Psalms 37:24

“The Mighty Hand of God”

The theme of Psalms chapter 37 is: live for Jesus. Do not let the success of the wicked keep you from serving Christ. Do not let a jealousy and anger towards those who appear to succeed through cheating, lying, slander, theft, and manipulation, do not let such a jealous anger keep you from doing your part to help teach the truth of God’s Word.

Once again in verse 24 we see the word “upholdeth”. The word “upholdeth” means to lay one’s hand upon. Is the hand of the Lord upon you? Is the hand of the Lord in your life? It is if you know Christ as your Savior. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” There is no one mightier than Jesus Christ the king of kings. God is the almighty God. With God all things are possible. All things God does God does mightily with his hands. All things work together for good to them that love God to them that are the called according to His purpose.

How wonderful it is to have the hand of the LORD in your life by grace through faith in Jesus Christ And how often men fail to do their best at what they do in life. It takes great effort and work to accomplish anything in life. This is the curse that God put on Adam and all mankind after Adam and Eve sinned. God said in Genesis 3:19, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Man is a sinner. How easily man fails. One the greatest failures’ of man is to give his best effort at everything he does and to do it for the glory of God. In the sweat of thy face; in other words everything you do if you want to do you’re best at takes great effort. No one in life has ever lived their life and given 100% of the time in everything they do except God. Jesus did when he lived on this earth a life without sin, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and rose again the 3^rd day.

How wonderful it is to be “upholden” by the hand of the LORD. There is none mightier than Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. Whatever God does with his hands He always does His best at. The works of God are marvelous works and wonderful works. This is the reason that every human life is precious to God. Because God created life and God wants to work in your life with his mighty hands. You may think that compared to many people you do not have many abilities or you may think you are too weak and fail to often. If you trust in Jesus and let him lead you, let him mold you with his hands and with his word because He is the potter and we are the clay then God will do a great work in your life. It may not be great in the world’s eyes but to God and to the measure of eternity it will be a great work because it will be the work of the hands of God who “upholdeth” those that trust in His Word.

Psalms 37:24 says, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.” In the context of this verse to fall means to sin: to rebel against the will of God; to do something morally wrong; to fail to trust and to believe God’s promises, the Bible. Regardless of what your sin is, when you fail, you can be sure that Christ is always there to offer you forgiveness and to continue working the work of a potter on the clay molding you into the person you should be if you allow him. First John 1:9 says, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” First John 2:1 says, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

How wonderful is the forgiveness of sins that is found in Jesus Christ. Because of Christ’s forgiveness for those that turn to him there is eternal life. And because of Christ’s forgiveness there is always another opportunity to try again at picking up your cross daily and following Jesus. Men are sinful. Christians are not any better than the lost people of the world in the sense that they are just sinners saved by grace through faith. Man is not very good at repenting of sins. Man is stubborn and rebellious towards the truth. It is only even by the grace of God that man is able to repent of sin. How wonderful it is to let God be the potter and do the work that he wants to do mightily in your life. To have the grace of God touch my heart and soften it to repent of sin; only an almighty God can do such a work in any man’s life. Roman 9:18 says, “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” Jesus can melt the coldest of hearts. Jesus can break the hardest of wills because His word is like a hammer that breaketh the rock into pieces.

Psalms 37:23-24 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.” A Christian who remembers the promises of God and the grace and mercy of Christ should never become so discouraged as to stop serving Jesus. Life can be discouraging. Sometimes failure and persecution can be a fiery trial. If the hand of the LORD, which always works mightily, is in your life, then you can be certain that God will keep you from becoming a cast away in the faith. God wants to do a mighty work with you all it takes is faith as a grain of mustard seed in the promises of the Bible. You are weak and sinful you will fail. The world and the pleasures of the world will tempt you; but if you fail the hand of God will uphold you.

Perhaps this is why when it is the hand of God, and when it is the voice of God, it is often a very gentle touch, a still small voice, the voice the Spirit, the voice of the word of God. God is all powerful therefore it only takes a soft and gentle touch by the hand of God to work in the heart of man to lead man to repent of His sins. First Kings 19:11-12 says, “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”

This is also the reason, when it come to accomplishing great things for God, that you don’t need to be famous or rich or have great abilities. You don’t need to preach to thousands. You don’t need to accomplish great things according to the standards of men. Jesus said in Luke 16:10, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” If it is God that “upholdeth” you then you are doing great things just by being faithful in your faith to Jesus Christ day by day.

Psalms 37:25 says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” The Bible certainly emphasizes that God takes care of his children. This is one of the truths taught in Psalms chapter 37. God will provide for your needs. Therefore there is no need to be jealous of those that have more than you do. God is going to give you what you need to keep you alive so that you can use your resources to serve Christ and to do your part in the spread of the Word. Maybe it is God’s will for you to be rich maybe it is God’s will for you to be poor. Either way It God that provides for His children.

One of the most basic needs of life is food. Of course spiritual food is more important than physical food. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Jeremiah 23:29, “Is not my word like as fire? Saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Psalms 29:7 says “The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.”

Jesus said seek and ye shall find. Draw night to God and He will draw nigh to you. Delight in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. God is light. Jesus is truth. Jesus gives truth to whoever seeks it. This is why the righteous are never forsaken by Christ. Even if the Christian suffers the sufferings of Job and is destitute of all physical things like food or water, they will never be forsaken by Christ. When it comes to spiritual food and the Word of God, God is going to make sure that the Christian has the opportunity to feed upon the word of God. Do not take for granted your freedom to have the Word of God and the opportunity to put the Word of God into you heart and into your mind. Days of famine and persecution are coming, days of evil. These are the last days. If you keep the word of God in your heart and in your mind then you will never find yourself in a situation where you are begging bread spiritually. Psalms 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Psalms 37:23-25 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” There is no one who can work a work as mighty as Jesus. It is Jesus Christ who is God. It is Jesus who humbled in fashion a man and who lived on this earth fulfilling the law of God, and who died on the cross for the sins of the world; for your sins and my sins. It is Jesus that rose from the grave defeating death. It is Jesus that “upholdeth” those that fall when they repent of their sins and trust in Christ for forgiveness. The gift of the mercy of God is the greatest gift in all the world. The riches of Christ, the riches of the cross, the riches of faith in the promises of God, the treasure of the Bible is more desirable than the things of this world.

There is no hand as mighty as the hand of God. Jesus said in John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” God is the potter and we are the clay. The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD. Jesus delights in a good man’s way. Though I fall, I shall not be utter cast down because it is Christ whose hand is upon me if I trust in Him.

Turn from your sins and turn to Jesus and let the mighty hand of God work his mighty work in your life.

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