By Arul Gaspar
Our Lord Jesus Christ talks about the detrimental effect of money and its influence in life. When the worldy acquire wealth, they consider themselves powerful, high, and important in the society. The sense of self-importance grips them so that they cannot think about anything but themselves all the time. They view everything from their point of view. Wherethey don’t get due attention, there you don’t find them. They are, in fact bound by such pseudo nature to live out their experiences.
Who has been engraved on the palms of His hands? And whose walls are continually before the Lord God? Why would God strengthen His subjects with such words? What made the Lord God utter such words of encouragement? What was His people’s condition for such an amazing life lesson? What can we learn from this verse? What could be our response to this encouragement? Is there any gospel of truth in this verse?
Salvation belongs to God alone and nothing can save a sinner from his present evil. How can a dead person respond to somebody’s call? No one can revive the dead person except God and His call. As for the saved person, the ultimate refuge is the Lord Jesus. He is the final authority of our souls, and we do not have any problem with the physical world but Satan. Paul states, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places“ (Ephesians 6:12 ESV). David affirms his safety in God telling, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; … and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:4, 6 ESV). We cannot do anything in the world to ward off the evil system, but our God should strengthen us so that we resist the evil by His grace and journey with the Lord Jesus to be with Him forever.
We need to take note of our God’s two vital attributes: “steadfast love and faithfulness.” God’s love for the world was best demonstrated by giving His only Son, Jesus Christ to the world. He came to the world to save sinners. Whoever believes his name and have faith in his finished work on the cross of Calvary will be saved and his or her name will be written in the lamb’s book of life.
Our God’slove for us, the saved ones is unchanging because Jesus Christ leads us into righteousness. He, infact urges us to seek the kingdom of God first, instead the basic amenities: food, shelter and clothing. Whether we understand his everlasting love or not, He is not affected by anything in the world, but the Lord Jesus Christ stands by His promises. Thus God’s love is unchanging in the changing world wherein our feelings and emotion fluctuate. God’s unending love is determined by His Word alone. The Lord God restates the condition of the king Saul telling, “but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you” (2 Samuel 7:15 ESV). It is a matter of faithfulness, humility, and obedience to God’s Word alone.
Our Lord is once again faithful to His promises. The holy God of Israel says, “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word“ (Isaiah 66:2 ESV). Here we see how our God is so faithful to look at a person who trembles at His Word alone. The person who revers, obeys, and trembles at His Word is privileged. All the creatures look at God for His favour, but our God looks at a person who literally applies His Word in his everydayness.
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