I will follow Jesus no matter the cost

Psalm 39:8-13

I meet with a younger man than myself on most Mondays, and you do not have to be very young to be younger than me.   This morning after checking on his family and his workplace where he ministers in the role of a general manager at a car dealership, Paul said, let me share Job 42:1-5 with you this morning.  It reads this way; “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.  You asked, Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’  Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.  “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” 

 I asked this question, what did you take away from these verses?  Paul answered, it’s about having a close fellowship with the Lord, if I move away from Jesus, I will not only not see His hand working in my life, but I will not hear His voice.  And let me add that was not the way Paul said it, but it is what I recall was the essence of his reply.  I remember saying something like God is so big, and His ways and thoughts are so much higher than mine, often I would be wise to  by faith to just listen to Him speaking.  But we both concluded, it is dangerous to speak about God without knowledge, but it is beautiful to seek His face with this heart attitude, I will follow Jesus no matter the cost.

To me, that is in keeping with the verses, from Psalm 39, that we are exploring today in verse eight, a desire to be free from all our sins, and the psalmist to escape the attacks of the wicked.  In verse nine, we find David not trying to defend himself against his many sins, so he keeps a check on his mouth before God.

In verse ten, we find Psalmist asking to remove the discipline from him for often, God uses the people of this world to bring one of His children to an understanding of sin in their lives.  David feared God’s discipline and we find in verse 11, why he is afraid that God will remove the things that are dear to him, almost as an after thought David states, all humanity is but a mere breath, and God gives or takes away.

I believe that if we understand verse 12, we are moving in the right direction; David is saying I’m just passing through this world, heaven is my home, and God has his attention.  David is not only aware of the sin in his life but has confessed, like Job, your ways are not mine, for what counsel can a breath say to the One that gives them breath?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice