Drawing Near

A Pastoral Perspective on Biblical, Theological, & Cultural Issues | The Personal Website of James B. Law, Ph.D.

Thursday

31

January 2019

0

COMMENTS

He is Able

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One of the recurring themes of the Bible is that no matter how great the trial, the shame, or the pain, God is greater still. He delights to guide those who seek Him through any storm, sorrow, or setback.

In the context of fleeing from his son Absalom, King David wrote, “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” (Psalm 3:3)  David was experiencing great pain and humiliation over the downturn of his family and kingdom, but this tattered man found comfort in the Lord.  David, perhaps more than any biblical writer, allows us to see into his heart through the experiences of his life and his record of worship found in the Psalms.

In another harrowing event in David’s life found in I Samuel 30:1-6, prior to becoming king, his family was taken captive by a rugged band of marauders.  When David and his men came to the city, “they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.” The text says that David and the people “raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.” And in addition to his grief, the people spoke of stoning David. That is what you would call a really bad day! (I Samuel 30:1-6)

A key to understanding David’s strength is found in v. 6, “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” What does that mean? I think it would involve David recounting past experiences of God’s faithfulness in times of need. I think it would include remembering that God is greater than this calamity, and that He would make a way forward. I think it would include a reminder of God’s promises found in His word.

The consistent testimony of David through a myriad of conflicts and heartaches was a steadfast resolve to seek the Lord with all of his heart and to rest upon the Lord’s strength and tender mercies.  For David, God was able to deliver and supply for the needs of his life, and was therefore where he looked first.

A. W. Tozer stated in his classic work The Knowledge of the Holy: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  Tozer continued:

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.… Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your mind when you think about God?,” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man.

What about you? What comes to your mind when you think about God? The claims of Christ?

Allow these verses to enlarge your vision and see that He is a God who is able, regardless of the question or need:

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…” Romans 16:25

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

“Now to Him who isable to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,” Ephesians 3:20

“For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced thatHe is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12

“Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joyto the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”  Jude 24, 25

He is able, and nothing is too difficult for Him.

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