hook for the day - no quizzes, no tests, no challenges, no teachers, nothing to worry about ... until ... your driver turns onto the next freeway entrance (which is supposed to be an exit) and you find yourself in a minivan going nearly 100 miles per hour in the wrong direction on the highway. DANGER. EXPLOSION. BIG ACCIDENT. HOSPITAL ... and you still make it in time for school. What a day right? Well here's the deal. The truth about God's plan for your life is that it's not always going to be fun or easy. Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts. There's a big difference here between getting what you want and what God wants for you. If you delight yourself in the Lord, your heart will grow to be like His - His desires for your life become your desires for your life. The fact of the matter, though, is that God doesn't force his desires upon us (which is key in understanding the existence of both "free will" and God's plan for your life"). You basically have two choices - follow God's plan for your life, no matter the difficulty you may face OR make up your own plan (after all, you are a genius right?) ... and then SELF-DESTRUCT! If you make plans for your life, they will never work out the way you intended them to... but there is an almighty God whose plans for you are filled with promises of a bright future and the hope of salvation (Jeremiah 29:11). So VERSES 4-5 shows the mindset that we ought to have. We've been forgiven - just like Jesus cleansed the lepers, just like he made the blind see and the lame walk - His work on the cross has taken your rotten life and provided you with a second chance. This is not to say that sin itself passes away, but we choose a lifestyle in Christ rather than in sin. In Galatians it says - It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Think about the lives that Jesus touched - the radical transformation that took place in all the people who were healed. Do you feel you've been set free? Do you feel that you have tasted God's grace? These men had - and Christ said to the majority - "your faith has made you well."
Verses 4-5 SO, you probably thought we were moving on right? Well too bad ... buckle up and let's keep movin'. Right, so Jesus said "your faith has made you well." These men, for the most part, had faith enough to know that Jesus could make their lives whole - that Jesus could make their "story" a million times greater than it was. How do you feel about what God is doing in your life? Do you feel bummed out about Jesus? Well ... rethink your priorities. David says "Show me your ways Oh God ... teach me your paths." Why? Because God is the God of our salvation. He saved me. He saved you. How much more would a person have to do to have your trust? How much more would God have to do for you to pick up a life that glorifies Him? There's this song called "Let Everything that Has Breath" that says:
Praise You when I'm laughing,
Praise You when I'm grieving,
Praise You every season of the soul.
Maybe you are hurting right now ... who better to go to than the God that knit you together in your mother's womb? (Psalm 139:13) Maybe you're in a very comfortable time in your life right now. Praise God, right? In all situations in life, God asks that we give him the wheel. God asks for faith (trust) ... with which He will do great and mighty things. In fact, Habakkuk tells us that God is planning to do things in our lives that we wouldn't even believe if we were told (Hab. 1:5). How crazy is that? The God of the universe ... the creator of all ... wants to do a work in you. Let Him.
Chapter 25 If you read the rest of the Psalm, you'll really see how much David trusted God. He put his life in the Lord's hands for joy, mercy, restoration, peace, deliverance, and all sorts of things that we've talked about in the last 25 weeks (crazy huh?). It's almost like David made himself to have the attitude of a blind man. He made himself nothing, cause he knew the power that our God has. Why did the blind men call out to Jesus? Why did the lame men crawl to his feet? Because ... in our weakness, God is always strong. When our plan fails us and we turn our hope to God, He always has a plan to pick us back up on our feet (Isaiah 40:13).
Hope to see you all this week!
-Chris
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