“The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back…”
(Psalm 132:11a, ESV)
I don’t know about you, but I struggle to make plans one month, one week, sometimes even one day out. Life is just so unpredictable; my emotions, my body, the state of this house are unpredictable. When I read in scripture how our God makes promises – grand promises! – to nations, to generations, to us even today and keeps them all, I have two distinct reactions: I am relieved. And then, I doubt.
Isn’t it too good to be true?
Psalm 132 is a song about promises. It is about a promise David made to God, a vow not to rest until he found “a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (v.5, ESV). What David is searching for is the Ark of the Covenant, a wooden box containing reminders of God’s promises and provisions for the people of Israel. The Ark was a symbol of God’s presence. David vowed to find it, to keep it near, and he did just that.
But more that this, Psalm 132 is about God’s promise to David. God made a covenant with David that his future generations would inherit the throne, that God’s presence and provision would be with them also.
If we learn one thing in Scripture, it is that our God delights in keeping His promises. He delights in redeeming us and in exceeding our expectations.
It is true that David’s son Solomon inherited the throne, but the larger story is one even David could not have imagined. God fulfilled His covenant with David through Christ, through God made man. God not only gave David’s line the throne; God gave them – and us – Himself.
“This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it” (emphasis added, v. 14, ESV).
Sisters, this means us. We are God’s resting place. Forever.
He dwells within us, not because of our goodness, our accomplishments or our faithfulness, but because He desired us. He has chosen us. Yes, God is faithful because faithfulness is who He is, but it is also His choice to be faithful.
He chose you yesterday. He chooses you today. He will choose you tomorrow.
But the promise does not end there. He vows to bless us. He promises salvation and joy, physical and spiritual provision.
We can expect His faithfulness. We can expect His blessing.
Our God may not be predictable, but He is faithful. He is trustworthy. We can expect Him to do what He says He will do.
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34 thoughts on "expectation"
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I live off God’s promises. He promised never to leave nor forsake mr. He promised to walk closer to me than any brother and that I will never walk alone again.
I continue to be so encouraged by this study. Something I am learning daily—the more of our time and energy and "thinking space" we give to God, the more He fills us with His peace and presence. It's scary sometimes and not always easy to do with our busy lives. But the more I am in the Word and the more I speak openly to him, the more peace I feel. It's hard to understand the history of the truth of His fulfilled promises over and over again if we don't read the Bible! Seems like a simple concept but it's really been on my heart this week.
Sometimes the simple truths of God are the hardest to see. You have said it so well, "the more of our time and energy and 'thinking space' [ love that phrase] we give to God, the more He fills is with His peace and presence." God truly can expand time in our busy lives if we seek Him. Thanks for sharing, Casey.
Oh Lord, how you love your people! He will keep His promise!
I find it so interesting, both as a Canadian and as a follower of Christ, to watch all of the current events that are taking place around Israel. Most recently, the visit made by US President Obama with Israel's leaders in their homeland. With all of the apparent tensions arising, it is easy to become anxious as we watch. But we know this is true. As things unfold, we will continue to see God faithful to His promise to His people. His plan to preserve His covenant with them. With us.
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity." Psalm 122:6-9 (NIV)
"Not one of all the Lord ’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." Joshua 21:45 (NIV)
So comforting He will keep His promises, not forsake me, no matter how undeserving I am!
Thank you Father!
I feel convicted today because I often place myself in situations where I don't have to trust God and, therefore I don't get to exercise my faith in Him or see His blessings. I am so self reliant that my own efforts and rewards has become enough. I've become satisfied in the world. This is no life at all! I need to be constantly exercising my faith that that father will take care of me in ways I can't imagine if I would only let Him and ask Him to.
God is faithful. His promises are true for all of His children. God will bless us- we are bessed to be a blessing to others.
I have been seeking understanding on “the Elected of God”. Are we promised here that in his choosing us, we become his Elect? And as his Elect, what great things does he have in store for us – exceeding all our expectations? His grace always is greater than all I could ever fathom…
Sue, I have struggled to understand "the elected of God", to understand it in relationship to His chosen and our free will choice. Christ died for all creation…so in a sense all are chosen, but not all are the elected. Christ is the bridge from one to the other. When we cross over that Bridge we become "God's Elect" and all the promises He has for those who are His are ours. Still working to understand so I hope I didn't fog up the issue. It is an important one.
Exactly. And I am overwhelmed with just the beauty of Christ’s death and resurrection…that is more than enough for me; we are his chosen.
I am loving this!! ..”God delights in keeping His promises.”
From my first understanding of Jesus I knew He was ‘for me’. It took many, many years and a crooked road before I began to understand that my response to His love for me should be humble, obedient, TRUST. His promises are many, and His word is Truth, Light and Living Water! I must allow His Faithfulness to sustain me, and His word to dwell in me.
“Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always.” (1 Chron 16 and Psalm 105)
has become my prayer to focus my mind through out the day on His faithfulness to guide, direct and protect.
Oh How HE Loves us! I will sing of his love FOREVER!! God bless you Sisters!!
I needed this reminder today. God is faithful because that is who he is! If there's one thing I can count on in this ever-changing world, it's that my God will come through for me. Not in the timing I would expect usually, but it's always the perfect time.
It's encouraging to read others comments here- that we all struggle with remembering God DOES keep his promises. People and things fail us regularly but God is always there- steadfast and true. Let our hearts put complete trust in Him.
