EXTOLLING GOD

Meditations in Psalm 138

THE CONCLUSION IN PRAISE

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"The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands."
Psalm 138:8

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WE HAVE been carried through this Psalm on ever increasing waves of praise to God. God has been praised because he is high over all; because he is full of love and faithfulness; because he answers those in need; because he gives boldness to those who trust in him, and courage in the face of our enemies; because he is worthy of praise from the highest on earth, even all the kings of the earth; because he looks with kindness on the lowly; because he delivers from trouble and guards our life in danger; because he protects from all our foes. From all this praise David comes to the conclusion of it all, which is such a wonderful blessing for God's faithful people.

SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS

David has a sense of everlasting safety in the care of God. He has proved God's care in the past, and this assures him for the future. David says, "The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me".

1. God has a purpose.

There is nothing haphazard in God, nor is there anything that is doubtful. God is a God of purpose. The Bible bears testimony to this purpose of God. His purpose is a broad purpose for the whole world, to which history is being carried, and this purpose reaches down to every individual believer in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul tells us the purpose of God for the believer in Ephesians 1:4-6. He says, "For God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One (Christ) he loves."

Such a purpose is sure because it is the sovereign good pleasure of God. A sovereign purpose made before the world was created and before we ever existed. It is sure because God knew us before time and had already purpose good for us. Because it was conceived in eternity, it is a purpose for eternity and is secure until the end of time and beyond.

2. God's purpose is good.

God's purpose is good because firstly it is a purpose of grace. It is a purpose of good to sinners because it is purpose not based on our effort or ability, not on the works which we do, but upon his unmerited favour. There could be no good purpose for us if God's purpose of good depended on our attaining a standard of excellence which befits the holy sovereign of all the earth; but because it is of grace, it is good because it bestows blessing freely and without merit on our part.

In fact God's grace takes into account only the good pleasure of his will. This is the second assurance that God's purpose is good, because it depends on his will alone, and his purpose to bestow grace upon us before the foundation of the world.

Thirdly it is good because it is a purpose that conceives that we shall be holy and blameless before him in love. This, in the first instant, has been accomplished by God in his beloved Son, who by the sovereign purpose of God became our surety, stood in our place, and was holy and blameless on our behalf, fulfilling the whole of God's holy requirements, both in his living in our place, and in meeting the justice of God fully in his death. In Christ we are presented holy and blameless before the throne of God, as the righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ, is imputed to us; and there is no accusation against us before the throne of his holiness.

But this purpose of God that we should be holy and blameless in his sight does not cease there, but is a purpose that we should be actually holy and blameless in our whole person. By the act of regeneration, God has raised within us a holy and blameless spirit which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. In this holy life within the believer the Spirit of God dwells. By this new life we are enabled to mortify the deeds of the body, and grow in sanctification in this earthly life. But God's purpose is to change our vile sinful flesh, and give us a new resurrection body like the Lord's resurrection body, which is free forever of the corruption of this earthly flesh. So shall we be holy and blameless, not only accounted so in Christ, but also actually so, when we stand before the throne of glory in eternity. This is the purpose of good God has for us, and it is a sure purpose.

Fourthly, it is a purpose to raise us to great heights of intimacy with the Lord. We have been predestined to be adopted as God's children. There could be no greater privilege and joy than this, which is to be welcomed into the family of God, and know God as our Father. It is to know that we are beloved in a very special way, and loved eternally.

Fifthly, it is the purpose of God for our future in this life. Our future is in the loving hands of our heavenly Father and so it will be good. This is what David, no doubt, had particularly in mind. He had experienced the good purpose of God in the past, and it assured him that God had a good purpose for him in the future. If God has set us on a course in life, we may be sure it is for our good. All things do work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose. Here, in this assurance from the Apostle Paul, we are reminded that we are called into God's family by God's purpose, and that purpose is good. Thus when things seem to be working hard for us, and the goal before us seems to be in doubt, we may safely say that God will not fail in his good purpose, and even the set backs of the present are working towards that goal.

3. God will fulfil his purpose.

This is the third assurance of David which made him know that he was safe in the arms of Jesus. He will fulfil his purpose for us and in us, both eternally and in the goals which intervene, because it is the pleasure of his will. Being the good pleasure of God, then he will never let that will be frustrated by us or the devil.

