Scripture: Psalm 145:17-19
“The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.“
“Jesus is the Word of God, our Lord and Savior King. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Within this scripture in Psalm 145, we can see several insights into the way, the truth, and the life.
• (The Way) – The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.
Jesus is our righteousness. We are made righteous through His blood that was shed for us on the cross. He never sinned and He was perfect and blameless in the sight of the Father. Now although we have sinned, we are made spotless and blameless just like Him, through His blood. When the Father sees us He sees Jesus, and we are accepted. There are no longer any sins, transgressions, or iniquities laid to our account. In fact they are blotted out, and God doesn’t even remember them anymore, as if they never occurred at all. All of the grievances we ever committed in the past, present, and future are wiped out the minute we believe in Him, and confess Him as Lord of our life. The enemy of our soul, the devil, is the only one that will ever bring them up to us because our Father God does not see them at all. The Holy Spirit doesn’t convict the born again believer of sin, but He does convict the world of righteousness, and of judgment: “of sin, because they do not believe in Jesus.” (John 16:8-9)
• (The Truth) – The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
Once we accept the Lord into our life, a transformation occurs in our spirit. “We who were dead in our trespasses are made alive together in Christ.” (Ephesians 2:5) There is nothing we can ever do to earn this, it is the gift of Grace. The only part we have in this deal is accepting what He did. Believing we receive when we pray and then speaking those things which we received. Which in turn leads us to praising and thanking our Father for giving us His rest (Peace). “When we enter into faith we enter into rest.” (Matthew 11:28, Hebrews 4:10)
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Sanctify them in the truth [set them apart for Your purposes, make them holy]; Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 Amplified) There is another place in the scripture that also says a similar thing. “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6) When we know the truth of the Word it makes us free. (John 8:32) From this Psalm 145 scripture, we can tie all of this together. It says, “The Lord is near to us who call upon Him in truth.” So how do we do this? Well, the scripture says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8) We draw near to God in His truth by “meditating on the Word day and night that we may observe to do all that is written in it, and then we shall make our way prosperous and we shall have good success.” (Joshua 1:8) By keeping the Word in our hearts and on our lips, we renew our soul and body to the eternal truth of the Word of His power, which in turn produces faith in our lives.
“Through faith and patience we inherit the promises of God.” (Hebrews 6:12) When we have faith in the Word of His power (Grace), we get every benefit that has been provided for us. There is a big condition to our experiential walk in this life though, and that is to not have any doubt in our hearts. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) So the key to our success and experience of abundant life is in keeping our heart believing His Word, and our mouth speaking what it is we are believing from His Word (Truth). Seed, time, and harvest are always at play in our lives because it is a law in the earth. So we are to not faint before our harvest, and that is where patience comes in. James really drives this point home, and note it says when you do this, you will be perfect and complete and lack nothing. Also notice what doubt does. “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:4-8)
We are to believe, speak, and keep thanking Him and stand steadfast in our beliefs until we see the eternal Word (Spiritual) change the things that we see, which are temporary (Natural). In other words, keep your Hope (confident expectation with joyful anticipation) and remain convinced that He will perform that which He said He would. In the case of our salvation, John spells this hope out beautifully when he says everyone who has this hope purifies himself. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:3)
• (The Life) – He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.
Life is in the blood of Jesus. We now have eternal life because of what He did on the cross. “Jesus is the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) With His eternal sacrifice we are now able to enter the Holy of Holies and have a direct relationship with God the Father. We are seated at the right hand of the Father with Jesus and are joint heirs with Him in His Kingdom. The kingdom of God gives us access to righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17) The key to receiving all that we desire is as it says in Psalm 145, fearing the Lord. “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4) The Word says, “We know that we have what we ask of the Father because we ask according to His Will.” (1 John 5:14) It also states, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) Lastly the Word says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)
We can then see from the scripture there are some things which are pretty important for us to do in order for us to have whatever it is we desire be fulfilled.
1. Humility
Jesus didn’t use His power as God when He was on the earth, but relied fully on the power of the Holy Spirit. He also was fully submitted to His Father’s will in everything. We are to follow His example. We are to fully rely on the power of His Holy Spirit as He did. We are also to yield our will to His Word, and only do those things which He tells us, just as He only obeyed the Father and pleased Him. The scripture says, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) The reason Lucifer, the devil, got kicked out of Heaven was because of pride. Lucifer was an archangel, and the head of the worship in Heaven. He saw the greatness of God and said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:14) By trying to exalt himself, he was cast down, and a third of the angels (demons) rebelled and went with him. The lesson to be learned here is that when we try to do things our way instead of God’s way and exalt our opinion, we will never end up with good results. The scripture says, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) Notice how care and worry is directly related to this scripture. When we decide to take the cares of this world instead of trusting His Word, we end up being in opposition to the Word of God and then forfeit the results of God’s peace in our lives. A life of humility says, “God your Word says….” (insert scripture). I won’t exalt my own opinion, but I will rest in Your Grace and Truth, giving you thanks and casting all of my cares and worries on You, for You love me and want the very best things for me.
2. The Fear of the Lord
What is the fear of the Lord? What it is not, is being afraid of God, like He is out to get us for our wrongdoings. Our Father, just like any good earthly Father, would never hurt His children to teach them a lesson. God is good to us, He is worthy of our praise. “For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!” (Psalm 96:4) Worshiping the Lord is fearing Him. How do we worship the Lord? Delight in Him, give attention to His Words, and place importance on spending time with Him. Tithing is an act of worship and we should “honor Him with the first fruits of all your increase.” (Proverbs 3:9) Continually praise Him and have gratitude in your heart. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) Then out of the abundance of our heart we let our mouth speak those things pleasing to Him. “The just shall live by Faith.” (Romans 1:17)