#DailyDevotion Who Is Your Source Of Comfort, Help, Love, Kindness, Forgiveness and Patience?
Psalm 86 12I thank You, O Lord my God, with all my heart and honor Your name forever, 13because Your loving kindness toward me is great, and You have saved me from the deepest grave.
David thanks the LORD his God with all his heart and he honors His name forever. Why does he do that? Because His “chesed,” i.e. loving kindness, is great towards David. The Greek translation of the Bible translates this word ‘eleos, which means mercy. I really think the Greek word agape would have been a better choice but perhaps it wasn’t as popular a word two hundred years before the New Testament was written. It is the chesed of the LORD which saved David from the deepest grave.
It is indeed the chesed of the LORD that He takes on human flesh and in that human flesh, that He, the LORD Jesus Christ takes on our sin and our death to rescue us from the bottomless pit, the Lake of Fire. Would that we thank our LORD Jesus Christ with all our hearts and honor His name every day, showing our thankfulness in a life that honors the name He puts on us. His chesed, His loving kindness, mercy, steadfast love towards us, gives us eternal life so we may dwell in His kingdom.
14O God, proud men attack me, and a cruel mob wants to kill me. They don’t have any respect for You.
Those who do not know or trust in the loving kindness of God are proud people who attack those who live in the humility of the LORD. They hate God and because they cannot kill God they go after those who worship Him. They do not respect the LORD and they do not respect those who follow Him. We should not be surprised when people who are full of themselves oppose us because our humility stands in their way and condemns their hearts.
15But You, O Lord, are a merciful and kind God, slow to get angry and full of kindness and truth.
David recalls the name the LORD revealed to Moses again from Ex. 34:6. He is merciful and God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. If this were not so, He would not have waited 450 years to have the Israelites wipe out the Canaanites who heard Abraham, Isaac and Jacob preach to them. He would not have preserved the Israelites when they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, nor when they went after other gods when they inhabited the land He gave to them. He would not have sent prophets to warn them over a period three to five hundred years calling them to repentance before punishing them with the Assyrians and Babylonians.
16Turn to me and have mercy on me. Give Your servant Your strength, and save Your maiden’s son. 17To prove to me it is well, show a sign, that those who hate me may see it and feel ashamed, because You, O LORD, are my Help and my Comfort.
David desires the LORD to turn to him and give him His strength to save him. It is to be sign to those who oppose him so they would be ashamed. The LORD is David’s Help and Comfort. We too do not face our opposition with our own strength. Paul tells us to take up God’s armor. It is through the strength of the LORD we are able to stand in the day of trouble. Jesus is our Help and Comfort. All other helps and comforts fail us when He is not our very Help and Comfort. He may send other helps and comforts, i.e. faithful people, when we put our hope in Him. But we should not put our trust in them but in Jesus Christ alone who gives all good things to us.
Heavenly Father, grant that we may trust in Your Name alone which is manifest in Jesus Christ. You alone are our loving kindness, patience, forgiveness, help and comfort. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.