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“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

This may be one of my favorite promises from God. I had never before really paid attention to the surrounding passages in context with it but they just make it all the richer and encouraging. God is saying here that just like He sends out the rain and snow down from heaven and that they have a job to do when He sends them so He sends out His word. Rain and snow fall down from heaven. And it does not return back to heaven until it has accomplished watering the earth. We would not have flowers and plants and vegetables without water. The earth would not grow with no water. So the water that comes down from heaven has a job to do. 

God says it’s the same with His word. His word has a job to do when it is spoken, or read, or preached, or taught! And it does not return to him empty, or as other translations say void. The Amplified version carries that void on to say useless, without result. This is what has always been a favorite and an encouragement to me. This is why we want to open our church doors with no judgment on people to come in. And we want the spoken word of the Lord to do it’s work. I have heard testimony after testimony of God’s word piercing someone’s heart that seemed way too far gone to us humans. God is making a statement here, a promise that not only does His word not return to Him void, empty, or useless but it WILL accomplish that which He purposes and it will succeed! I don’t know about you but that is really encouraging for me. For the people I pray for to GET IT! For the people I have prayed for that they will walk with Him to an abundant and better life. And for me! I believe that God’s word still has a work to do in me and that it will until the day I go home to be with Him! 

Looking at this promise reminds me of another verse over in Hebrews chapter 4 

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

God’s word is alive and it has a work to do in our own lives as well as the lives of those we love and sometimes those we don’t love. Sometimes it’s hard to think that God’s word is for even the most heinous people but it is and it can pierce any soul it chooses. I love the way this verse in Hebrews says it will discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart But it also convicts me, at the same time, because I am sure there are times that my heart’s intentions are not what they should be. God’s word has a work to do in my life and in your life too. My prayer is that I will not hinder it’s work and growth in me! 

The next promise we will look at came to Israel. He is reminding them that they are His chosen people. But in speaking of Jacob the one who was conniving and sometimes untrustworthy as well as Abraham, who God called a friend that there was a family relationship. God is reminding them that they are His servants, He chose them and that they are not cast off. Even when they wonder and maybe feel far from God they are not because He is with them wherever they go! 

“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off’ fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God’ I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:8-10

But let’s not forget that this promise is for us too because we have been adopted into the family of God. 

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15

This passage is both a command and a promise. When God says “fear not” we are to take that seriously. We who belong to God are not to live in fear and be riddled with anxiety. We are to place our trust in Him and remember that He is with us no matter what is happening. That doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen but that He will walk us through them when they do. Life is hard! We live in a broken, fallen sinful world. But when we belong to Christ, and have been adopted into the family of God, then we have God with us no matter what is happening. Fear is a scare tactic of Satan. If he can get us to fear then he is undermining our relationship with God. 

The last part of this promise says “I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” In reading and studying this verse a point was made in my commentary that many people worship idols that are made from wood or stone. These idols sometimes have to be tied to something or propped up. But our God holds us up, with His righteous right hand! 

Now I know in our culture most people I know would not be worshipping an idol that was a statue. But we have our idols that we worship too. Some people worship their jobs. They put so much time and attention into their job that it can become an idol to them. Some people worship their cars, if they aren’t careful they think that is a status symbol to show the world they have arrived. Homes can be that way too. And I am sure there are many more things or sometimes people that we put on a pedestal. We don’t think of it as idol worship but if it is more important than your relationship with God, that is what it is. 

But our God holds US up, we don’t hold Him. He is there to help us walk through this life. He is there to give us strength for each day ahead of us. He is there to show us the way in which we should walk and He is there for us to trust and not to fear. When we walk out our days in fear and unbelief we are not trusting Him. It’s like snubbing our nose at who God says He is. I have been guilty of this. And it grieves my heart so much to remember the times I have been guilty of it. It’s like saying that what Jesus did on the cross to bring me into His family was not enough for me to trust Him. I don’t want to be guilty of that anymore. I don’t want to walk in fear of what tomorrow holds. I just want to rest in the promise that no matter what comes my way that my God is going to give me strength and He is going to hold me up with His righteous right hand! 

Let’s go a little further into the Old Testament today to our friend David. We have heard it said that David was a man after God’s own heart. Yet David was not a perfect man. He had a relationship with God but David sinned and he was a man of war. He had gone into battle himself. He sinned with Bathsheba and committed murder. He had her husband killed when Bathsheba was pregnant with David’s child to cover his own iniquity. Yet, when David sinned, he repented and would take steps directed by God to make it as right as he could. David loved God and because of his love for God it bothered David that he lived in a palace and that the Ark of the Covenant lived in a tent. So David decided that he wanted to build a house for God. David had an advisor, a prophet Nathan who he would consult with on such matters. Nathan, the prophet at first said to David, “go ahead, this is a worthy calling, go for it.” 

But that night in a dream the Lord spoke to Nathan and he basically said, “I never asked David to build me a house, that’s not his job to do.” The Lord reminded Nathan to remind David where he had brought him from and how he had established his throne for David to rule the people. The Lord tells David I didn’t ask this of you but this is what I will do for you.

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16

God was promising David that his very son would not only be the one to build God a house, but that his kingdom would be established through his family. How many of us want to see our children do bigger and better things than we have done. Our desire as we raise our children is that they would grow up to be successful. God made a promise to David that that is what would happen through his son. And it did, Solomon was the successor to David on the throne and Solomon was the one who built the temple. 

But God also carried the promise even further. David knew that God had removed his spirit from Saul because of his sins. But God promises David, when your son sins, I will discipline him but I won’t remove my love from him. Again, when our children do wrong growing up they must be disciplined but we don’t remove our love from them. This is the promise that God made to David. 

Further, God promised David that there would be a successor from his lineage on the throne forever. And yes, that promise was fulfilled through Jesus! Jesus comes from the direct lineage of David! And we know that his kingdom is established forever. We know that we all benefit from this promise! 

We have talked about Abraham and Isaac and now we need to take a look at Jacob. Jacob was one of Isaac’s sons, he was a twin, his twin brother was Esau. And while Esau was the older of the two, he was not the one God had chosen to carry on the promise that He had given Abraham about multiplying his offspring and making them numerous as the stars. Which would cause quite a struggle between the two brothers that seemingly started in the womb. Scripture tells us that Jacob was born grasping Esau’s heel. I read that there is a significance to this in that day in that the idea of a “heel-catcher” gave the notion of trickster or a con-man. 

Esau was the older of the two, however even when Rebekah felt the struggle going on in her womb and she asked God about it He let her know that the older would serve the younger. This goes against Jewish tradition however, it speaks volumes of God’s sovereignty. 

This story of Jacob and Esau and Isaac and Rebekah has some tragic twists and turns though. First as the boys grew there continued to be a struggle between them. Esau was the hunter type and was favored by Isaac and Jacob was the milder of the two and was favored by Rebekah. However, in this case milder is not considered weak. One of the first significant things that happens in this story as the boys grew was the day Esau gave away his birthright for some stew. Jacob was cooking a stew as Esau came in from hunting and was hungry. Jacob instantly sees Esau’s hunger as an opportunity and when Esau asks for food Jacob says sell me your birthright and I’ll give you the food. Now before we go judging Jacob for asking we also realize that Esau didn’t have to give it away at this point. Esau was all about instant gratification with no thought as to what the consequences would be so yes he sold it. Jacob was a schemer but Esau did not put the value on his birthright. 

In later years as Isaac was getting older and more feeble, the time came for him to give a blessing to his son. So Isaac calls for Esau and asks him to hunt for him and prepare him a meal so that he can bless him. Rebekah, still favoring Jacob and wanting the blessing for Jacob instead of Esau calls on Jacob to deceive Isaac and to get the blessing from him. Rebekah helps her son as she has Jacob go get two goats and she would make food for Isaac that he could take in to his father to deceive him into giving him the blessing. But it doesn’t stop with just the making of the food. She also puts the hair from the skin of the goats on Jacob’s hands and his neck so that when Isaac reaches out and touches Jacob he will think he is touching Esau who is a hairier man than Jacob. Because Isaac’s eyesight is failing him their plan works and Jacob receives the blessing that would have been reserved for the firstborn, Esau as well as his birthright. 

