Ps 139:5-7 You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
David speaks of the wonder of knowing God’s divine restraint. He states, You hem me in. How many people do you know that rejoice in the knowledge that God has limited their options? How many people find comfort in the fact that God has restrained them and taken away some of their choices? Perhaps there is a wisdom here that we need to consider for our own lives. Many people that I have known complain against God for the things that He has NOT done for them or allowed in their lives. And yet I know that had I succeeded in some of the things that I set my heart after I would have never turned in repentance and given my life to the Lord. My success would have separated me from my consciousness of needing a savior.
Barnes Notes commentary references this passage from the writings of David in very simple but articulate terms. It defines this way of God as being too “closely surround, so that there is no way of escape.” (from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft) Have you ever felt like you were in a season where there was no escaping from the dealings of God. David did, and it caused him to live in thankfulness not resentment. It caused him to live in wonder at the ways of God not complaint at divine mistreatment. When God restrains us it is for our good! There are times when He limits us. There are times when He applies pressure to us in such a way that turns us towards Him. There were times in David’s life when if left to himself he would have self-destructed. Consider the ways of God in dealing with David’s sins concerning Bathsheba and her husband. God did not violate David’s free will and stop him from committing adultery, but in the midst of his sinfulness, when God could have turned his back on David and rejected him for his sin, instead God hems him in by sending a prophetic word to turn him back to God. God speaks in such clarity and timeliness that there is nowhere for David to turn but to the Lord in repentance.
God knew that David was a man after the Lord’s own heart and so when He saw David choosing poorly He honored the desires of David’ s heart above the weakness of his flesh. The weakness of David’s flesh would have disqualified him and destroyed him. God in his goodness dealt with David in accordance with the heart of love that He knew was underneath struggling against the desires of his weak flesh. Because of this the Lord hems David in and retrains him from further evil so that David can be rescued.
It was the knowledge of God’s mercy that was at the heart of David’s revelation. He understood the fact that God was reaching out to him to help him live the way he wanted to live in the depths of his heart. He understood that he was so undeserving based on the measure of sinfulness he had fallen into and yet God in His goodness has placed divine restraints around him to restore him to the standard that he desires to live by.
For each one of us it is important that we get this same revelation. Perhaps you are angry with the things that God has not done for you or allowed you to succeed in. But perhaps the very restraints you are struggling to break free from are a gift from God not a curse. God knows your heart and knows the outcome of every path! We are walking in the forest and can only see to the next curve in the road, but He can see what He is sparing us from by His divine restraints. Use your energies to seek Him not to struggle against Him. Embrace the seasons of divine restraint with joy and trust that He has His very best in store for your future! Embrace the wisdom of God above your own understanding!
No comments:
Post a Comment