Preservation
“Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.
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Your compassion, LORD, is great; preserve my life according to your laws.
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See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, LORD, in accordance with your love.”
Today’s Text: Psalm 119:153-168 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
The word of God is the testimony of Jesus Christ—the Living Word of God. The word of God contains in it the promise of God to have compassion on His people. The word of God contains in it the promise of God to love His people by redeeming and preserving His people from sin and death.
Does anyone have a right to demand such things from God? And the short answer is “yes,” but the answer is “yes” to those who are in Christ—that is, those who are in the Living Word of God. And that is because those who are in Christ, in the Living Word, live for the glory of God first and foremost.
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
- 2 Corinthians 1:20
God saves us for His glory. And those who live for His glory as the priority of their lives can “demand” whatever we want, because whatever we “demand” is for the glory of God.
Of course, God is not a genie. If we live for the glory of God, then we can accept whatever outcome God has in store for us, knowing that the outcome is for our good, for our preservation, and for His glory.
Through faith in Christ, God preserves us for eternal life, and so we live and die for the glory of God. We have eternal life in Christ, the Living Word. He has given us immortal souls. Our preservation is for the glory of God.
But if we hold onto this world, our hearts may become broken with overwhelming sorrow. For sure, we will experience sorrow in this life. But there is worldly sorrow, and then there’s godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow brings brokenness upon brokenness. Godly sorrow leads us to hope in Christ for the glory of God.
Father, You are the Giver of life. You are the Perserver of my soul. Thank You for saving me. I confess that sometimes I get overwhelmed with sorrow for lack of hope in You. But I know that You will preserve my life according to Your word, according to Your promise, according to Your great, great love for us. Preserve us with Your powerful Spirit in this life so that we might glorify Your name now. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
