PSALM 103 VERSE 5 - "OUR PROVIDER AND STRENGTH"

Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:5)

Let us take an honest look at ourselves. Consider our possessions - what do we have in this life that God did not give to us? Some WILL and DO say, “well, I worked hard for thus and such, so I deserve it!” This is all fine. But where did you get the knowledge, wisdom, and expertise to not just perform that job or service and do it correctly so that someone would reimburse with either a salary or some sort of monetary compensation? Who opened the door for this employer or that one over there, to make a place at his or her organization so that a job can be had? Who put it in the mind of the two or four people interviewing you, that this is the person who should be hired, instead of the other 49 of the 50 who had the same qualifications?

You know who did everything just spoken of above? God did. He is not only the One Who makes these appointments of His Providence but He provides the means for us to have good things. The good things we eat, come from God. The warm home in the winter, and cool in the summer home we live in with our families, comes from God. The vehicle we drive, which takes us safely to our job and back or to visit family for Easter and Thanksgiving, comes from God. Did we work for it? Yes. Did we work hard for it and show up on time and obey the rules? Yes. Did we manage it properly, so bills could be paid, yet still family time be made special? Yes. But it was all because our loving Heavenly Father smiles His Grace, Love, and Goodness upon us! As the half-brother of our Lord Jesus – James says “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow" (James 1:17).

Some will say, doesn’t the evil and wicked or even the non-believer in this world do just as well,  or even better financially than most of God’s people? Yes, this is true. The same sun that shines on us, shines on them. The same rain, and snow etc….also  falls on them.  God loves even them, just as He loved us before we repented, got saved and became Christians. In fact, God leaves the doors open for those who are lost to come to Him and make peace, before it is too late. If we want to be really good Christians, we will pray for the wicked to turn to Christ.

In Psalm 103 verse 5, we have yet another reason for us to “bless the Lord” – because of that delicious chocolate bar you just ate or the running shoes you just put on for gym class. He is generous beyond measure and we cannot outgive God. Speaking of this, the second part of this verse is even more instructive.  We always hear that “youth is wasted on the young”. This is true. A lot of us did things in our youth, which wasted so much time, or channeled our energies into the wrong direction that we all wished we could do it all again. Of course, this is impossible, but the experience of misspent youth can help mold us into even better Christians and witnesses for the Lord. There are many Fourth Quarter Christians like myself, who are in the best years of our lives.  We are living proof of our “youth being renewed….” as the verse says. 

Designed by the Author of Life for those who are seasoned, this is actually more of an exhortation the follower of Christ who has followed Him for a long time to stay the course. We stay the course not just because He gives us the good things we described above, but because He is the Source of Our Strength. Towards that, He reminds us in Isaiah 40:31 of this truth:

Yet those who wait for the LORD

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

SEVEN FAMOUS BIBLE VERSES #4: "FLY LIKE AN EAGLE"

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:31)
What an amazingly powerful, hopeful and encouraging collection of words and sentiments....from the very heart of God!

Recent in-depth surveys of the beliefs of many people of different ages reveal stunning news, which should shock and dismay any right thinking person. It should also make any Christian cringe. The sheer volume of “Nones” (those who believe in nothing or have no faith system) is increasing by leaps and bounds. It is no more so than in Millennials, who learned their “believe-in-nothing-and-everything” from the Generation X-ers, who got their selfishness and “all about me” attitudes from one of the worse generations ever: we Baby Boomers. To be fair, the Baby Boomers came by it honestly. These were children of the so-called “Greatest Generation” who not only survived the Great Depression but won World War II and created the greatest and most prosperous nation in the world.

Therein lies the problem. The adversity of the 1930’s and 1940’s built perseverance and character. The prosperity of the victorious post-World War II boom led to a level of spiritual depravity and moral chaos which will only get worse, with each passing generation. All we need to do is look at the parallel universes of the brave military of the 1960’s and 1970’s against the sex and drug sub-culture, of that same era.

When you combine a western society of practical atheists, where God and His Laws have become ritual for one hour a week (for a declining minority of churchgoers), and a Christian church which does not follow the Compass of Christ, we have hopelessness. We see the fruits of a people with no hope in the increased use of Opioids and the resulting vortex downloads into hades. Suicide among young people has gone through the roof. Social media has coarsened relationships and true fellowship by the share nature of its into hades. Suicide among young people has gone through the roof. Social media has coarsened relationships and true fellowship by the share nature of its free-flowing accessibility and “anonymity”. With Christianity, the Bible and any mention of Jesus kept out of public schools and out of most of the public square in the west, it is no wonder people have no fixed point of reference on which to base their self-worth and eternal future.

Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Still, amidst all of this, comes one of the most famous and inspiring Bible verses of all time (Isaiah 40:31). But God, He gives us a reason why He can be counted on to make such as statement we find in verse 31. Here is what He says:
Verse 28: Because He is the Everlasting - meaning He has been there from Time past, to now to Eternity and was never created but did the creating Himself, He knows all and sees all. He never gets tired or grows weary in all these six thousands years of Creation and attending to the needs and souls of billions of people in all those years. Not just that, but God knows every single detail about us- our thoughts, our hopes, plans, dreams and fears. Because of this incomprehensible superior knowledge of His Creation, His "inscrutable understanding" leads Him to do what is best for each of us, if we would just trust and listen for and obey His direction.

Verse 29a: He does give strength to the weary in our rest - physical and spiritual. We all need food, sleep, exercise and relaxation so we can perform the work which the Lord has given our hands to do. Emotional rest comes when are our hearts are at peace and full of grace and love in the Lord. This encompasses those around us in our families, friends and community. If done right, Emotional well-being leads to this community focusing on the Word of God, its study and application to transform us into the Image of Christ.

Verses 29b-30: There is a barrel of Truth to the statement that God gives power to those who lack. John 1:12 says "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name". That same power is translated from the original Greek in John 1:12 as "dunamis" where we get the word "dynamite" from. Think of the explosive nature of dynamite and this is how God empowers the weak - if we ONLY TRUST IN HIM!

From there, the Lord, through His Holy Word now goes on to say that ANYONE - from young to old, who wait for Him....will then receive the promise of Isaiah 40:31. This "wait for the Lord" or as the King James Versions says so beautifully "they that wait upon the Lord" is crucial. It is an active present tense exhortation as in "those who are actively waiting until they hear from Me or get a clear direction" will.....

So the key is this, for the benefit of you and I - do not get in front or ahead of God, in our haste to make things better for us, because as humans, we are guaranteed to mess it up. But, just a little while longer and we "....will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary!"

Is there anything more amazing than this truth?! God is good - all the time!