God who gives power and strength to us (2)
[Psalms 68:19-35]
In order for us to live our Christian life rightly, we must get to know ourselves properly. In other words, we must deeply realize that we are sinners. In Ezekiel 16:14-15, 26, 28-29 that I meditated during this morning prayer meeting, God is pointing out the sins of the Israelites through the prophet Ezekiel: “… for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you, … But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame … you were not satisfied … you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied … yet even with this you were not satisfied.” The Israelites trusted in their beauty and played the harlot because of their fame but they were not satisfied by committing harlotry with the Egyptians (v. 26), the Philistines (v. 27), the Assyrians (v. 28), and the Chaldeans (v.29). They committed the sin of spiritual adultery by abusing God's blessings (beauty and fame) and didn’t glorify God. Just as the Israelites in Hosea's day committed spiritual adultery while receiving the rich blessings from God and offered them to Baal, the Israelites in Ezekiel's day also committed spiritual adultery. The prophet Ezekiel compared the Israelites to the prostitutes women, and said that they were the opposite of others in their prostitution in a way that they gave payment and none was give to them (v. 34). Isn't there such sinful appearance of the Israelites in us? I think we are no different. Both the Israelites and we are just mere human. Our sinful natures, like the Israelites, commit spiritual adultery, and we can never be satisfied. The reason is because God has set eternity in our hearts (Eccl. 3:11). Therefore, as new creations in Jesus, we can be satisfied only when we seek eternal things. No matter how much we pursue sinful momentary worldly things, we cannot be satisfied like the Israelites.
I want to be more disappointed with myself, even in despair as I see myself in the image of the Israelites in Ezekiel 16. The reason is because only when I am in despair I will desire God and hope only in Him. Even today, I feel helpless and incompetent in the fight against myself, so I rely on God's strength and power. As we continue to meditate on the remaining two points about what kind of God is God who gives us strength and power, I hope and pray that we experience God's grace.
Second, God who gives power and strength to us is the God who saves.
Look at Psalms 68:20 – “Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.” The Lord who daily bears our burdens is also the God who saves (vv. 19, 20). That God of salvation delivers us from our enemies. David teaches us few things about these enemies:
(1) It is a fact that our enemy is also the enemy of the Lord.
Look at Psalms 68:21a – “Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies ….” Here David is speaking of “his enemies”. That means our enemies are the enemies of the Lord.
(2) It is the fact that our enemies are those who go on in their sins.
Look at Psalms 68:21 – “Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.”
(3) It is the fact that the purpose of our enemies is our death.
Look at Psalms 68:20 – “Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.” As David says here, the purpose of our enemies is “death”. David is saying that God who gives us strength and power saves us from these enemies.
Our God is the God who delivers us from death and leads us to life (v. 20). And He is the God who crushes our enemies (v. 21). The God who saves us finds and punishes our enemies even if they hide in the mountains and under the sea (v. 22, Park). God is promising the Israelites to destroy His enemies (v. 23). Therefore, David prophesied that he would see the procession of his God, his King, into the sanctuary (v. 24) when the Lord destroys His enemies, He triumphs and saves the Israelites.
Therefore, David said that what all the Israelites should do is to bless God: “Bless God in the congregations, Even the LORD, you who are of the fountain of Israel” (v. 26). Because of God's destruction of his enemies, David exhorted the Israelites: “But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, Whose name is the LORD, and exult before Him” (vv. 3-4). This is what Nehemiah 8:10 says, “… for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” We must rejoice in the God of salvation. And we must restore the joy of salvation that He gave us. Through that joy of salvation, God gives us strength and power.
Third and last, God who gives power and strength to us is the God of power.
Look at Psalms 68:34 – “Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies.” God is the God who daily bears our burdens and the God who saves us (vv. 19, 20). And He is the God who controls all our enemies by giving us strength and power with the joy of salvation. What is the power that God gives us?
(1) It is the power of grace.
We can see that David relied on God's grace when he prayed that God would strengthen the grace that God had already given to the Israelites in the past (v. 28). Like David, we must fight against ourselves, the world, sin, and Satan, our enemies, by the grace of God. We must endure spiritual battles with the power of God's grace.
(2) It is the power of dedication.
Look at Psalms 68:29 – “Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts.” We must dedicate ourselves to the Lord as we are and engage in spiritual battles.
(3) It is the power of assurance of victory.
Look at Psalms 68:30 – “Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.” We must engage in spiritual battles with the assurance that the battles belong to God and that He will triumph.
(4) It is the power of praise.
Look at Psalms 68:32 – “Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, Selah” We already know the work that appears in Acts 16 where Paul and Silas prayed and praised in prison.
This is what Apostle Paul said to his spiritual son Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (1 Tim. 1:7). We aren’t people who live in fear. The reason is because what God has given us is power, love, and discipline. Therefore, we must overcome ourselves, sin, the world, and Satan with the power that God gives us. Then we must proclaim the power to God (v. 34).
I sometimes share QT with several brothers and sisters in Christ via e-mail. I n the midst of sharing this week, a deacon also sent an e-mail to share with me the grace he received during his trip to China. The core of that content is, in my opinion, ‘relaxation’. It is like a person who can't swim, who desperately needs someone to save him, relax and stay still when another person comes to save him. The deacon learned relaxation through his trip to China. Yes. We need to relax a little. We have to feel our helplessness and incompetence. Then we can experience the power and strength of God. Our God, who gives us strength and power, is the Lord who daily bears our burdens, the God of salvation, and the God of power. Because of this God, we can live with His strength and power today
Living by the grace of God who gives us strength and power,
James Kim
(With heart of praising God who is my strength)