02/11/2010 - TRIPLE PROTECTION

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Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; let Your loving kindness and Your truth continually preserve me. (Psalm 40:11)

The psalmist’s request was threefold: he needed the Lord\’s mercy as well as His loving kindness and His truth. Then he prayed that these things were not withheld from him. As to us, we should also pray for the same reason because if the mercies of the Father do not reach us, we are lost; after all, it is only through them that we are not consumed (Lamentations 3:22). In fact, it is out of mercy that God looks at us with compassion even though we do not deserve it because sometimes we are led into doing, thinking or wanting wrong things and if it weren’t for His loving kindness we would be doomed to perdition.

He who is wise seeks the heavenly mercies and beseeches God so as not to be deprived of them. That is also applicable to all the blessings we need. Actually, wrestling with God is a virtue that is praised by the Lord Himself. One example is that He was not sad when Jacob wrestled with God and prevailed (Genesis 32:22-32).

We cannot stop claiming our rights, invoking the Lord and even despairing if necessary. The important thing is not to get out of our Father’s area of action! We should strive to achieve all that He has to give us. This does not mean that He will not pay attention to us if we do not cry out in despair, but as human beings and because we are not always in tune with the heavens, we must make all efforts. The truth is that when we are in fellowship with Him, He gives us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4).

The Psalmist also asked the Lord for His loving kindness to continually preserve him – not occasionally, but at all times. He knew that at any time he could easily be surrounded by some temptation and the enemy would keep him away from such an important help. Brethren, do the same, unless you do not mind not having the hand of God working in your favor or what might happen to you.

The author of this Psalm added a third request: that the truth of the Lord preserved him. Everyone has their own truths, but God’s truth is the only one that prevails, because it has no contamination. The Lord is pure and when He decides to do something He does so impartially. His decision was to love us, even though He knows of our weaknesses and shortcomings. He pledged to send Jesus to die so that the pure blood of His only begotten Son could buy us for him. It is not our righteousness that gives us the merits before the Most High, but the real and only Truth that elected us in Christ.

We are not accepted and preserved by the Lord because of our deeds or merits, but because of His great love that bought us and by His unquestionable Truth. Thank God for this blessing!

In Christ with love,

R. R. Soares