Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

You open your handand satisfy the desires of every living thing. Psalms 145:16 (NIV) Doesn’t it seem like our sadness and joy stem from unfulfilled or fulfilled desires? Consider what makes you happy. Is it not because some deep desire has been at least partially satisfied? This verse confirms that our desires are a good thing. We have them and God satisfies them; he would not satisfy anything that was not good. Thus, God has given us many healthy, constructive desires: security, belonging, wholeness, inner peace, inner joy, freedom, friendship, community, approval, physical pleasure, love, significance, purpose, value/honor, righteousness (goodness), justification, creativity, fruitfulness, and others. God gave us these desires because they are good and because he wants to fulfill them. He is going to fulfill all these desires in you, in this age and the next, and your joy will be immense. In this verse, we also see that Continue Reading →

The LORD is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and rich in love. Psalms 145:8 (NIV) In this verse the Psalmist recites Exodus 34:6 when Yahweh came down on Mt. Sinai and described himself to Moses. Yahweh made it clear that he was not a God who ruled by fear but by love. He was not impatient with people, looking for a way to inflict retribution on them. The Psalmist reminds us of God’s self-revelation with a cascade of adjectives designed to make us rest and rejoice in the compassionate love of God. These are God’s attitudes toward us and it is important to recall these on a regular basis. Do you think of God as gracious toward you? Do you think of God as compassionate toward you? Do you think of God as slow to anger toward you? Do you think of God as rich in love toward you? Try Continue Reading →

The upright shall dwell in your presence Psalms 140:13 (ESV) Old Testament Jews yearned to be in the presence of God. The best place in the world for them was Solomon’s Temple, where God dwelt in the holy of holies. Even though they could not enter the holy of holies, they were happy just to be in the courts adjacent to the Temple itself. To be in the courts was to be in the presence of God, and nothing was better than being near the presence of God. In his presence were joy and blessing. Under the New Covenant believers have something much better than the Temple! We have something even better than the holy of holies, which only the High Priest ever experienced. We have the presence of God inside us because we are the temple of his Spirit. Thus, we get to dwell in his presence at all Continue Reading →

The LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted Psalms 140:12 (ESV) All throughout the bible Yahweh expresses his heart of compassion for the afflicted, the needy, the oppressed and the unwanted. If you are afflicted then he will maintain your cause. He is your attorney in the trials of life, and he is the judge who rules in favor of you. You will not be afflicted forever; he will bring resurrection out of death. Consider the passages: He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring Continue Reading →