“O bless our God, you people, and make the voice of His Praise to be heard—Who holds our soul in life and suffers not our feet to be moved.”
Psalm 66:8-9
When He is our “sure and steadfast Anchor” (Heb. 6:17-20), we need never fear when the Path grows slippery or dark (Ps. 73:2; 23:4).
Have you ever been hiking in the mountains during a rainstorm? If so, you know well how slippery the slope becomes in your onward trek. Every rock and root suddenly becomes an accident-waiting-to-happen when the once-firm soil begins turning to slip-slidin’-away mud.
The same is true during our “storms of life.” The day may start out bright and sunshiny, with nary a cloud in the sky; yet, before the sun sets the skies may grow dark and foreboding as claps of thunder echo across the valley and jagged streaks of lightning crash nearby.
These “storms” may come in the form of an earthshaking crisis: A pink slip at work. A car accident. An unexpected illness. The sudden death of a dear loved, friend or pet.
But, they’re still a storm nonetheless—leaving you “reeling to and fro and staggering like a drunken man at your wit’s end” (Ps. 107:27).
And, it’s in those distressing times when you must remember the Lord is near (Ps. 46:1) and “will not suffer (permit) your foot to be moved.” Never forget that the same One Who made the hills is the same One “from whence your help comes” (Ps. 121:1-2). And, He is also the same One Who “slumbers not nor sleeps. . .the Keeper (Heb. ‘shamar’—‘to hedge about as with thorns, guard, protect, attend to, watch over, etc.’) of your soul. . .and the One Who preserves (Heb. ‘shamar’) your soul in your going out and your coming in” (Ps. 121:3-8). Hallelujah!!
It’s important to also notice the anonymous author of today’s Manna reminds his readers (and us) of Who God is and how He has acted in the past (vv.1-7). Too often we forget to reflect on God’s Goodness to us in days gone by and to “count our many blessings, naming them one-by-one.” Yet, remembering and recounting them will calm our hearts as we remember “He is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Glory!!
There’s no doubt that our “fiery furnaces” (vv.10-12) are used by God to define and refine us as he moves us toward 24-karat status (I Pet. 1:6-7). And, even if we feel that God “has laid affliction upon our loins, making us to feel like we’re being run over by a herd of stampeding horses” (Ps. 66:11b-12a), we still must not “despise the chastening of the Lord or faint when we’re rebuked by Him—for the Lord loves those He chastens and will use it for our profit as He transforms us into partners of His holiness as the peaceable fruit of righteousness is produced within us” (Heb. 13:5-6, 10-11).
In everything we must say “Come and hear, all you that fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul” (Ps. 66:16). We will tell them how He delivered us, as the old Gospel song said, “Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the Blood” (v.12b). And, when it was all said and done, we will tell how He “brought us out into a wealthy (Heb. ‘revayah’—‘satisfaction, running over, to slake the thirst, take one’s fill, etc.’) place” (v.12c), which is really at Jesus’ Feet and in His Loving Arms.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated August 21, 2010
