Psalm 31:16
16 Make thy face [paniym] to shine ['owr] upon thy
servant [`ebed]: save [yasha`] me for thy mercies [checed]'
sake. KJV-Interlinear
16 Make
Thy face to shine upon Thy servant; Save me in Thy lovingkindness. NASB
Our eyes often times
close to life when difficulties strike.
We see only the problems and we feel only the pains or anxieties. But as for God, His eyes are always open. He
sees everything. He misses nothing.
And so, even when trouble
is all that there seems to be, it is good to call on God in prayer, thus
opening up our eyes to our helplessness, to our limitations, and look to God
who has no constraints or limitations of any kind.
When we look around at
life objectively, all we should be able to see are the limitations that exist
in our life. When we review the previous
verse, then we should know that God is involved in everything that is a part of
our life. And putting the two verses
together, you should realize that there is far more to life than meets the eye.
Life is not just the sum
of your environment, or the sum of your intellect, or the sum of the silly
ideas that have accumulated in your mind.
Life is God, and specifically Jesus Christ.
We were born and then we
die, neither of which we have any control over. And after death, then what? Are
you prepared, or are you leaving it to chance?
When we look around at
life, at ourselves, at other people, then we should realize that there is a
higher power at work. Solutions always
seem to be around the corner. The bad
guys never get away with it. Something
or someone, always seem to come along at the oddest time, and things or people
who should never be a part of our life, seem to appear out of nowhere. Things that you could never plan yourself,
just seem to come together.
You probably have events
in your life that normally would seem impossible to have come together, but one
of the best examples of Gods protection when the odds seem beyond impossible,
is from history and the invasion on Omaha Beach back in June of 1944.
If you have ever seen
that beach, then you know that the Germans had all of the advantages. They had
years to prepare, and yet in under four hours time, the invasion breached their
defenses. Their phenomenal firepower did
not find their targets, while the Allied firepower did. The cost in loss of life could have been far
greater, but it was not. Thus the
saying, ‘If the bullet has your name on it, then that is all she wrote, but if
no bullets have your name on them, then something else is going on.’
Many years ago, we
studied Elisha, 2 Kg. 6:17, who asked to have his eyes opened so he could see,
and he saw the angels fighting all around, with flaming swords and such. And that is the best example of Gods work,
beyond our seeing.
We have protection, even
if we do not see it, and especially if we do not know it. God is always there in your life.
So do not focus on the
impossibility of your situation, whatever it may be, whether you are racing
across a bullet filled beach or battling a desk job, or suffering from some
weird disease that no one has named.
To you, your problem may
seem hopeless, but to God, it is an opportunity to demonstrate His phenomenal
power and control.
And that is what the
phrase, ‘save me for thy mercies sake,’ means.
When all seems lost, then
God can take charge and demonstrate His mercies.
But, and this is a very
big but. No pun intended here.
But, you have to be
functioning within the parameters of Gods plan, in order to benefit from His
mercies.
God can look down the
tunnel of time and see your future, but you cannot. So, do not bet on luck to get you through. Better to pursue your daily study and your
spiritual life in order to maximize your blessings and protections, and make
them certain.
As an unbeliever, all
problems that you face are intended to bring you to Christ.
As a dysfunctional
believer, all problems are designed to bring you to a functional spiritual life,
namely a daily study and so forth.
As a positive and growing
believer, then all problems are intended to reinforce your faith and accelerate
your spiritual growth. Better to be in
this position, than in the other two.
