*This Advent season of 2023, my family will go through the Psalms. It is our hope that this Advent series will center around the themes of Longing, Deliverance and Hope. We will see the beauty of Christ and God’s sovereign plan in the birth and salvation of Christ. I invite you to join us this Christmas.
December 6, 2023
“Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul. It is but a mockery to uplift the hands and the eyes unless we also bring our souls into our devotions. True prayer may be described as the soul rising from earth to have fellowship with heaven; it is taking a journey upon Jacob’s ladder, leaving our cares and fears at the foot, and meeting with a covenant God at the top.”-Charles Spurgeon
The visual of rising to meet with a God in heaven in the opening quote by Spurgeon brings tears. To imagine sitting at the feet of Jesus just opening up about all our concerns, fears and troubles is a beautiful picture. Psalm 25 allows us to see David rise to Christ in this manner. Meditate on Psalm 25.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
For your name’s sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
The amount of truth in every verse of this Psalm is humbling. David is hurting. He knows it is his own sin that caused much of this hurt. But David knows that God is the only redemption for this hurt.
In verse 6, David asks God to: “Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.” A more correct translation is “from eternity.” David knew God. He knew that there was not a time that God did not meet him. He knew:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.-Lamentations 3:22-23
“I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.”– Genesis 32:10
“But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21
“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”-Deuteronomy 7:9
“And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.”-1 Kings 3:6
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” 1 Chronicles 16:34
“Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever. Let Israel say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.'”-Psalm 118
“I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.” Isaiah 63:7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.-I Peter 5:6-7
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. -1 John 4:9-11
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
This is only a sampling of the scriptures sharing the love God had for us. The entire Bible tells a story of a God who would send a baby boy in a manger to save humankind. Why? Because His steadfast love endures forever!
Prayer
Father God, Thank you for sending Jesus, knowing he would lay down His life for us. Thank you Lord for being willing to live out a plan that involved dying for me! Thank you for allowing us to come to you with our troubles and pain. Help us to remember as Spurgeon said, “Prayer when it is of the Holy Ghost’s teaching is never selfish; the believer does not sue for monopolies for himself, but would have all in like case to partake of divine mercy with him.” Thank you for your never ending love and mercy! Thank you for Christmas and the beautiful story of redemption and love for us! Please hear those suffering this season and bless your children. Amen.
Additional Resources
Do a word study on “Steadfast love” to see all the times scripture reminds us of God’s love. Follow the journey from old testament to new to see how often God answers the prayers of His people.
Also, I may be a Poor Bishop Hooper fan-hopefully you are too!
