Our Gracious King

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Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains,
From whence shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

This Psalm was the Psalm that I repeated over and over during the birth of our last child, Nicholas.  It gave me such great comfort because truly my help does come from the Lord and He is the only one who is able to sustain us.

Not only does our God tell us throughout His word that He is all powerful, that He loves us and that He works all things together for our good and for His glory.  That should be enough for us.  He also gives us many wonderful, comforting Psalms and relates stories demonstrating His goodness, kindness and faithfulness.

One of my favorite stories that show God’s love and kindness to people with imperfect faith and trust (just like me) is the story of Gideon.

You recall Gideon, his story is related in Judges  beginning in chapter 6.  When the angel of the Lord tells Gideon that he has been chosen to save Israel from the Midianites, Gideon is full of questions and objections

If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, “Did tnot the Lord bring us up from Egypt” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.

Behold, my family is least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.

Gideon then asks God for several signs so that he will know if God will do what God says He will do and God performs each sign for Gideon.  (Remember the fleece?)  Then after Gideon’s army has been whittled down by God to a mere 300 men, God tells Gideon,

Arise, go down against the camp (Midianites), for I have given it into your hands.

That could have been the end of it, God gave Gideon a command and told Him that He had given the Midianites into his hands.  End of story.  But, God was so gracious and merciful, He gives Gideon this,

But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp, and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp.

Gideon chooses this option and goes down to the camp with Purah and overhears a Midianite relating his dream to another and the interpretation of that dream is that God has given Midian and all their camp into the hand of Gideon.  When Gideon hears this he is encouraged and strengthened and obeys God and God gives him the victory.

I’ve been thinking about these passages lately.  I’m so thankful that God loves us enough to bring trials into our lives so that we will grow to be more godly and more like the men and women that He desires us to be.  At the same time, I am eternally grateful that He is our comfort through trials because honestly I’m a wimp and I’m often fearful and when trials come my way, if I did not have Him, I would never withstand.  I am not strong enough to just believe and follow.   I’m more like Gideon, I need that encouragement, that reminder, that reassurance that He is my help, that He will not allow my foot to slip and that He loves me.  He has graciously given all that to me and to you through His inspired Word.

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You may also enjoy:

1. Please Pray for a Grieving Family
2. Please Pray for Gideon
3. 90 Day Challenge: Day 23