An earlier expressed concern with the interpretation of today's scripture encouraged me to examine myself and my understanding of the context. I, too, believe God has chosen Zion and resides there just as He promised, but I believe that we like David sometimes want to contain God. I have done that so often, because I just cannot wrap my mind on the omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience of God.
I also believe we are a royal priesthood, a chosen people…TK states that so well. But unlike the priests of the old covenant we carry the Temple of God into every place we go for:
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; (1 Corinthians 6:19NIV)
And, corporately, we are The Church, The Body of Christ– when we gather in worship or mission, when we pray in agreement, God resides in His Body.
God has chosen, the Word makes it clear, to reside where and in whom He chooses. He will not abandon His chosen, be it Zion, the Church or you or me. So even though we are broken pottery, life patchworks glued together with cracks galore, when He rests within us, the light of His presence transforms the vessel. As Royal Priests we carry the Glory of God to a world in need of a savior.
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 (Message) expresses it so well:
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!
Have a blessed day! I close with the words from this morning's devotion:
Sisters, this means us. We are God’s resting place. Forever.
Beautifully stated! Amen.
Thanks Carolynmimi! Your words ring the bell in my heart.
"So even though we are broken pottery, life patchworks glued together with cracks galore, when He rests within us, the light of His presence transforms the vessel."
Beautiful word-picture of how God uses our imperfect-ness into something useful and extraordinary!
Great to know anytime, but especially in these crazy times. :0…;)
Have a blessed day my lady friends …
I love this Scripture this morning. Knowing that God chose me yesterday, chooses me today, and will choose me tomorrow lifts my spirits and reminds me that I am chosen, that someone is counting on me, that I must try and meet His expectations, but if I don't quite do that today and I stumble, falter, or doubt…He'll be there tomorrow, choosing me again. What a great God!
"Our God may not be predictable, but He is faithful. He is trustworthy. We can expect Him to do what He says He will do." I love this! I think sometimes I equate faithfulness with predictability, but it's so important to remember that His was are higher than our ways and His thoughts are greater than our thoughts. Just because He doesn't answer in the way we want, doesn't mean He isn't faithful to answer. God is the Promise Maker AND the Promise Keeper!
Nothing I can ever do will make Him love me any more or love me any less, He just loves me. Today I am thankful for that!
AmyKelly, loved the blog post today!
Good morning, sisters!
“He rarely chooses who we think are qualified, he qualifies those he chooses.” LOVE that, Rocknitat55!
Another way I’ve heard it put…He doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. God is so awesome, isn’t He!?!
When I seriously statred reading my way through the Bible, I was kind of…surprised, I guess, by the majority of the folks in the stories of the Old Testament. There sure are some majorally messed up people in many of those stories! But aren’t we all, huh? Thank God for Jesus!
My pastor has said many times, the WHOLE Bible is about Jesus. I didn’t get it, at first. But the more he teaches and points out how this or that story foreshadows Christ, I can now see it. Makes my reading more interesting and challenging, looking for where/how what I’m reading points to Jesus! Here’s an interesting, short, little video our pastor shared in church that demonstrates it:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=gmnSnNC8UJk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DgmnSnNC8UJk
Blessings! Have a great day all you lovely ladies!
I love the explanation that He qualifies who He chooses! Because we could never qualify on our own, we deserve nothing. Yet, He redeems us and makes us into something new to be used for His glory!
If we learn one thing in Scripture, it is that our God delights in keeping His promises. He delights in redeeming us and in exceeding our expectations.
Wow! Amen! He is constantly exceeding my expectations… That's why He's big and I'm little! I cannot begin to fathom all He will do… Let alone all he CAN do.
Rocknitat55, I absolutely loved what you said… He rarely chooses who we think are qualified, he qualifies those he chooses. Love it!! And I am truly thankful for it!! http://walkhumblywithgod.wordpress.com/
Amy, I visited your blog and only wished I had more time to spend there, but I will in upcoming days.
Thanks, Carolynmimi!!!
Thank you for this daily devotion! I am concerned that you say God is resting in US forever. If you look at context, we see it is about Zion and not us:
Psa 132:13-15
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
(ESV)
He has chosen us to be part of the Royal Priesthood where there is no Jew or Greek, free or slave, male or female, but we need to be careful to apply Scripture in context.
Look forward to each reading! God bless you.
I still think this applies. Sure, zion is his resting place, but so are we. He dwells in us. i thought that as I read it too, so I truly believe it was the Spirit telling me so, and it was only confirmed when I read it here.
I think what you said is good… We need to know the OT also :) thanks!
I remember when I first began to read the Bible I was so mistified, and opinionated. If I had my way none of the main actors would have made it. But the more I studied God revealed that it wasn’t abot goodness or perfection. It was about purpose,covenant, His promise. If God said it, promised it it would truly come to pass. He rarely chooses who we think are qualified, he qualifies those he chooses.
It seems the more Birthdays I have the more confident I become n His promises to me. If he has told me something about a situation, my health, my son… I know it will come to pass. I have even changed my prayers to reflect asking to be able to see the manifastation of some of those promises? God has been faithful and I have seen many.
This morning Lord I thank you for choosing me, keeping me, qualifying me. I thank you for allowing me to see the manifestations of your promises. Amen
SRT have a terrific Thursday n Jesus name.
I love this: “He qualifies those he chooses”. Yes, he is faithful, and so much more.
Thank you father in spite of me you chose me. Thank you for the promises, i am forever grateful for all yo’ve done. I’m not my own i belong to Jesus nothing in this life will ever change that. Thank you Jesus.