#DailyDevotion Be At Rest In The Midst Of Trials
Psalm 116 7O my soul, go back to your rest, the LORD has been kind to you. 8You saved my life from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling, 9so I might walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
While everything may be going to pot at the moment, death may even seem near: Having prayed to the LORD and handing our problems to Him, we can, with David, tell our soul to go back to its rest. The LORD has been kind to us in the past and having heard our prayers, the LORD will be kind to us now. He will do what is right for us.
David recalls how the LORD had saved his life from death, his eyes from tears and and his feet from stumbling. He continues to walk in the land of the living. The Father also saved Jesus from death. It was after His innocent suffering, torment and death. It was in the resurrection. After a short rest in the grave, Jesus was risen and justified. The land of the living is the land of those who are resurrected to eternal life. We who put our trust in Him, though we suffer much and die, will also be raised on the Last Day and live in the land of the living, the kingdom of God.
10(I believed even when I had to speak of my suffering so much. 11I had said in my panic, “Everyone is lying.”) 12How can I pay back the LORD for all the good He has done for me?
So we see here, believing in Christ does not equal a calm and peaceful life. It does not mean everything in this life is going to go well for me. As the prophet Isaiah says of the man of suffering (Jesus), “He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Should we expect less, who put our faith in Him? Will we continue in faith despite our trials and tribulations?
Why would David say in his panic, “Everyone is lying”? Is this not because many are like Job’s friends who tell us, “If we just had enough faith, everything would be going well for us.” People often say, “If you had real faith, you wouldn’t have these problems.” All these people are liars. People of faith, God’s people, suffer much. Yet in this moment of conflictedness, we recall all the LORD has done for us. How can we pay Him back? We cannot pay Him back but we can be loyal and trust Him in the midst of all our trials.
13I will raise the cup of salvation and pray in the LORD’s name. 14I will fulfill my vows to the LORD before all His people. 15Precious to the LORD is the death of His holy ones.
David intends to lift up the cup of salvation and pray in the LORD’s name. This is a remembrance of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. When we take the cup of the LORD’s Supper, we should remember how the LORD Jesus Christ has delivered us. Jesus fulfilled His vows as He suffered and died. Jesus was precious to the Father and we who put our trust in Jesus are precious to Him as well. Our physical death does not go unnoticed even a sparrow that falls does so only by His will. He does not like to see our death, so He will raise us from the dead.
16O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maid-servant. You freed me from the ropes that bound me. 17With a sacrifice I will thank You and pray in Your name, O LORD. 18I will fulfill my vows to the LORD before all His people, 19in the courts of the LORD’s temple, in Your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
This is fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection. The ropes of death could not hold Him. He praises the Father with sacrifices of thanksgiving. He will fulfill His vow by raising to eternal life all who believe in Him on the Last Day in the heavenly Jerusalem. For this we will praise the LORD.
Heavenly Father, grant we remain faithful in all trials. Remember Jesus and raise us from the dead and usher us into Your kingdom on the Last Day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.