God Who Gives Us Strength and Power (2)

[Psalm 68:19-35]

In order to live a proper faith life, we must come to truly know ourselves. In other words, we must deeply realize that we are sinners. During this morning’s early prayer meeting, as I meditated on Ezekiel 16:14-15, 26, 28-29, God, through the prophet Ezekiel, points out the sins of the people of Israel as follows:
“… The glory I gave you was complete… but you trusted in your beauty and committed harlotry because of your fame… you were not satisfied with your lust… you committed harlotry without restraint, not knowing when to stop.”

The people of Israel trusted in the complete glory God had given them and, because of their fame, committed harlotry with the people of Egypt (v.26), Philistia (v.27), Assyria (v.28), and Babylon (v.29), yet they were never satisfied. They abused the blessings (glory and fame) God had bestowed on them by using them not for God’s glory but for spiritual adultery. Just as in the days of Hosea, when Israel, having received abundant blessings from God, offered them to Baal and committed spiritual adultery, so too in Ezekiel’s time did Israel commit spiritual adultery.

The prophet Ezekiel likened them to a promiscuous woman, saying that their “depravity is not like that of other women, because no one seeks you to prostitute themselves to you, and you did not receive payment but gave it away” (v.34).

Do we not also carry such sinful images within ourselves? I believe that humans are not so different. Whether Israel or we, we are the same—mere humans. Our sinful nature leads us to spiritual adultery like Israel did, but we can never be satisfied. This is because God has given us a heart that longs for eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Therefore, as new creations in Jesus, only when we pursue the eternal can we find satisfaction. No matter how much we pursue sinful and fleeting worldly things, like Israel, we will never be satisfied.

When I see the image of Israel in Ezekiel 16, I want to look at myself, feel even greater disappointment, and even despair. Because it is only when I am desperate to that degree that I can long for and hope only in God.

Today, in my ongoing struggle with myself, feeling powerless and weak, I rely on God’s strength and power.

Continuing from last Wednesday and today, as I meditate on the remaining two aspects of the God who gives us strength and power, I pray that we may experience the grace God gives us.

Secondly, the God who gives us strength and power is the God of salvation.

Look at Psalm 68:20: “God is to us a God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.”
The Lord who carries our burdens every day is also our God of salvation (verses 19 and 20).

This God of salvation rescues us from our enemies. Regarding these enemies, David teaches us several facts:

(1) Our enemies are also the Lord’s enemies.
Look at the first half of Psalm 68:21: “The head of his enemies…” Here David says “his enemies,” meaning that our enemies are also the Lord’s enemies.

(2) Our enemies are those who continually commit sinful acts.
Look at Psalm 68:21: “The head of his enemies, even the hairy scalp of such an one as continue in his trespasses, the Lord shall smite.”

(3) The purpose of our enemies is our death.
Look at Psalm 68:20: “God is to us a God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.”
As David states, the purpose of our enemies is death. David says that the God who gives us strength and power saves us from these enemies.

Our God rescues us from death and leads us to life (verse 20), and He is also the God who “smites and breaks” our enemies (verse 21).

The God who saves us will find and punish our enemies even if they hide in the mountains or under the sea (verse 22, according to Park Yoon-sun). He has promised to destroy the enemies of Israel (verse 23).

Therefore, David prophesied that he would see the Lord, “my God and my King,” marching in the sanctuary (verse 24), acting to destroy the enemies and save the people of Israel.

Thus, David says that what the people of Israel ought to do is to bless God: “Ye that are of the spirit, bless the Lord in the congregation of the people, even the fountain of Israel” (verse 26).

Because God brings ruin to His enemies, David exhorts the people of Israel: “Let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains…” (verses 3-4).

Nehemiah 8:10 says: “The joy of the Lord is your strength…”

We must rejoice in the God of salvation and recover the joy of salvation He has given us. Through that joy of salvation, God gives us strength and power.

Lastly, thirdly, the God who gives us strength and power is the God of power.

Look at Psalm 68:34: "Ascribe strength to God; His majesty is over Israel, and His strength is in the skies."

God is the one who bears our burdens and also the God who saves us (verses 19 and 20). He is the God who gives us strength and power through the joy of salvation and controls all our enemies.

What kind of power does God give us?

(1) The power of grace.
When David prays that God would strengthen the grace He had already given to the people of Israel in the past (verse 28), we see that David relied on God’s grace. Likewise, we must fight against our enemies—ourselves, the world, sin, and Satan—by God’s grace. We must endure spiritual battles with the power of God’s grace.

(2) The power of dedication.
Look at verse 29: “Kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.”
We must present ourselves to the Lord just as we are and engage in spiritual warfare.

(3) The power of the assurance of victory.
Verse 30 says: “You have rebuked the beasts of the reeds, the herd of bulls, with the calves of the peoples. You have crushed the bronze serpent underfoot; you have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.”
We must enter spiritual battle with the assurance that the war belongs to God and that He will grant us victory.

(4) The power of praise.
Verse 32 says: “Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides through the deserts. His name is the LORD; exult before Him!”
We are already familiar with the story in Acts 16 where Paul and Silas prayed and praised God in prison.

The apostle Paul says to his spiritual son Timothy: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
We are not people who live in fear, because God has given us power, love, and self-discipline.

Therefore, we must fight and overcome ourselves, sin, the world, and Satan with the power God gives us. Afterward, we must give the glory and power back to God (verse 34).

I sometimes share QT (Quiet Time) through this email with several brothers and sisters. During one of these sharings, a certain deacon sent me this email to share the grace he received during his trip to China.

The core of his message, I think, is about “letting go of strength.” Just like a person who cannot swim and is drowning by the sea, instead of desperately struggling to survive, when the rescuer comes alongside, they need to relax and stay still. This deacon learned to “let go of strength” through his trip to China.

That’s right. We need to let go of some of our own strength. We must deeply feel our own helplessness and weakness. Only then can we experience God’s strength and power.

The God who gives us strength and power is the Lord who carries our burdens daily, the God of salvation, and also the God of power. Because of this God, we can live today with strength and power.

Living by the grace of the God who gives us strength and power,

Pastor James Kim
(With a heart praising “Jehovah, my strength” God)