Tag: God’s Power

46.b. “Wilderness” – 10.h. “The LORD bless you and keep you”

 

Num 6:24  The LORD bless you and keep you;

Psalms 91:11    For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

 Psalms 121:4   Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

 Isaiah 42:6    “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,

 John 17:11    And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

 Philippians 4:7   And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 1 Thessalonians 5:23   Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 1 Peter 1:5    who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 Jude 1:24     Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness in a righteous way and manner, consistent with his own perfections; and not against the will of Christ, but with his full consent concerning the welfare and salvation of his people; to perform his righteous promises of his coming, and of good things by him; to show his strict vindictive justice against sin, in the punishment of it; and to bring in an everlasting righteousness for his people. As the apple of his eye, being dear unto him; from being hurt by his enemies till the time came to be delivered into their hands; and from miscarrying in his work; and from the power of the grave, so as to be long detained in it. (Barnes)

 “Thus saith God, Jehovah, who created the heavens, and stretched them out; who spread the earth, and its productions; who gave the spirit of life to the people upon it, and the breath of life to them that walk upon it: I, Jehovah, I have called thee in righteousness, and grasped thy hand; and I keep thee, and make thee the covenant of the people. The Author of all being and all life, the Creator of the heaven and the earth, says, “I will keep you”. (Keil)

Who or what can remove us from the Hand of God and His care? No one and nothing. Who or what is more powerful than God? No one and nothing. Do uncomfortable and heart hurting situations, we find ourselves experiencing, keep us from the Love and Power of God? No. When God says He will bless you and keep you, does that mean we will not experience uncomfortable and heart-hurting situations? No. It does mean the Creator of all there is and who is all-powerful, and who is all-knowing, past present, and future, will bless us and keep us.  How this manifests in the life of a believer is limitless. It may come as peace, or rest, or hope, or faith, or steadfastness, or strength, or humbleness, or love as their total reliance rests in God alone. Whatever the uncomfortable or heart-hurting situation – God is able to Keep you and Bless you.

God’s Sovereignty

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy

Joshua 11:20
For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord  commanded Moses.

Exodus 4:21
And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Deuteronomy 2:30
But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day

Romans 9:15
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved. ’”
“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.

 

When Joshua went through the land, obeying God, and destroying all that was living it says that God had hardened the hearts of these people in order that they would be devoted to destruction.  I don’t know about you but when I think about how we are living in a time of grace and mercy we often forget about God’s sovereignty, purpose, and plan that in the past included hardening entire nation’s hearts.  I read this and wonder what it must would like to have your heart hardened by God and meant for the single purpose of destruction.  I have the human thought of “is this fair”???  We can not put our thoughts above God’s.  Scripture says our thoughts are not God’s thoughts.  I am also so thankful for Romans where Paul addressed this issue of fairness.  Man says: “why does He find fault”?,  “Who can resist His will”? Why have you made me like this”?  Paul continues with who is man that he should question God.  The creator can do what He pleases for the purpose He determines without needing our approval or understanding.  All I can say is that I am so thankful God softened my heart to hear His calling for the need of redemption, forgiveness, and salvation.  Do not neglect His salvation plan and purpose for your life.