When Esau discovers this deception he vows to kill Jacob. Rebekah who was instrumental in this whole plan realizes that the only way to save her son is to send him away so she asks Isaac to send him away so that he can find a wife from their relatives rather than from the surrounding Canaanite women. One tragedy here is that Rebekah may have saved her son’s life by sending him away but she would never see him again. 

After Jacob leaves his family he finally has an encounter with God. Jacob came to a place to camp all night and he takes a stone and places it where it could serve as a pillow for him and lays his head down to sleep. Jacob then has a dream. In this dream there is a ladder reaching from heaven to earth and there are angels climbing up and down this ladder. And at the top of the ladder was the Lord and he gives Jacob a promise. 

“At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions – to the west and east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.’” Genesis 28:13-15

Jacob woke up from his sleep and he knew that this was even more than a dream. 

“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!’” Genesis 28:16

God’s promises are sovereign. God’s promise that he had made to Abraham, and to Isaac would be carried on through Jacob. Can we go ahead and say that Jacob had done nothing to deserve to be a part of the promise as he had deceived and tricked his brother and his father. Can we recognize that even though God had ordained for the promise to be carried on through Jacob, the family may have gone about it all the wrong way? Yet and still God kept His promise to Abraham and Isaac and He appeared to Jacob to reiterate the promise to Him. I know there have been times in my life where God has blessed me in spite of myself. It wasn’t something I deserved. I am so grateful for the times that God has shown me His kindness and blessing even when I didn’t consult with Him about the way I should go. 

Let’s return to Abraham. Well actually Abraham’s son, Isaac. You know the story of Isaac. God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and Abraham was in the process of carrying out God’s request when God stopped him and gave him a ram to sacrifice instead. Well Isaac grew up and Abraham sent his servant back to the land of his kinsman to get a wife for Isaac. The servant did just that and asked for God’s guidance and God did just that and the servant returned with a wife for Isaac. Her name was Rebekah. And it was love at first sight for Isaac and Rebekah! 

Now I have given you that little story in a nutshell. The truth is there is much more to it. But let’s suffice it to say that these people were walking in obedience. They asked God for guidance and they received guidance. That is a lesson for us within itself. I know that for me when I posture myself in a position where I am asking the Lord to guide me in my day to day, in the big things in life as well as in the little things of life, He always comes through for me and shows me my way. Sometimes I get impatient and take matters in my own hands but if I wait for His direction He always comes through. Well that is what Isaac and Rebekah as well as Abraham and Sarah before them had done. This is not to say that they were all perfect. Oh no, if you go back and read, you find that their obedience was not always complete. They were humans, they were people, they made mistakes. Yet God recognized that their heart was turned toward Him and because of that God kept His promises to Abraham and they carried on to the next generation to Isaac. 

Isaac was living in the land that God had promised to Abraham, and you would think that because this was the land God promised that it would all be without problems. But even though Isaac was sitting right in the middle of God’s will, there were still challenges. Isaac’s challenge came in the way of a famine, just as Abraham had gone through. So Isaac, without consulting God, decides to pack up and head towards Egypt. Have you ever done that? Have you ever headed in a direction before you consulted with God about it? And then you wondered why everything didn’t seem to be working out quite like you planned it. I know I have. And sometimes God blesses me in spite of myself but if I have gotten off track of what God’s plans for me are/were there is always something that just makes it harder. Well Isaac was getting off track by heading to Egypt. 

“And the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.” Genesis 26:2-3

God is telling Isaac, stay put. Sometimes when life seems to be getting hard, we just have to stay put don’t we. Well these verses are God confirming His promise to Abraham to Isaac also. And all Isaac has to do to receive this promise is to stay put and to be obedient. There were no other stipulations put on this promise. God carries on: 

“I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statues, and my laws.” Genesis 26:4-5

I love the faithfulness of God from one generation to the next in this story. Because Abraham had been obedient to God, the promises that God had given Abraham would be carried on to the next generation. This does not mean that we can carry our kids on our coattails so to speak, but it does mean that our faithfulness will be remembered with the next generation and the next and the next. When God promised Abraham that his offspring would be blessed what we see here is God carrying out His promise and blessing Isaac. It is important that we walk with God and show our children how to walk with Him also. So that they will see when God makes a promise He is faithful to carry it out. 

