Are You Up Or Down, Pt 2 - No. 83
Psalm 37:23-24, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” (Psalm 17:5)
Not only does God lift us up out of our trough of misery, but He holds us up. And He keeps holding us up as we rest in Him. It is so much better to be up than down, and this is where God wants us to be.
I am sure you have noticed that when your baby is very upset that he will not be pacified when you sit and hold him. No. He wants to be lifted up and held. He wants you to hold him while you walk around. Sit down. Oh no! He cries again. He wants to be up where you are! He wants to see the world from your point of view. He must feel really out-of-it looking up at us giants. No wonder babies love to be carried in our arms and carried around in baby carriers.
I think it is the same with us. It is easy to grovel when we look at circumstances from our puny point of view. We see the worst. The problems loom large and insurmountable. We can’t see our way out. But God comes. He lifts us up and holds us up. When He holds us, we start to see things from His point of view. We see from an eternal perspective. We receive His wisdom to know what to do. We look down upon our problems instead of being submerged by them.
How does God hold us? He carries us in His strong arms. He holds us with His mighty right arm. When David was being pursued by enemies he confessed to the Lord, “Your right hand has held me up.” (Psalm 18:35) When he was in the wilderness, he cried, “Your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8)
Now read this wonderful promise in Isaiah 41:10 and 13, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand… For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’”
The word “uphold” in the Hebrew means “to sustain, to maintain, to stay up.” God doesn’t lift us up to drop us. He holds us up to sustain us. He wants to keep us “stayed up.” He does this with His mighty right hand. God’s right hand speaks of His power and His action and His hand doesn’t get tired. He carries us and holds us up from the womb to the grave. I love the words of Isaiah 46:3-4, “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: even to your old age, I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” (Isaiah 63:9) The Psalmist affirms this too, “By you I have been upheld from my birth.” (Psalm 71:6)
Not only does God uphold us with His right hand, but His eternal Word upholds us. The Psalmist confesses in Psalm 119:116, “Uphold me according to your word, that I may live.” Do you want to be held up daily? Trust in the Lord and read His Word daily. His life-giving words will sustain you. They will hold you up when everything and everyone is trying to pull you down.
The enemy of your soul, the devil, wants you down. He wants to keep you in the pits. Don’t fall for his subtle tactics. Put your hand in the mighty hand of the Lord. Let Him carry you. Feed on His Word and it will hold you up.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
PRAYER:
“Oh God, I confess that I cannot hold myself up. But I thank you that you have promised to hold me up. I cling to you and to your life-giving words. Thank you, Lord.”
AFFIRMATION:
“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
He taketh my burden away;
He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved,
He giveth me strength for each day.”