Among
the Scriptures I’ve been studying, thinking about, and using in my prayers of
intercession is this Psalm 84:11. “For the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing does He withhold from those who
walk uprightly.” (NASB)
How wondrous and sweet is that
promise. Imagine, absolutely no good
thing will He withhold! Because God
is ever gracious to His children and because He is our guide (sun) and protector
(shield), He gives us, as it is written in 2 Peter 1:3, every good thing we
need pertaining to life and godliness. Wow.
But let’s go even farther with this
idea. Remember Jesus’ words to the
disciples as recorded in Matthew 7:11. “If you then, being evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in
heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?” And the apostle James writes in 1:17 of his
epistle that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or
shifting shadow.”
Of course, it’s crucial to
understand that these promises do not mean that God is our butler. He is not an
errand boy or a genie who is obligated to supply whatever we wish. Oh, no; God is the omniscient sovereign Who
knows what is for our forever good,
those exact things that will most bless and exalt us for all eternity. Thus, we can trust His character as well as
His power to give us what is truly best for us…always.
Do we get frustrated when it seems
that God doesn’t answer our prayers?
Sure. Do we wonder why His
distribution of blessings seems uneven, sometimes even unfair? Yes.
And do we chafe at the waiting process, the denial of self, even the
suffering that often precedes what will be the “proper time” of our exaltation,
as it’s put in I Peter 5:6?
Certainly. But the verses I cite
in the beginning of this note are among the many which remind us of the unshakeable
foundation upon which our trust in God’s mercies must confidently rest. We can rely upon our Savior to give us what
eternity will sparklingly reveal were the very best gifts we could have ever
received.
Our natural perspective is limited,
even distorted, by our desires for temporal comfort and happiness, for peace
and success. But the Lord urges us to
look further ahead than those temporal conditions and to calmly trust in His
kind providence. And, make no mistake,
God is looking forward even more than we are to the day when He completes His
gift-giving to us, to that victorious day when all things are reconciled to Him
and we enter into the everlasting splendor of the new heavens and new
earth. And, in the meantime, we hold on
to such glorious truths as Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us” and 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For momentary, light affliction is
producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”
Before I close my comments on Psalm
84:11 and the other “good thing” Scriptures mentioned earlier, let me also
emphasize their existential
applications; that is, their relevance to our walk in the Spirit today. For instance, the context of James 1:17 shows
that the good gifts that come from the Father of lights center upon the strength
and wisdom He provides His children to escape temptations. God’s good gifts sanctify us. They allow us
to turn from evil and to instead “prove ourselves doers of the word.” Also, Jesus’ question recorded in Matthew
7:11 is to encourage specific prayers of faith for maintaining holy, unselfish
behavior. And finally, Psalm 84:11
emphasizes that the good things of God are given to “those who walk
uprightly.” That’s a very important
condition for the blessings. Careful,
consistent, and humble dedication to God’s Word keeps the channels clear so
that He will pour out upon us all needed mercies.
How comforting these truths are. And challenging too. But they remind us of how glorious and
gracious is the God we serve, One Who gives us all good things to empower our
service to Him today and which will
be completed and added to in the forever life that awaits us. So keep praying,
dear friends. Keep trusting. And let there be a fresh spring in your step
today as you walk uprightly toward glory.