Don’t you just love a rainbow! And a double rainbow is something to behold for sure! I personally don’t know a single person who doesn’t enjoy seeing the rainbow in the sky after a storm! However, as Christians we need to remember what the point and the purpose of that rainbow is. When we see a rainbow we are to remember God’s faithfulness and that He keeps His promises. I want to look back at this story with the wonder of a child. I think there are stories in the Bible that we all learned as children that I know sometimes I forget to study a little closer. So let’s look a little deeper at what had happened here. 

Noah was a righteous man in God’s sight among a whole lot of corruption going on around Him. The earth was filled with violence and corruption yet this man Noah, he walked with God in spite of what was going on around him. And God told Noah to build a boat. Now I remember reading somewhere that before this the earth had not even seen rain so what do you think all those corrupt people did as Noah was building a boat in the middle of nowhere near a body of water. I am sure they ridiculed and they pointed fingers and laughed. How do I know that? Because they were humans! 

So Noah builds this boat to God’s specifications. God tells Noah to take his family and animals of every living kind, male and female into this boat, and to take food and store it and Noah did all of this. And Noah and his family did all that the Lord said and then they waited seven days for it to start raining. And then it rained for forty days and forty nights. Now we have been in a rainy season lately, but we have never seen a rainy season like this rainy season. It rained nonstop for forty days and nights after the family of Noah had sat in the Ark for seven days. Now when we see depictions of the Ark in children’s books and pictures, it looks very idyllic but can you imagine being cooped up on a boat with all those animals and feeding them? And then cleaning after them, I just about bet it was not the most pleasant smelling place to be. 

But that’s not all, in Genesis chapter 7 the last verse says: 

“And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.” Genesis 7:24

So now Noah and his family and all of those animals have been on this boat for 197 days! Now when I was a child I didn’t have the concept that it rained for those forty days then the water prevailed for 150 days before it even started drying up. Then God brings a wind and it took another 150 days for the waters to decrease. Finally after 347 days cooped up on the ark it finally hits ground and the ark came to rest on a mountain. Then Noah waits 40 more days to open a window and Noah sends out a raven, then a dove but the dove returns. So now we are 387 days in, then Noah waited another 7 days and he sends the dove again, this time the dove returns with an olive leaf. Can you imagine, the encouragement they felt 394 days after entering the Ark when a dove returned with a leaf in it’s beak. Then he waits another 7 days, and sends the dove out again and it didn’t return. So at 401 days in, Noah and his family can at least remove the covering from the ark. Then after waiting another two months Noah and his family can get off of the ark. 

Friends I don’t know about you but when I look at that realistically, and think of that many days cooped up on a boat with animals and even the people I love the most in this world, I don’t know how they didn’t go stir crazy! I bet there were some not so pleasant moments on that boat with stinky animals and stinky people. But when Noah and his family emerge from the boat, Noah builds an altar to worship God. He had gratitude and admiration for what God had done. Now I am afraid, I would have been cranky by then. I know I have a tendency to be cranky when I have to wait and have patience. But Noah, he was in awe of God and he worshipped! 

And then God gives Noah the promise in Genesis chapter 9. 

“I establish my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the water of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Genesis 9:11

God gave this promise to Noah and it is for us all. I don’t know about you, but when I look at the days that Noah’s family had to spend on the ark it puts a new perspective and it encourages me that when I feel I am trapped in a circumstance or a situation that I don’t feel is changing at the rate I want it to, that it may still be raining, or the waters may be subsiding, but if I have been obedient that I am being protected much like Noah and his family were on the Ark. It may be a situation that feels dark and smelly, but one day God will tell me to get out of the boat and I will see His faithfulness. 

And even more than that God gave Noah and all future generations (that’s us) a sign of this promise.  How great is our God that thousands of years later He is still reminding us. 

