Psalm 25:13 - March 17, 2009

Ps. 25:13 "He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare." NIV

The fear of the Lord brings with it great benefit. Living in the knowledge of God’s will for our lives that flows out of a reverent life opens the door for many great blessings to become available. There are many times that God would desire to bless us but the knowledge or understanding necessary to step into the path of blessing is only acquired by seeking the Lord in humility and submission. David confidently declares that those who fear the Lord spend their days in prosperity! That is a powerful statement and there is an obvious connection between these two things. When we live in the fear of the Lord he both protects us from evil that would strip away that which we have and we also become the recipients of divine insights and revelation that direct us in how to prosper. Jacob was given wisdom for his shepherding so that he could prosper, Joseph was given interpretation of dreams that brought promotion upon his life and saved an entire nation, and though Job’s life was touched by a season of loss to fulfill a sovereign purpose of God, because he was a righteous man who lived in the fear of the Lord, at the end of his days twice as much as he had lost in earlier times had been restored to him and his family.
This brings us to the second great benefit that David celebrates in this passage. Not only is our path directed into prosperity, the implication of verse 13 is that the nature of the prosperity is that it is of such abundance and enduring quality that it becomes inter-generational. When we receive the blessing that comes through the fear of the Lord it is something that transfers to our children and our children’s children. I believe that the reason for this is two-fold. First I believe that the blessing on us is transferred supernaturally and secondly I believe that the strength of the example that we set for our children and the fruit that they see in our lives is attractive and will by natural means as well become the desired course of their lives.
The second, interconnected blessing that comes to those who fear the Lord is a consistent pattern of revelation begins to open up to us. David speaks of the Lord confiding in those who fear him. Can you imagine possessing information that the Lord reveals to only a few. This is God’s way towards those who fear him. Jesus related the same principle in regard to his disciples. He said in John 15:15, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Jesus chose those who served him faithfully and brought them into a place of intimate understanding that the rest of the crowd was not given access to. God is looking for those whom he can reveal the intimate details of his kingdom business to! He is looking for friends who will be concerned about his concerns not merely their own concerns and David reflects this principle. He lived a life that was given over to the purpose of God in his generation and though there were short seasons where he drifted into carnality the overall testimony of his life was that he lived in the fear of the Lord and the blessings that follow it!
David ends this theme with a statement of where his focus lies. He is a man who has seen great difficulty and experienced much relational pain and yet in the midst of all of this he states “My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.” As I read this passage my mind is drawn to an image of a little child whose father is holding him tight. At first he struggles but then he finally realizes that the one holding him is too strong for him. He comes to a place of yielded surrender, looking to the one who holds him for the moment of release. It is apparent to me that all that David has been through has taught him that to struggle in his own effort and strength for a way of escape is futile and instead he has learned to wait, to rest, to look to the one who can release him from the things that have ensnared him. Where are your eyes today? Have you come to the place of surrender and rest? Be still and look to the Lord.