Seeking The Nearness of God - Psalm 63:8

 

Psalm 63:8

My soul follows close behind You;

Your right hand upholds me.

    My soul goes where I go and I'm following close behind my Savior and my God. To follow close is to follow hard after, to pursue a righteous relationship with my God. It is to willingly choose to go where He leads, to walk with Him and not without Him. 

    To follow close is to maintain a healthy relationship with my Savior. To be so close He need only whisper and I will hear His voice. To be so near that when I brush up against Him, whatever has been ailing in me is healed in me. To be able to just lay my head on His shoulder when I grow weary. 

    His right hand upholds me. His Name is Strength. His Name is Mighty Fortress. His Name is Rock, The Chief Cornerstone. In His hand I reside and on His hand I stand and am made able to withstand all who come against me. His hand is refuge, shelter, hiding place. 

    Look at your hand. I look at mine and I see creases and wrinkles of flesh in my palms. My fingers no longer remain stretched out when I extend them: they tend to curl up or bend inwards. I am aging and so are my hands. But God's hands do not age. His hands are always strong, always perfect, always reaching out. 

    His hands are reaching out for whoever wants to be in the palm of His hand, in the shelter of His Love, in the refuge of His Grace, in the hiding place of His Mercy. He's reaching for you, if you are not already here with me, where I am upheld by His hand. 

    Though His fingers are stretched across this globe and through time, the palms of His hand are able to keep me upright and nearby. He will not drop me, nor will I ever want to leave Him. 

    Cup your hand. Turn it towards the light and let the light fall gently across your palm. That's us in the palm of God's cupped hand: The Light of His Love is upon us and will remain so, as long as we remain in His hand. 

    Isn't it wonderful to be this close to God and to know that He is The God of Right Now and Right Here? Yet, He is also The God Who Knows Everything (Omniscient). He knows what we are thinking. [Psalm 139:1-4; 1 Chronicles 28:9; . He knows what we are feeling in our hearts. [1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:10; Matthew 5:28]. 

    He is The God Who Can Be Everywhere At The Same Time (Omnipresent), whether we see time past, time present, time future. [Proverbs 15:3; Psalm 139:7].

    He is The God Who Is Almighty (Omnipotent). [Genesis 17:1; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 1:8; 4:8]. All power is in His hands: in His arm of salvation [Isaiah 59:16]. In His mighty right hand [Psalm 89:13]. 

    This is The God Whom I pursue. This is my God and I am His child. As the songwriter writes, He walks with me and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own. 

Guard Your Heart - - Understand His Ways

 

Hosea 14:9

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1870

Ways: commandments, journey, manner, distance, road

From the Hebrew word 'derek' (pronounced deh'-rek). This word 'ways' has a few definitions, but in this Hosea 14:9 the translation is "commandments".

    Hosea 14 is a call to Israel, to God's people to repent: to repent of their idolatry, their faithlessness (apostasy); to confess their wrongs to Him and to return to Him. It is a call to remember that their blessing lies with God; it is God who makes us fruitful, but only when we are faithful to Him.

    HIS WAYS ARE JUST 

Justice of God

Deuteronomy 32:4 "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He."

Revelation 15:3 "They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!"

    HIS WAY IS PERFECT

Perfect: Sound, wholesome, having integrity; without blemish or defect

Genesis 17:1; 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 18:30; Psalm 19:7

    Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." It is a call, a commandment, to be people of integrity. People of integrity have a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Perfect: Entirely in accord with Truth and Fact

Job 1:1; Deuteronomy 10:12

Joshua 24:14

"Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and Truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD."

    HIS WAY IS RIGHTEOUS

Psalm 145:17 "The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works."

    HIS WAYS ARE EVERLASTING

Everlasting: of long duration, from antiquity to futurity, from ancient times to times not yet, continually existent

Habakkuk 3:6 "He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: His ways are everlasting."

Revelation 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

    HIS WAY IS STRENGTH TO THE UPRIGHT

Proverbs 21:15; Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 1:6

Proverbs 10:29 "The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity."

Ephesians 6:10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."

    HIS WAYS ARE TAUGHT

Micah 4:2 "And many nations will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem."

    THE LORD SHOWS US HIS WAY

Psalm 25:8 "Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way."

John 14:6 "Jesus answered, “I am The Way and The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

    HIS WAYS ARE TO BE WALKED IN

Walk In: Live in, be obedient to, follow after

Isaiah 30:21 "And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is The Way. Walk in it.”

2 John 1:6 "And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, That, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it."

   To understand His ways is to know His ways AND be obedient to His Way. Many will say they knew Him, but because they refused to obey Him, He will know they are lying. 

Matthew 7:22, 23; Matthew 25:41; Luke 13:25, 27.

    The born again believer not only pursues understanding but follows the blueprint of obedience and blessing which The Lord has laid out for those who love Him. 

    I do not want to know everything about The Lord now. Knowledge is responsibility. Knowing what little I do know of The Lord Jesus Christ, I know that He saved this wretched sinner from everlasting death and brought me into everlasting life. So, I, too, encourage you to get into His Word, follow His Way and obey His will for your life. 

    Let us walk the walk and talk the talk: in the Love of God, in the Way of The Lord. 

Understand - Jeremy Camp

The Worth of Knowing You - Austin Bratton

I Have Decided To Follow Jesus - Lydia Walker

Simple Pursuit - New Wine