OUR TRUSTWORTHY, GO-TO LORD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!”

The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, He saved me.

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

Psalm 116:1-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The person who once said, “God is good all the time” must have read the first seven verses of the 116th Psalm. For in it, we find the psalmist reflecting on how good God has been to him and why he will ever trust and go to Him for his every care. Look at the words in our scripture:

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!”

The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, He saved me.

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

Life has a way of unsettling us, at shaking us at our very core. We find ourselves longing for order to be restored, for a time when we won’t have to worry or fret over an issue anymore. Maybe it’s a money issue. Maybe it’s a work-related issue. Maybe your relationship with someone has been suffering. Whatever the matter, we all get to a place in life where we just long for peace and calm. We long to a place where we can find rest for our soul.

Well, maybe we can learn something from the psalmist who obviously had been up against hardship, hardship that he needed saved from.

So where did he find rest for his soul?

Note that he only found it by turning to the Lord and experiencing His goodness. That goodness came in several ways:

1. Goodness was revealed through the Lord listening.

When we’re up against a problem, it’s good to know we can go to the Lord because He’s ever ready to listen to us. The psalmist tagged this as one of the things he loved about the Lord, that when he called out to Him with cries of mercy, the Lord turned His ear toward him. The Lord of the universe cared so much about this one man that He turned His ear to listen to him and him alone. This personalized relationship with our Almighty Father is one we should cherish and never take for granted. The psalmist certainly didn’t and vowed to call on the Lord for as long as he lived. We should do likewise.

2. The Lord’s goodness is revealed in His saving power.

We know the psalmist knew he could go to the Lord with whatever problem he was going through. And so when the cords of death entangled him and the anguish of the grave embraced him, drawing him into distress and sorrow, the psalmist did what he said he would do, he cried out to his go-to Lord in trust and said, “Lord, save me.” And the Lord answered and provided salvation as only He does. He saved the psalmist and He continues to save people today who turn to Him in trust. When it comes to life, we simply have to see Him as our only hope.

3. We find the Lord’s goodness in His grace.

What is amazing about the Lord is that He listens to us and saves us even though none of us warrant it. It never ceases to astonish me how the Lord still extends His goodness to those who are anything but good. Through our sinful nature, we don’t deserve anything but destruction and yet instead the Lord grants us mercy and love and forgiveness and grace. And not just any grace but amazing grace which saved a wretch like you and me, as the hymn so appropriately states. Want to be reminded of how good the Lord is? Just think about His grace.

4. Goodness is found in the Lord’s righteousness.

As much as we are not good, the Lord is perfectly good, unerring and flawlessly right. We can only start to move toward doing good in life by turning toward the Lord and His righteousness, allowing His Spirit to come within and guide us toward appropriate living. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Each and every day, we all should be hungering and thirsting for the righteousness and goodness only found in the Lord.

5. The Lord shows us His goodness in His compassion.

Ask yourself this, “Who cares for you more than the Lord?” If you truly know the Lord, then your answer should be no one. For no one loves you like the Lord, no one is there for you 24/7 except the Lord, no one can save you but the Lord, and no one forgives you like the Lord. No one in life wants more of the best for you except the Lord. So why would we turn anywhere else except toward the trustworthy, go-to Lord?

6. In the Lord’s protection, we find His goodness.

When the scriptures assure us that if God is for us, no one can be against us, we should find peace and comfort, and we should immediately see the Lord’s goodness on full display. Think about it. The divine Hands that created and fashioned the heavens and the earth, the heavenly Hands that formed you and me, these Hands of infinite power are ready to protect us. Who has a chance against that? And why would we trust anyone or anything more than the Lord?

Friends, God is truly good all the time. He listens. He saves. He is gracious and righteous and compassionate. And He is our great and mighty Protector.

The Lord is and will always be our trustworthy, go-to Lord. Let this ever brings our souls to rest as we remember, like the psalmist, about how good the Lord has been to us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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