Will be established before You
“The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.” (Psalm 102:28)
It has come the first Lord’s Day of the new year. People are feeling happy to meet a new year and expressing hope for the new year. Everybody became the year’s older by eating a bowl of rice cake soup. It means that the days of living on the land decreased by one year, and also that there has been less time to work. In accordance with the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, we would have to do wise actions of youth with awakening, remembering the Creator. The writer of the book Ecclesiastes is telling his own troubles to the Lord, being in a deep distress with a hurt heart. The life of gratitude and praise is a beautiful appearance that can be seen from those who have experienced sufferings.
He prayed God for himself not to lose his own life in the time of middle age. The reason he prayed so is that as growing older, he felt his body weakened, and also realized the fact that the length of his own life had decreased. After all, he became more perceive the eternity of the Lord after he had felt the limit of human life. There is no outwardly difference between what another people realize and the Psalm writer realizes. And yet, if there is a particular difference between the two, it is a fact that the Psalm writer knew God’s eternity along with having a prayer attitude to God. Like that, faith and non-belief only might look to be regarded a little bit apart.
He confessed that the Lord is the Almighty of creation and authority. There would not almost people who are not smart in this society these days. Furthermore, older people generally have a quite stubborn characteristic because of their older experience, that makes themselves assert strongly to others. So they almost don’t try to listen to the others’ opinion. Even if someone tries to say something to another, but the another party doesn’t try to listen to it well, for the person thinks for oneself that one’s own knows so much than others. Thus not a little people had might experience it’s not easy even to communicate easily one another. Especially because of smart-phone and TV, people these days talk and act about everything proudly as if oneself is a great teacher the well-informed. But what’s important to know is that, after all, if a thinking stays only within the head, such men do not be able to practically proceed forward toward right hope and courage. Thus they may fall into despair and lethargy and commit a crime.
Christians who are people of God can sing of hope and gratitude even when they are in a situation of despair. That’s not like a someone’s groundless shout of hope. Christians believe that all phenomena in the universe occur by the will of God the Maker of heaven and earth. Therefore, they expect to see a good ending someday. They also know that anyhow the ending is a positive result from God’s good purpose. We had a very hard time in the year 2020. The difficulties have not been solved even until now, and a new year has come before us. To talk about several things of present question, we may feel there is no hope in the surrounding situation. Nevertheless we should have a clear hope. Because we are relying on the Lord of creation and omnipotence by faith in Christ Jesus.
It is good we have hope, and it’s also important to reduce expectations of worldly things as much as possible. As Jesus taught us, we should not cling to material things such as food and clothing. When people hear of this, not a little might said in this tone. “What are you talking likewise when we’re about to die?” If you truly believe in Jesus, you must follow the teaching Matthew 6:33 which was said by Jesus that “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” even if it does not seem to be get to your understanding. If I pray only for that non-Christians seek, it would not be the right attitude as a real Christian.
Our Lord is God who has not forever changed today as yesterday. So Jesus is called with a by-name Alpha and Omega, and the first and the last. In this Bible text, the writer confessed the Psalm 102:27 “But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” Our Lord Jesus who is God we believe in remains forever unchanged in the future as well as the beginning and at present, and He reigns over all things eternally. However just as people cannot believe in themselves, they seem to exert themselves to the utmost not to believe in God.
The Lord had chosen me to be a people of God. And he gave me a clear promise of the life and blessing. If I believe and follow the word of God, someday He will fulfill all His promises for me. The attitude of throwing away the faith like turning one’s palm upside down just because he can’t see what he want in front of himself right now would not be admitted by the Lord. If we rely firmly on the Lord, there will be gone away the darkness and misery, and meet surely the days of blessing.
(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Jan 3rd 2021)