February 19, 2020 -- Psalm 119:117 -- Battle weary soldiers held up by grace

Hold me up, that I may be safe

   and have regard for your statutes continually!

Psalm 119:117 English Standard Version

There are times when a patient is in distress and will need to have his head raised.  If a patient is on a bed and needs the bed raised 40 to 90 degrees so that his head and trunk are elevated (Fowler’s position) the purpose of doing this can be an aid for the patient’s breathing or help for cardiac patient. Consider another example when a person may need to have his head held up. If a person has been swimming and has exhausted his strength, but is still a ways from shore, he will need to have someone toss him a buoy so that he can raise his head above the water. Perhaps you have seen marathons where a runner is so drained, stumbling and dehydrated that others need to stand one on each side of him and put their arms around him so that he will not fall to the ground with his muscles all seized up. Even as his companions walk beside him and hold him up the depleted runner’s feet drag uselessly along the ground as calves cramp and hs feet rebel against the recent exertions.

Resisting sin is a battle that takes a toll on us mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. It requires a vast output of energy. Those who are in Christ have become a new creation. The old has passed away and the life of Christ Jesus is taking hold of us, changing us. As the Spirit of God dwells in us and applies the redeeming work of Jesus in us, we are transformed. Even so, our old nature rails against this.

Our flesh resists, remembering the lecherous delights of sin and reminiscing of those days of imagined freedom. The problem is this: our sin-filled ways were not idyllic nor were they free from the destructive work of wickedness. Inevitably the havoc which trespasses bring to our lives result in lives crippled by consequences. There can be no other result.  The sinner who chooses to keep going in rampant evil pathways will need his head propped up in order to sin further . Wickedness and wild debauchery do not result in a peaceful life, but require a head help up over a porcelain bowl as one vomits. Medications—legal and illegal to combat the tormented body and mind as they react to the hard living—are required to hold someone up.

Beloved in Jesus—those who combat sin, raging as warriors of the cross of Jesus Christ, expend themselves for greater glory. They resist sin at every instance. When they fail, they confess such failures to the Spirit. The God Whose gaze penetrates our lies, and for Whom dark and light are both alike, is not fooled by our feeble efforts to shield ourselves from Him while we sin. Confession is declaring to God: “You are right. In every respect and every regard: I am a sinner full-on in need of the grace supplied in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.” At that moment the Spirit of God holds us up. He restores our souls. He holds up our cramping bodies so that we don’t fall so far that we feel abandoned. He saves us.

As those who are saved from death and ultimate defeat, we are guarded by the statutes of God. Statutes are the laws laid down by God, Who is the Source of Every Blessing. Statutes reveal to us the pathway of life. The statutes of God are His rules by which we are kept from self-destruction. We ignore these at our peril. We ignore these only if we are death-seeking in our foolishness. The statutes of God are His course of delight for those who know Him and understand He will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death where we need fear no evil, for He is with us and His Word directs us so that we will not lose our way.

The passage we have before us this morning reminds me of one of the blessings in Scripture. I believe it is one of the most tender blessings and it is found in Deuteronomy 33:12

And of Benjamin he said,

The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him;

and the LORD shall cover him all the day long,

and he shall dwell between his shoulders. King James Version

Did you catch the beautiful imagery? The beloved of the LORD are kept safe—even when they expend themselves in service to the King of Glory. They are covered under the wings of His mercy. The Mighty Sovereign of Heaven and Earth cradles His beloved between His shoulders, He embraces them. Glory and praise be to our God, tender and kind, magnificent and powerful—able to save completely those who are His. As I considered Psalm 119:117, I realized it is one of the fulfilments of the blessing in Deuteronomy 33:12. Which is finally, perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He brings us to our Father. We are kept safe in our Father’s hand. The Spirit of the Living God dwells between our shoulders—we live in the perpetual embrace of God.

There is none like You, O God, Who rides through the skies in Your majesty! You thrust out the enemy before You and drive the enemy out from among Your people. You hold Your people up by Your everlasting arms and shield them in safety until the day of Salvation. Happy are Your people. Victorious are all who fight under of the banner of Jesus, the Captain of Salvation. Refreshed are those in whom Your Spirit dwells. Blessed are You, forever and ever. Amen.

[This prayer is based on Deuteronomy 33:12, 26ff]