Read Psalm 68:1-35
Forever, And Right Now
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
(Psalm 68:19)
Honestly, it took me a while to “get” this psalm. Not only did I have to read it through a couple of times, once I was within the psalm, I had to stop and restart several more times just to figure out what David was trying to say. I now have greater sympathy for those of you who are daily readers of this blog.
My conclusion: This is a great psalm! David is tracing the glorious history of God and his people from their mighty and miraculous deliverance from Egyptian slavery to the enthronement of God’s presence in the sanctuary in Jerusalem. By the way, that history covers several hundred years—years of ups and downs—but through it all, God showed himself to be glorious and most gracious to his people. All along the way, God always cared for his people and at the end of the day, led them inexorably toward a preordained victorious conclusion.
The testimony of history, then, is that the Lord alone is a great and gracious God. Therefore, we should always cast our lot with him, for in the long run, he always wins, and so do his people. When in doubt, put faith in the God of history rather than fear in the difficulty of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow. God is the God of forever!
Most of us, however, though we might appreciate the importance of history, are more focused on what is facing us today. And the question that always arises is if God is great and gracious for me today. And the answer to that concern is yes. That’s why, after praising God for his mighty and miraculous work throughout Israel’s history, David then says, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” He is not only the God of forever, he is the God of right now.
You see, history is simply a series of daily experiences. String enough daily events together, and you’ve got history. God’s historical track record is comprised of revelations of his mighty and miraculous character as well as demonstrations of his great and gracious work in the daily lives of people like you and me. And since God is always true to his character; since he is always faithful to his covenant, you can trust that he will bear your needs today and lead you inexorably to a foreordained victorious conclusion, too.
What is the takeaway from this psalm? Simply this: How God proved himself to his people, Israel, he will prove himself to you today. He has the history to back that claim up.
He is the God of forever, and right now!
Fear says, “God may fail me!” Faith knows He keeps His word.
Hitherto the Lord hath helped us; Doubting now would be absurd.
Dismiss your doubts and feeling, stand still, and see it through.
The God who fed Elijah, will do the same for you!
—Anonymous
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