We may safely be assured that the work of redemption begun in us when we believed, will be perfected unto the day of Jesus Christ. We may fear when we look at the failings within us, but when we remember the promise of God, we know he will not fail to fulfil his purpose. He will fulfil it, for although we are called to make every effort to glorify God in our living, the purpose of God does not ultimately depend on our failing achievements, but on the sovereign grace of God, which provides all that is necessary for the accomplishment of our salvation.

The intermediary goals set before us in life, where we have been assured that we have progressed in the will of God, we may be sure that these will be fulfilled. So David having been anointed king of Israel by the Lord, knew that the Lord would bring about his coronation. When God had promised to make him king, David knew that God would be with him so that he would rule Israel in safety and succeed. When God said that there would never fail to be a king of David's line on the throne of his people, David knew this purpose would be accomplished, not just in the succession of Solomon, but in the eternal reign of Christ, who according to the flesh was after the family of David. He is now on the throne for ever, ruling is people in grace and truth.

THE REASON FOR DAVID'S CONCLUSION

David did not speak concerning this purpose of God without reason, and it is in this next sentence of our text that he gives his reason. It is that the love of God endures for ever.

This is a very blessed assurance. We are told time and time again in Scripture this testimony concerning the love of God, but as far as I know we are never told the same about the judgement of God. God's judgements do not endure because they are visited and then completed. We have also have instances of God repenting of the evil he would do against his people or some other nation. On the other hand never is it said that God has renounced his love in Christ.

God's love in Christ endures for ever. It was founded in eternity when he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. It was proved in history when the Saviour worked all that was necessary for the redemption of his chosen. It is proved every day as the Holy Spirit calls the chosen to faith and keeps them in the love of God. It will endure to glory where we shall be the Lord's beloved for ever.

It is the most amazing thing that in the purpose of God in redemption, it is that God wants us for himself, and thirsts for our love, and his love therefore endures for ever towards us. This does not mean we can presume on his love. Far from it - it is the knowledge of his great enduring love for us that moves us to love him, and gives us the motive and the power to please him, and further causes us to grieve over our sin. There is no power in the law. Far from encouraging obedience the Law, when pressed, insights disobedience. Paul testifies to this in Romans chapter 7, where he tells us that being told he must not covet, this incited him to all manner of coveting. God's enduring love for us is the great secret of holiness. When we appreciate his great love for us, our response is love shown in our lives for Jesus.

Never never let us ever doubt the enduring love of God for us. There are times when we have troubles and the wheels of life may be grinding slowly. At these times we may often be tempted to doubt the enduring love of God. Then when we have doubted, the devil comes with further doubt by suggesting that now we have doubted the love of God, how can we expect him to go on loving us. Answer the devil and our doubts with the words of David here Your love, O Lord, endures for ever.

PRAYER THAT IS SURE

The last sentence of our verse and this psalm seems at first sight to be out of tune with the strong faith of the previous two sentences of the verse, and indeed the whole psalm. This one sentence prayer seems on the surface to contain doubt and uncertainty, together with the fear that God perhaps will not continue his care, and so abandon his work. In fact it is nothing of the sort, but a very real expression of true experience, and as such is not only comforting and encouraging, but something, I guess, every believer can identify with.

Is it not true that there is a difference between the heights of faith and trust we attain in the presence of God, as we meditate on his word, and as we are brought to remember his goodness in the past, and the present with the unknown future which stretches before us. As we consider the future, we feel our impotence and frailty. We are faced with all the uncertainties of life. The greater the desire for the future, the greater looms the uncertainties. It is not that we have forgotten the past mercies of God, or that we are doubting the word of truth we have been strengthen with. It is rather an acknowledgement of our frailty and our utter dependence on God. Unlike the world, we have not confidence in the flesh, and we have a lively sense that life is in the hands of God, and the future is beyond our control.

One very good example comes to mind. In the church I was minister in before I retired, the growth of God's work demanded that we had to engage to build an extension to the building. We went forward in faith, and in just over two years the extension was built, and God had enabled us to pay all the bills on time. When I retired there was around £11000 to pay off on a loan, out of the £450,000 the project had cost. Even with this wonderful demonstration of God's provision and of his not abandoning his work, if I was called on again to face such a project, in spite of all the evidence of God's working, I would find myself still having to build up my faith.

David is not really doubting. He is expressing that he had no confidence in the flesh, and that his only dependence was upon God. He is praying and putting himself and his future and the future of the people he had been given to rule, into God's care a protection. In this prayer is deep down an invincible confidence in God, which all the rest of the Psalm has expressed.