Are you raising children without a husband to help? You don’t have to go it alone. I often heard my mother quote this psalm in prayer after my father died. She was only 31 years old when she found herself a widow. She raised four children alone. Yet, not alone. She called on God to keep His promise to be a Father to her fatherless children and a Defender, a Husband, to her. I think He heard her prayers. My life and calling are a testament to her prayers and God’s promise.
The Church is the people, not the steeple. Paul said that we are being “built on the foundation” of the New Testament apostles and the Old Testament prophets. And that Christ Himself is the “chief cornerstone.” We are the church. Not a place, but a people. Jesus is not only its cornerstone, He is also its builder. As He told Peter, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). We are to “be” the church, while Christ “builds” it.
Are you weary and heavy laden? The Lord gave an answer through the prophet Isaiah saying, “Wait on the Lord.” There is a fatigue that afflicts both young and old. Days off and vacations seem to have no effect on this deep fatigue. Recreation and entertainment work for the moment, but when the distraction ends, the weariness returns. This is a spiritual problem and only spiritual help will do. Jesus said, “Come unto Me and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). We need the rest that only Christ can give.
Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith! As the Lord spoke through the prophet Haggai, “Be strong, do the work, and do not fear.” Trust God, do the work and leave the results up to God. Focus on being faithful, not being successful.
From Abraham’s time until that of Isaiah’s, the people of Israel had often looked to Egypt when they should have been looking to God. Trusting Egypt for help is a metaphor for trusting the world and human strength. Who are you trusting? Egypt or the Lord? Isaiah counsels us to look to the Lord!
The word “tutor” is from the Greek word from which is derived the English word, “pedagogue.” During the 1st Century, wealthy persons would hire a servant to tutor their children, preparing them for adult life. After graduation they were no longer under the tutor. In the same manner, the law is “our tutor,” showing us right from wrong, and teaching us that we are sinners unable to fully follow God’s righteous commands. This reveals to us our need for a Savior. The law does not save, it only instructs. And points us to Jesus. Jesus saves. Our diploma for heaven is not received from following the law, but from trusting in Christ, who has fulfilled the law on our behalf.
Written by David, this psalm cried out to God to lead him to a place that was safe and secure. When his heart was “overwhelmed,” perhaps by the attacks of enemies or by the disappointments of life, David cried out for a place where his heart could find rest and his clouded vision could be restored. We can pray like David. And when we ask for the “rock that is higher,” we have access to that Rock, which is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). He invites all those who are “weary and heavy-laden” to come unto Him and to find rest for their souls.
In this psalm of David, he spoke of a “banner” given to Israel by the Lord, that was to be “displayed.” In the armies of old the one who carried the banner or flag was among the most courageous of the soldiers. He was commissioned to carry and protect the banner, to keep it raised high in the sky and blowing in the breeze, so that all could see it. In Spurgeon’s meditation on this verse, he identifies the gospel as the church’s standard. I agree. We are to hold the gospel, the message of the cross, high over our lives. We have been given this banner by Christ and instructed to display it before the nations. Let us keep it lifted up, not allowing it to fall, or to be trampled in the mud. It may be bullet-ridden from the battle, but it is still the standard of truth given to us by the Lord Himself. Let us wave high the gospel banner over our lives until all the nations have heard.
Paul was concerned that the Christians at Galatia, who had received salvation by faith in Christ, were exchanging their faith for a focus on law-keeping. Those saved by faith are to live by faith, not by works. Yet this tendency still befalls many believers today. We recognize our sin and total dependence on Jesus for salvation, but then try to live the Christian life in our own strength. A focus on law-keeping leads to self-righteousness, pride and an inordinate comparing of ourselves to others. Living by faith in Jesus, we work, but we do so only according to Christ’s power. We work out what God is working in us (Phil.2:12-13). Our righteousness is us in Christ. And our life is Christ in us.
Live change requires that knowledge moves from our heads to our hearts. When we know better than we do, we still have only head knowledge. What we need is heart knowledge. Better to know and do one thing than to know many things and do none of them. “Apply” what you learn from the Word to your life. Put your heart into it.