Weekly Devotional 1st November, 2024
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 1st of November, 2024
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we will continue to look at Psalm 111 the author of which is unknown.
Psalm 111:5-8 – “5 He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever.6 He has made known to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the nations. 7 The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They are upheld forever and ever; They are performed in truth and uprightness.”
Here we see just how seriously God takes the covenant He has made with His people – today that refers to all of those who are in Christ. God has made ample provision to take care of all the needs of His people. We may have a different opinion than God on just what those needs (wants) are but the wisdom writer gets it right when he says,
Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I am not full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or that I am not in want and steal, And profane the name of my God (Proverbs 30:8-9).
God has always given His people all that they needed and because He is a generous and loving God – His provision or portion to us is always large and liberal. He adds His reassurance of this here by referring to the covenant He made with Abraham where He took it upon Himself to meet every condition of it (see – Genesis 12).
Verse 5 assures us that God is never weary in showing kindness to His people, He says that He will always remember His covenant. This is repeated in Verse 6, which is a continuation of what He is saying in Verse 5 – where He refers us back to the demonstration of His power which He has made known to His people so that they can be assured that ultimately all the nations will be part of our inheritance. There is nothing too hard for God, despite what we may think when looking at the ways of the world. He can (and has in times past) change a nation in a day.
Despite some of the difficult times each of us goes through, we can be certain that God monitors them, restricts them from becoming too much for us and always comes through for us when we need Him. Even if we have been unfaithful to Him, God will always be faithful to us, by promising us that even His discipline will work together for our good.
Verse 7 promises us that He will always act in ways that protect His truth and justice and that His ways are always sure. This also should lead us to praise him, since it is of the utmost advantage to us to live under a sovereign God whose laws, decrees, acts, and deeds are the essence of truth and justice. All that he has appointed shall surely stand, and His precepts which He has proclaimed, are a joy for us to obey and embrace for they are founded in justice and are meant for our lasting good.
Verse 8 reminds us that we must walk in His ways of truth and righteousness because it is only here that we will discover all the blessings that He has for us.
We can put all this together and say that in both challenging times and times of blessing, we need to take our eyes off our present situation or circumstances and focus on the incredible works of the LORD. God is more powerful than even our most difficult trials or our most amazing achievements. Recalling what God has done in the past, and reminding one another of it, strengthens us in our present problems and humbles us to remember who it is we must thank for all the blessings of our lives.
It may be good for us to pray more regularly and ask God to reveal more of His power revealing where He is working in the times that we live in. Only His great power can change many things that are happening around us, but we can be assured that nothing will prevent it from being accomplished in His due season.
May God bless you.
Bruce Billington