Our Steps Are Ordered by The Lord
July 10, 2020
Commentary
This hymn of praise explains how the Lord has the power to change things. His authority is limitless. He can reverse the condition of anything and therefore the way of life for anybody. In this passage we see how the Lord has great power over nature (vv. 33-39). He is sovereign and can restrain His blessings should He desire, or He can give them in abundance if He so chooses. All around them the Jews could see the harvest of hundreds of years of rebellion and apostasy in the ruined cities and barren fields. This was once a land that flowed with milk and honey. It is a fact of life that wickedness brings judgment and repentance brings blessing. This barren, desolation was a payment for generation after generation of life in defiance to the Word of God. Israel had ignored the laws of God and followed in the foolish worship of the pagans.
It makes no difference if we are a prince or a pauper (v. 40). The issue is whether we are repentant before God. Though we are poor, if we live righteously and faithfully for God, we shall prosper (vv. 41-43). Those who wait for the Lord receive comfort from seeing His power as He blesses them and silences the wicked. It seems that God’s people had to be scourged and scattered before they would listen to Him. The psalmist tells how God diminished and brought the people low. Everything is under God’s rule and authority; the wise know and understand this (v. 43).
We need to remember that the deliverances we experience comes from the good hand of God. When we are delivered from afflictions and distress, our deliverance has not come by chance. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” (Psalm 37:23).
Application
No matter what I am facing in my life, I need to remember that God is working out a plan dictated by His loving kindness and power. He is sovereign and always knows what is best.
Psalms 107:33– 43 (NET)
33 He turned streams into a desert, springs of water into arid land,
34 and a fruitful land into a barren place, because of the sin of its inhabitants.
35 As for his people, he turned a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into springs of water.
36 He allowed the hungry to settle there, and they established a city in which to live.
37 They cultivated fields, and planted vineyards, which yielded a harvest of fruit.
38 He blessed them so that they became very numerous. He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number.
39 As for their enemies, they decreased in number and were beaten down, because of painful distress and suffering.
40 He would pour contempt upon princes, and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.
41 Yet he protected the needy from oppression, and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.
42 When the godly see this, they rejoice, and every sinner shuts his mouth.
43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things. Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love.