"Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: Thy blessing is upon Thy people." —Psalm 3:8
"Thy blessing is upon Thy people." How do you count your blessings? Or, perhaps, what do you count as blessings? It is good and important to "count [our] many blessings," so that we are properly encouraged in the battle, and so that we do not deny God the glory due unto His name. But often, I fear, we misjudge our blessings, looking for them in the wrong place.
David, when writing this psalm, was in the grip of the misery caused when his own son Absalom rebelled against him and attempted to take the throne from him. "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God [V. 1-2]." Yet it is in that climate that he observes, "Thy blessing is upon thy people." Obviously, the Lord's blessing is distinct from mere circumstances. We need to learn that, in order to recognize our riches when outwardly life seems to be a pile of ashes. The Savior said to His own, "Lo, I am with thee alway, even unto the end of the world."
We should recognize from the first clause in our text that the blessing of the Lord rests upon the foundation of His salvation. It is His salvation that makes us one of His people, and apart from it we are not heirs of His blessing at all. "Salvation belongs to the Lord." "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed." We are not saved by our own efforts, nor is our salvation improved by our good works. It is "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Titus 3:5-7]." That is the first and greatest blessing in the believer's life, and it is a gift of our gracious heavenly Father upon the exercise of faith in the finished work of Christ. No adversary or adversity can take that away. It is "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time [I Peter 1:4-5]." Note: it is kept for us, and we are kept for it!!
Upon this glorious foundation rest numerous other blessings. The apostle writes to believers, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ [Eph. 1:3]." Notice that they are blessings already in place, spiritual, not material in nature, and located not on earth, where they might be subject to "change and decay," but "in the heavenlies," where they are unassailable by the storms and conflicts that plague us here.
Among those blessings the context notes "chosen in Him" (v.4,) adopted into God's family by Him (v.5,) "accepted in the Beloved" (v.6,) "the forgiveness of sins" (v.7,) afforded an inheritance in Him, ( v.11,) and secured in Him by the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit (v.13.) These, my friend, are blessings no amount of money can buy, moth and rust cannot corrupt, and thieves cannot steal!
D. L. Moody told of visiting a man who took him out to his property. As they circled his dwelling he waved his hand to the east and said, "as far as you can see, all is mine." The little ritual was repeated to the south, and the west and the north; "As far as your eye can see, all is mine!" Mr. Moody paused a moment, then raising his hand heavenward replied, "And sir, what do you have in that direction?"
If our concept of the blessing of the Lord is horizontal, it will fluctuate like the stock market, and our praise will vary with the wind. But if our faith is in Christ and our blessings are measured in eternal dimensions, our praise will mount up to heaven continually. Circumstances my threaten our joy on occasion, but never our blessings. How do you count your blessings?
"The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it." — Prov. 10:22
Rejoicing,
"Pastor" Frasier
"Thy blessing is upon Thy people." How do you count your blessings? Or, perhaps, what do you count as blessings? It is good and important to "count [our] many blessings," so that we are properly encouraged in the battle, and so that we do not deny God the glory due unto His name. But often, I fear, we misjudge our blessings, looking for them in the wrong place.
David, when writing this psalm, was in the grip of the misery caused when his own son Absalom rebelled against him and attempted to take the throne from him. "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God [V. 1-2]." Yet it is in that climate that he observes, "Thy blessing is upon thy people." Obviously, the Lord's blessing is distinct from mere circumstances. We need to learn that, in order to recognize our riches when outwardly life seems to be a pile of ashes. The Savior said to His own, "Lo, I am with thee alway, even unto the end of the world."
We should recognize from the first clause in our text that the blessing of the Lord rests upon the foundation of His salvation. It is His salvation that makes us one of His people, and apart from it we are not heirs of His blessing at all. "Salvation belongs to the Lord." "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed." We are not saved by our own efforts, nor is our salvation improved by our good works. It is "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Titus 3:5-7]." That is the first and greatest blessing in the believer's life, and it is a gift of our gracious heavenly Father upon the exercise of faith in the finished work of Christ. No adversary or adversity can take that away. It is "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time [I Peter 1:4-5]." Note: it is kept for us, and we are kept for it!!
Upon this glorious foundation rest numerous other blessings. The apostle writes to believers, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ [Eph. 1:3]." Notice that they are blessings already in place, spiritual, not material in nature, and located not on earth, where they might be subject to "change and decay," but "in the heavenlies," where they are unassailable by the storms and conflicts that plague us here.
Among those blessings the context notes "chosen in Him" (v.4,) adopted into God's family by Him (v.5,) "accepted in the Beloved" (v.6,) "the forgiveness of sins" (v.7,) afforded an inheritance in Him, ( v.11,) and secured in Him by the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit (v.13.) These, my friend, are blessings no amount of money can buy, moth and rust cannot corrupt, and thieves cannot steal!
D. L. Moody told of visiting a man who took him out to his property. As they circled his dwelling he waved his hand to the east and said, "as far as you can see, all is mine." The little ritual was repeated to the south, and the west and the north; "As far as your eye can see, all is mine!" Mr. Moody paused a moment, then raising his hand heavenward replied, "And sir, what do you have in that direction?"
If our concept of the blessing of the Lord is horizontal, it will fluctuate like the stock market, and our praise will vary with the wind. But if our faith is in Christ and our blessings are measured in eternal dimensions, our praise will mount up to heaven continually. Circumstances my threaten our joy on occasion, but never our blessings. How do you count your blessings?
"The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it." — Prov. 10:22
Rejoicing,
"Pastor" Frasier
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