Weekly Devotional 22nd of November, 2024
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 22nd of November, 2024
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we will look at Psalm 115 the author of which is unknown.
Psalm 115:3-4 – “3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands.”
God reigns on His throne where He is high and lifted up (Isaiah 52:13), and from there He governs fearlessly. He is absolute in His will and infinite in His power. He is without injustice and resists those who have wrong intentions. No one has ever been able to thwart or hinder Him. He is above all the coercing, threats; vain comments and boasts; and false ambitions of all His creatures. No one can bribe Him or tell lies to Him about anyone. Although He loves and cares for us passionately – He has no need from us. There is nothing we can do for Him that He could not do for Himself.
Let us rejoice that this is our God. He is on a mission (the Kingdom of God) and beckons and calls to us to join Him in it, but He is not left vulnerable in any way if we choose not to. It is for our benefit and great joy in life to do that which He calls us to because we have been designed specifically for that purpose.
When this great drama plays out, which began at Calvary and will continue until the end of human history; the omnipotence of God and His immutability and faithfulness will be more than vindicated to the eternal confusion of His adversaries.
Although God is in heaven, He is not confined or limited to any locality, and nothing can prevent Him from accomplishing His purposes. The fact stated here that God can do whatsoever He pleases (V3) is of great importance. It infers that God is not only superior to all, but He can make everything work for His own glory.
Why does He not restrain the devil and all the wicked who set themselves in opposition to him? Firstly, it is only those in Christ who are fully under the protection of His great glory and power. Free will is given to all who would seek to turn their back on Him. This means of course, that the consequences of their actions will be reaped by such persons.
But, regarding those who are truly disciples of Christ, whenever it seems that He is not answering our prayers or acting quickly enough, we must choose to act patiently, accepting the fact that the delay will eventually be profitable to both us and Him. We must also accept that we live with the mystery of God in so many situations we wrestle with. The full understanding of His actions towards us and all the created order, will not be known until the return of Christ.
Verses 4-8 talk about the making of idols and tells us (V8) that those who make them will become like them. It is so strange that humans think they can make a god! Our God – the one true and only God, is a spirit who made the heavens and the earth. He is worthy of our worship, and it seems incredible to us that people will refuse to worship Him but will worship idols they have made with their own hands.
If we bring this thinking into the age that we now live in, we can understand why there is so much trouble and confusion in this world. Whether their god is a wooden idol, a marvellous statue, or a process such as evolution or the brilliance of human progress, we are left with the same problem – that it is impossible that any being other than God Almighty, can think out, plan or devise solutions to the problems of life, let alone create new products, pathways, and strategies. To do that God must be infinite, incomprehensible, immanent, and transcendent meaning that He is both outside of time and our experience, yet also knowable, perceivable, and personable.
Those who worship the one true God will find Him to be their help and shield (V11) and will bring great blessing and increase to them (V12-14).
Let us continue to pray that those we love and care for, who have not yet experienced the joy of knowing the one true God, found in the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, will discover Him and fall into His loving arms.
God bless you.