TLIC Psalms. June 7. God Will Save.

Read Psalm 69:34-36.  ³⁴Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. ³⁵For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; ³⁶the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

This desperate prayer ends with praise. Praise for something God hasn’t even done yet. Praise before the rescue. God WILL save Zion…in the future. The offspring SHALL inherit the land…in the future.

What future grace will you praise God for today? What hope will sustain you? What are you looking forward to?

Or are you so focused on today that you can’t even begin to see tomorrow? You can’t fathom how God’s grace could ever reconcile your situation. You can’t imagine that the death you are dying might lead to a resurrection that leaves you far more trusting and compassionate.

There may be no glorious outcome to your circumstance this side of heaven, but one thing is sure, your “light momentary affliction is preparing for you an eternal weight of glory.” David’s prophetic praise to end this psalm still has not been fully realized. Only the glorious return of Christ will save Zion and give it to Christ’s offspring as an inheritance – the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven as the eternal dwelling place of God and man.

Can your heart imagine that?

If so then praise God with the heavens and earth as they too look forward to their prepared day of glory.

If not, then look again. Look again to the promised future for all who are in Christ. Look again to the last page of the book. Look again to Jesus, the author and the finisher who will leave no pain unhealed, no tear unwiped, no injustice unavenged, no loss unrestored, no sorrow uncomforted, and no good thing left undone.

To live is Christ is to praise God before the rescue, knowing that our restoration is assured.

Prayer. Jesus, help me to learn to praise you even when things haven’t changed yet. I know one day they will. If not in this life, then the next. Amen.