Saturday, June 14, 2014

Psalm 31:19

Copyright Ó 2014 J. Neely
Psalm 31:19

19 Oh how great [rab] is thy goodness [tuwb], which thou hast laid up [tsaphan] for them that fear [yare'] thee; which thou hast wrought [pa`al] for them that trust [chacah] in thee before the sons [ben] of men ['adam]!  KJV-Interlinear

19 How great is Thy goodness, Which Thou hast stored up for those who fear Thee, Which Thou hast wrought for those who take refuge in Thee, Before the sons of men!  NASB

Who would throw away a mind boggling treasure by simply not engaging in a daily study, that is so easy to pursue?  Advancing believers, or Christians who are studying, and learning and advancing in their spiritual life, have benefits that non-advancing or pretending believers do not have.  This verse gives us the details of how this is.

Gods goodness is laid up, ‘tsaphan,’ meaning stored up, treasured up, in reserve, hoarded up as one puts aside food and resources in the fall for use in the winter.  And so, God has stored up resources, blessings, things that advancing believers, not pretenders, will, and do, need throughout their life.

For them that fear, ‘yare,’ meaning reverent, or respect.

Trust, ‘chacah,’ means to rely on, to look to, to have confidence, a place of refuge.

Wrought, ‘pa al,’ to have made, planned out, made arrangements before hand.

And so, even before you existed, God made provisions of many things for you and your life.  But those blessings and provisions only become active for you, when and after you have advanced or are advancing in your spiritual life.

Too many people live a life of works or pretense or stubborn resistance, and needless to say, never gain the benefits of the many things that God has pre-arranged for them.  They are left on the table, so to speak.

Before the sons of men, simply means, during your life.

After you were born, the only question before you was, whether you would believe in Christ.  A simple thought that remarkably many refuse to do for years and years and years.

Likewise, after many do believe in Christ, the only question is whether or not they will commit themselves to a daily study, and then learn and advance in their spiritual life.  This is the aspect of your life where you actually complete yourself as a person, as God has intended. 

Again, remarkably many will resist committing to a daily study, fully convinced that they can be approved by God, by not having to comply with Gods mandate, and by doing whatever it is that they do, on their own.  They do this for years and years and years.

Then there are the few, the only true minority among humanity, who want more, who want to learn, who will seek out, who will inquire, who will leave no rock unturned, to discover what it is that God wants of us, and will commit to a daily study, will learn, will comply with Gods mandates, and will grow up. 

And it is to these advancing believers, that Gods provisions will be utilized, and they will reap the benefits of Gods blessings.  Blessings that are available to us right now, not later in eternity, but right now, during this life in this world.

But too, this provision also applies to eternity.

It is one thing to lose out on the blessings of this life, but it is quite another to lose out on the blessings for all of eternity.  Those blessings are infinite just as eternity is infinite, therefore the potential loss is infinite.

Again, who would throw away such a mind boggling treasure by simply not engaging in a daily study, that really is not a burden for anyone?

Many people dream dreams and that is all they will ever be, just dreams.

Spiritually mature believers have dreams that become formulated by the doctrine in their soul and eventually they will achieve those dreams.

What are your dreams?  Will you ever achieve them and more?  Why?