To Encourage You

Psalm 119:133 “Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.”

Every person on earth has areas of weakness. Another way of saying this is that there are many things in this world that are stronger than we are. In the physical realm, one only needs to think about how much stronger some people are than others, but also, how much stronger many animals are than any person. Which one of us can stand up to a lion, for example, or an elephant, or a killer whale? And consider the weather. What control does any person have over it? No person can control the wind or the waves or the snow or anything else in our atmosphere.

Intellectually, we are all lacking in so many areas. How much about anything do we really know? In those areas where we may be so called “experts” we are perhaps more aware than others who aren’t “experts” in that field of how very much we don’t know. Speaking personally, although I’ve studied fish biology for most of my life, I know that there is a vast amount that I don’t know about fish, and certainly much more than I do know about them.

Emotionally, there are things that can simply overwhelm us. Grief, fear, anxiety – each of these emotions can take control of us under certain circumstances. And what about the spiritual realm? We are so weak in this area, each one of us to varying degrees. This is particularly exposed whenever we are tempted to sin, which is often. Even the greatest spiritual giants, like Israel’s greatest kings, David and Solomon, were very weak, spiritually. This became very evident in David’s life, who, although he was “a man after God’s heart,” caved in to temptation regarding Bathsheba, which ultimately led him not only to commit adultery, but also murder. And Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived (besides Jesus) fell into serious sexual sin and idolatry. If these men showed such spiritual weakness, how can any of us not recognize that we too have great spiritual weaknesses as well.

So is there any remedy? What hope is there for any of us? The Psalmist who penned Psalm 119 gives us great insight regarding this problem. First, he recognized and admitted that he was weak, to the extent that he pleaded with God for help. He knew that only the Spirit of God was powerful enough to provide the help he needed to resist temptation and sin. Jesus told us that “only the sick need a physician.” In other words, only those who realize their need will go for help to the only One Who can meet that need. We know that the psalmist loved the Word of God, where he could find that help. Proverbs 7:4 instructs us to “Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call insight your intimate friend, to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.” This wisdom and insight find their ultimate source in God’s Word. As we meditate on this treasure trove, our thinking will become more and more conformed to God’s thinking so that we can grow to hate sin, which He hates, and love the Truth and thereby walk in righteousness.

May God give us his strength spiritually, so we can live for Him and glorify Him in every area of our life.