Organic Devotion
Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 40:4
Focus: Psalm 40:1-17
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust.
Are you willing to trust God completely—even when it doesn’t make sense? Are you willing to praise the Lord unconditionally—even when life throws you a curve? Will you speak of his love and goodness gratefully—even when on the surface, circumstances would seem to indicate anything but his loving-kindness toward you?
Of course, committed Christ-followers always answer quickly and resoundingly with a “yes!” to those questions. But what happens to your complete, unconditional trust, like David:
When you find yourself in a “slimy pit” (Psalm 40:2)
When the will of God requires “sacrifice and offering” that are painful and costly (Psalm 40:6)
When your many “troubles” and personal “sin” have landed you in deep weeds, causing your “heart” to dispair (Psalm 40:12)
When there are those who want to “ruin” your reputation, “take your life” and make a public mockery of you (Psalm 40:14-15)
What happens then? Are you just as willing to trust the Lord and give testimony to his great faithfulness?
In a very real sense, neither good times nor bad days were relevant to David’s faith, because his life was anchored in something far better: the immutable character of a righteous and loving God. As a result, what you witness in David is profound trust in spite of difficult circumstances and unfettered praise in scorn of harsh consequences.
Both in private and in public, King David exuded the kind of organic devotion to God that came with no strings attached (Psalm 40:9-10),
I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD.
I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.
Throughout the millennia, here have been innumerable spiritual heroes, like David, who have exhibited that kind of organic devotion. One in particular comes to mind. In the year 155 AD, one of the early church fathers, and eighty-six year old man names Polycarp, a Christ-follower who had been discipled by the Apostle John himself, was burned at the stake. When given the chance to recant before the fires were lit, he said, “Eighty and six years I have served Christ and He has done me nothing but good; how then could I curse Him, my Lord and Savior?” Polykarp was one of the blessed who was martyred for his faith.
“Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust.”
Now that’s organic devotion! But you might ask: How was Polycarp so blessed, since he was burned to death? Where is the blessing in dying such a torturous, humiliating death? Well, Polycarp has been elevated to that eternal cloud of witnesses alongside David, while his executioners have been relegated to the dustbin of history.
You see, from this side of life, trust doesn’t always make sense, but from the eternal side, unconditional trusting bears the fruit of eternal blessing.
So yes, blessed is the one who makes the Lord his trust! David was blessed—so was Polycarp. I want to be one of those in the company of the blessed, too! Don’t you?
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