“I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:13-16

Next time you see a rainbow, let’s not just think how pretty, let’s be reminded that God is remembering His promise to us and let’s be sure to thank Him as we remember His faithfulness! 

I have wanted to do a study of the Promises of God for quite a while and last weekend while listening to a livestream of a Going Beyond conference, I heard Priscilla Shirer mention that there are 8,810 promises of God in scripture. I started doing a little study on the promises of God and I discovered that there are some promises that are conditional and some that are unconditional. There are also places in scripture that God grants favor which is not necessarily a promise but just what it says it is favor. So for the next few weeks I want to look at some of the promises of God, unconditional and conditional and we will also look at people who asked God for favor and some got it, and some didn’t get what they asked for and what were their responses. 

Some promises were to people in the Bible which have already been fulfilled. We have a lot to learn from these promises. We can be encouraged by them that when God says something He does it, he fulfills it. Some are ours for the taking as children of God. The blessings are still there for us. Some promises are conditional. They are ours for the taking, but they do require action on our part. 

I want to start with some unconditional promises of God. I am not sure where this study will lead us exactly but I am looking forward to learning from it. While studying about unconditional promises one of the first ones that was mentioned on almost every article I read was this promise of God to Abraham. 

“And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.’” Genesis 22:15-18

Now some may argue that this would be a conditional promise but while this promise does rest on what Abraham had done and believed, there were no future requirements of him to receive the promise God was making to him. The language here to pay attention to is “I will surely bless you” and “I will surely multiply your offspring”. Abraham was set to receive the blessing from God based on God’s word. Abraham had been obedient in preparing to sacrifice Isaac, but he had no further requirements to receive the promise of God’s future blessing. God was making him a promise of future blessings and that he would multiply Abraham’s offspring. And from that promise came the nation of Israel but also Jesus came from the lineage of Abraham. 

We know that Israel is God’s chosen nation and His chosen people right. But we also know that we have been adopted into the family of God because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We are heirs of this blessing because of our adoption! 

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 3:6

God had also, before this promise, made a promise to Abraham back a few chapters. 

“No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” Genesis 17:5

There you have it. The promises God made to Abraham have been fulfilled through the nation of Israel which came from Abraham’s lineage but also have been fulfilled for us as being adopted into the family of God by Jesus. We don’t have to do anything further for this promise to be fulfilled, it already has been. We are heirs with Christ and therefore we receive the blessing of being a part of the family. We have a birthright because God promised it so many years ago to Abraham! That’s the first promise we can stand on! 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27

I thought it only fitting to wrap up our series today with this verse. Jesus had been teaching and spending time with His disciples on His last earthly night before He would be crucified. He did and taught lots of significant things on this night, but as He was trying to tell them He would be leaving them (and they didn’t want to listen) this was a very significant piece of the puzzle. 

In those times it would be customary for parting words to be peace or shalom. It would have been commonly used much like we use goodbye or just bye. And just as other things as it became more and more common to use it may have lost it’s meaning until it was just words and not necessarily heartfelt among men. But Jesus repeating it and specifying MY PEACE puts more emphasis on it. You see we can extend peace to each other and we should. I want to live at peace with others. But I want the peace that Jesus gives living inside of me. When Jesus gives us peace it is the deep down in my soul kind of peace. It’s not what you can give me. It’s the peace that keeps me going in the midst of circumstances. It’s the peace that let’s me know that things will work out and it only comes with relationship with Him and knowing that He has got in the palm of His hands, whatever is on my heart and mind. 

It’s good to extend peace to each other but it is easier to extend that peace when you are living in the peace of God. And the benefit of His peace is the ability to not let my heart be troubled and to not be afraid. Sure sometimes I have to remind myself and I have to reach out and claim that peace that He so freely gives but it is mine for the taking! 

We have learned a lot over these past couple of months. We have been doing these word studies on fear, truth, faith, trust, joy, praise and peace. We started with fear and we are ending with peace. But I truly hope that the peace doesn’t end here for you and for me. And it won’t if we keep putting our trust and our faith in Him and let it do the work in our hearts that it should. Jesus left His peace with the disciples and He is leaving it with us every day as well! 

