CONTINUALLY
“…the goodness of God endureth
continually..” Psalm 52:1
I
was just reading along as normal during my morning devotion and this verse
simply jumped out at me - continually.
The word means always continuing, devoted to, constant, or unbroken. That day God showed me that his goodness is
not just something I can read about in Scripture. It is not just something that happens when we
perceive a blessing or aid. It is there
all the time. Constantly, God is good.
You
know the phrase, “God is good all the time”?
Well. It is right. But then, I got to thinking about the word
endureth. This has the idea of waiting
with patience-to hold out under stress.
I had to laugh at the image in my mind.
There is God, with all his goodness, waiting on us to realize how good
He really is as we struggle along on this planet acting as if no help or care
were available.
Surely
God has an immense amount of patience with his children. We get to feeling sorry for ourselves, or
fretting because things aren’t going our way.
We fall in and out of church and in and out with God. We are not consistent. We are not devoted. We are not good as a matter of fact. But God is always consistent. Always devoted. Always good.
He
was good in the past…you can read about that.
He will be good in the future….you can read about that. And, he is good right now. No matter my
circumstance, no matter my mind-set, God is good. And He will remain to be good….continually….forever!
Praise
His name.
Can
you see the goodness of God in your life? Can you trace His steps of goodness in the
past, the future, and the present? Why
not stop and praise Him for this trait and thank Him for his patience with you?
CONTINUALLY
“Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort…
Psalm 71:3
So
the next day I was reading again and this word was there again staring me in
the face. “…continually resort…”.
How
nice it is to have a place where we can get away from all the noise of this
life and the pressures of our society.
My prayer closet is one such place.
I can always go there and find rest and comfort.
But
the verse isn’t talking about a physical place like we would go on
holiday. It is referring to the personal
knowledge and spiritual understanding that God is that refuge. I may be standing in the midst of a storm,
but I can go to God and find that continual refreshment so necessary to being
able to stand.
The
word, resort, has the idea of a place of abiding- a place to enter and do life.
It begs the question: “Do I take advantage
of my resort? Do I know God to be my
strong habitation?”
When
the word continual is added to resort we get a description of a wonderful place
that is always available to us. We can
go over and over and never tire or use up the resource. God never tires of us coming to Him.
What
about you? Do you know God in this
way? Do you lean upon Him continually so
that you find your habitation in Him? Do
you know the pleasure of resorting in Him?
CONTINUALLY
“But I will hope continually, and
will yet praise thee more and more.” Psalm 71:14
And
before I could finish the 71st chapter of Psalm the word appeared
again…”I will hope continually.”
God’s
Word is amazing in that it is alive and can speak aloud. That particular day I was sadly fretting over
various challenges around me. I was wondering
how things were going to work out and if I should to do anything about the
situations. I was quickly losing my hope
and falling into that abyss of despair.
God
said, “You can hope continually in me.
Not in the situations, but in Me.
I will never let you down.” And I
heard him. There is such comfort of mind
when the Spirit speaks. I was able to
lay down my concerns before His feet and walk away into the day without the
restraints of fear.
Over
and over that day I quoted this simple phrase and reminded myself of the
goodness of God and kept returning to my resort, my habitation. God continually lifted my soul and brought
rejoicing to my heart.
Hope
is a wonderful thing. It makes
everything look possible. And you know
what? It is possible…because with God
all things are possible. They are
continually possible…so we CAN hope continually.
Are
you losing hope? Why not lay it down at
the cross and walk away with a different attitude? Steps of faith bring praise.
CONTINUALLY
“…I am continually with
thee….” Psalm 73:23
By
now you can tell that I am reading through the Psalms. It is a great book and always encourages my
heart. However, this is the first time
that I have seen this word! And here it
is again.
Psalm
73 is the psalmist lament over the prosperity of the wicked and his own lowly
state. He comes down to verses 23 and 24
to claim some wonderful promises.
“Nevertheless I am
continually with thee; thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and
afterward receive me to glory.”
Just
look at these two verses. I am
continually with God. No matter how the
wicked prosper, they can never claim that promise. No, they are not with God. They have the wrath of God upon them. But I have God beside me at all times.
God
holds me by my right hand. He is so
interested in my protection and welfare.
I am His child and he cares for me.
He
guides me with his counsel. His Word is
there for me. As I read and listen it
gives me guidance.
He
will receive me to glory. I have the
promise of a home in heaven. God is
waiting for me there. He is anxious to
have me home.
Yes. I am continually with God. And so are you. Do you know this sweet fellowship and have
this calm assurance?
CONTINUALLY
“I will bless the Lord at all
times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth..” Psalm 34:1
I had to go back to find this one, but it a
great place to end our meditation on this word, continually.
His praise shall continually be in my
mouth….continually. There is no place
for angry words, for words unbecoming to a Christian, for lying words, or
hurtful words. Praise should be coming
from our hearts and rolling off our tongues.
As a little child we sang, “Oh, be careful
little mouth what you say. Oh, be careful little mouth what you say. For the Father up above is looking down in
love, so be careful little mouth what you say.”
I would sing this over and over along with the
other verses. It always reminded me to
be careful what I say, do, walk and hear.
As adults we need to keep these simple teaching in front of us. It is too easy as an adult to make excuses
for our outbursts and upsets. We let
life dictate to us and we allow our moods to determine our speech. This does not match the attitude of the
Psalmist.
I wish I could tell you I had found the secret
to never uttering an unkind or thoughtless word. I have not.
I will have to claim James 3 and agree that the tongue is very difficult
to tame.
However, I do know that praise is a much
better choice and yields better results. I can discipline myself to think
before I speak and I can, by God’s grace, improve my speech.
And you?
What comes out of your mouth?
What words would you retrieve if you could? Could you make continual praise your goal as
well?
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