July 25th
14The LORD upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down. 15The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. 16You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works. 18The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. 20The LORD preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever. Psalm 145:14-21 NKJV
In our walk with Christ we are likely to run into obstacles that can set us back. Let’s face it, the devil seeks to destroy our freedom and prevent us from experiencing life as God intends it for us. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV).
When the devil tries to steal, kill and destroy us, we must cling to God’s promises and rely on his Spirit for the strength to continue standing in faith. For example, we find several of those promises in the above passage from Psalm 145:
- The Lord upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down (under heavy burdens) (vs. 14)
- The Lord satisfies the desire of every living thing (vs. 16)
- The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth (vs. 18)
- God will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will hear their cry and save them (vs. 19)
- The Lord preserves all who love Him (vs. 20)
When we encounter adversity or temptation, we can claim these promises. We may even have to speak them out loud to ourselves repeatedly until we get them into our hearts. Our natural circumstances may appear to be falling short of what God’s promises say. By believing in the promises, we engage the power of faith that brings their fulfillment into being. This is usually not instantaneous, as God uses time and circumstance to build our character and strengthen our faith. James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4 NIV). If we can hang in there and not give up in believing, we will experience spiritual maturity and fulfillment of the promises.
Questions for further thought:
How can verse 16 be applied in fighting sexual temptations?
What is the condition for the Lord fulfilling our desire in verse 19?
What does it mean to fear the Lord? (Deuteronomy 6:2,24; Deuteronomy 10:12; Psalm 34:11-14)
Prayer:
“Lord God, I praise you and thank you for your precious promises that enable me to both escape the corruption of the world and participate in the divine nature. Thank you that you satisfy and fulfill my desires when I fear you. Thank you that you preserve me because I love you. Thank you for upholding me and raising me up when I’m heavily burdened. May you be praised and honored by all people! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”