How can we be RICHLY FULFILLED in our lives?
June 15
Bible Reading: Psalms Chapters 60-67
How can we be RICHLY FULFILLED in our lives?
"For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined
us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on
our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and
through water; but You brought us out to
rich fulfillment." (Psalms 66:10-12)
Psalms 66 is
one of the hymns whose author is not specified, but the Bible scholars ascribe
this psalm to King David judging by the style and the fact that house of God is
mentioned (v. 13). The initial verses (vv. 1-4) calls upon all nations to
praise God, while the next set of verses (vv. 5-7) invites us to "come and see" the works of
the Lord, pointing attention to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea or even
crossing the Jordan river. Towards the later part of the psalms (vv. 13-15) the
psalmist becomes personal and confesses his own obligations to God. Finally,
the psalmist bursts out with a repeated "come
and hear" as he declares with thanksgiving the special favor of the
Lord to himself (vv. 16-20).
Between the
passage of telling others to worship
God (v. 1-9) and telling himself what
he needs to do (vv. 13-20), we read in verses 10-12 what the psalmist is telling God. Like someone describing his
past looking at the rearview mirror, the psalmist is telling God how He has
tested him to refine him as silver is refined with the objective to remove all
the impurities. Malachi 3:3 describes God as someone who "shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." "Behold, I have refined you, but not as
silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah
48:10)
The psalmist
then describes to God how He has allowed him to be entrapped in the net that
the enemy has laid (v. 11a), brought stressful burdens into his life (v. 11b), and
caused others to ride over his head (v. 12a). This is an allusion to beasts of
burden, particularly to camels, whose heads the rider almost sits over, and so
domineers over them as he pleases. Finally the psalmist says that he went
through fire and water (v. 12b). Fire is the extremity of heat and dryness;
water is the extremity of moistness and coldness. This means that God allowed
the psalmist to go through extreme situations. However, God was with him during his affliction as His word describes in Isaiah
43:2-3: "When you pass through the
waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the
flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your
Savior…"
The end result was that the psalmist
found ‘rich fulfillment’ in the process. Let us also remember that when God
allows us to go through trials the end result is that God wants us to be richly
fulfilled in our lives.
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love." (1 Peter 1:6-8)