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

This verse was penned by our friend David. It comes at the end of Psalm 4, which is not but 8 verses long. David wrote this Psalm to pour out a complaint to God against his enemies. However, he begins by recognizing that His righteousness comes from God alone. He also reminds himself of past mercies of God. 

“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!” Psalm 4:1

We can learn a thing or two from David in this Psalm. We can be like David and bring our complaints and our prayers for different and better to God. However, we must never forget that He is our righteousness and we should always remember what He has already done for us. Remembering God’s past mercies to us are what builds our faith. Knowing what He has carried you through in the past will help you to know that He will continue to carry you into your future. 

In verse 2 David is asking God “How long?” Have you ever been there? I know I have. I have wondered how long I would have to bring the request to God and feel like I was getting no answer. This is where the faith comes in. And it seems to me that the next few verses are David giving himself a pep talk so to speak. Oh I’ve had to do that too. 

“But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.” Psalm 4:3-5

David was reminding himself of all the things he knew already. That God had already set him apart, that the Lord has answered him in the past and that He would continue to do so. To be angry at injustices but do not sin. David also told himself what to think about and to keep silent and let the Lord handle whatever was on his heart. 

I was talking to a friend the other day about a thing that has been on my heart. This reminds me of that conversation. I was giving her an update on a situation that has been on my heart and I recounted to her that many times, I will feel the anxiety of the unanswered prayer come to mind and I will start wanting to tell God how I really need this answer and exactly what needs to be done and then I remind myself. He has brought me this far and even now the ways I have seen Him working have been greater than I could have come up with. So… I change my prayer and I take a deep breath and just pray “carry on Lord!” I don’t know but maybe this was what was going on with David too. His anxiety was building and he at first wanted to not only pray for an answer but to tell God HOW to answer. But instead, he changed direction and he was giving himself the pep talk to just trust the Lord with it. 

“There are many who say ‘Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!’ You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety” Psalm 4:6-8

So now because David renews His trust in God he is receiving the blessing of God. The blessings that he is recognizing are already his for the taking, are the joy that is in his heart, yes even in the midst of circumstances and the peace of sleep just knowing that the Lord has whatever is concerning him!  The blessings of joy and peace are already ours even while we are still waiting on answers to specific requests. We can live in that joy and peace simply because of his past mercies upon us and the trust that we have that He is still working on our behalf. Yes, even when we don’t see it. Peace that comes from this trust will bring you rest when you need it most! 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

This little blessing comes at the end of a passage of scripture about welcoming each other in Christ and serving each other. But as we are nearing the end of our word studies I think it is fitting here too.

We have learned a lot over these past few weeks on Fear, Truth, Faith, Trust, Joy, Praise and Peace. All of these things when put together will bring us Hope! As we cling to God and we know what to fear and what not to fear. As we stand on His truths and let it build Faith and we learn more and more to Trust God. We will be filled with Joy and Praise which will bring us Peace and Hope. 

I know that it seems there is a little word play going on here. But I truly do believe it to be true. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be getting up and returning to His word every day. I know for a fact that bringing my every day stuff to Him as well as my big stuff to Him is the only thing that keeps me on the right path some days. Oh what a wretched woman I would be without Him. I can honestly tell you He is my Lifeline! 

This kind of joy and peace is for anyone who has a relationship with Christ. But it can only be obtained with that relationship. This blessing comes after the instruction to the Romans that Jesus came for the Jewish people and the Gentiles. It is ours for the taking, ours for the asking. But it comes through belief and being filled with His joy and peace. And when you are walking in His joy and peace then you will abound in hope. Let’s pull in another translation here. 

“Now may God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!” Romans 15:13 TPT

Isn’t that beautiful. This is my prayer for us, for me and for you today. That God who is the fountain of our hope will fill us with his uncontainable joy and perfect peace, because we trust in Him and that the Holy Spirit will surround us and we will radiate with His hope! And as we allow those words to surround us today and we radiate with hope, we will be a blessing to those around us. And really, truly maybe the world will want what we have! Go be radiant with his joy, peace and hope today!