“The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” —Psalm 138:8
Spurgeon somewhere said something to the effect that he was glad David had so many difficulties because had he not, we would not have had the many helpful insights given us in the Psalms! Well here David is “in the midst of trouble” again (v.7a), and we benefit by his meditation on the occasion.
“Faith,” the New Testament records, “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [Heb. 11:1].” That is David’s position here, as he expresses his confidence in a truth more fully developed in the New Testament. “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.” Or, as another translation helpfully renders it, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.” (NIV) To the Philippian believers Paul wrote, that he was “confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ [Phil. 1:6].” The apostle Peter wrote that believers are “Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time [I Pet. 1:5].” And the apostle John adds, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is [I John 3:2].”
All of these wrote in confirmation of David’s assurance that what God starts He will finish, what He promises, He will fulfill. Not only our security is involved in this perspective, but our ultimate outcome. The Savior, in fact, declared there is a day coming when, whatever their circumstances here and now, “the righteous [shall] shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (See Matt. 13:41-43)
The ground of this confidence is the divine constant, or attribute, we reflected upon two weeks ago in our consideration of Psalm 136:23; namely, His mercy. Here we have an echo of that remarkable Psalm: “Thy mercy, O Lord endureth forever.” This, too, is foundational to New Testament truth. In fact, the gospel rests upon it. Mary, moved to reflect upon the promise that she should be the mother of the Son of God, included in her ecstatic prayer, “He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name. And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation [Luke 1:49-50].” She mentions His mercy again in v. 54, from the Jewish perspective, and it is referred to in various ways in vss. 58, 72 and, most relevant to our case, in the prayer of Zacharias at the birth of John the Baptist when he said of him, “Thou…shalt be called the prophet of the highest…to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace [Mt. 1:76-79].”
Paul included in the divine purpose for his ministry, “That the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy [Rom. 15:9a],” and in writing to the Ephesians he anchors our hope of salvation to “God, Who is rich in mercy… [Eph. 2:4].” Again, we are instructed that is “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (See Titus 3:3-7) These are but a few of the references to God’s everlasting mercy that appear in the New Testament and provide us with eternal hope, and “blessed assurance.”
The third clause in our nugget, however, is most instructive. The psalmist, for all his assurance does not take it for granted. In fact, upon its ground he is concerned to pray for God’s fulfillment of what He is confident He will do. He does not find in his security an occasion to grow careless in his walk, but draws near. Spurgen said,”Our confidence does not give us cause to live without prayer, but encourages us to pray all the more.” The apostle James said, “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.”
We are the works of His hands in Christ, and it behooves us to dwell in His presence to be fashioned according to His will and for His glory. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them [Eph. 2:10].” If we do not want Him to forsake us, let us be diligent that we do not forsake Him!
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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