Two days ago, we noticed seven statements in this psalm which describe divine attributes and which inspired the gratitude and worship of the writer. These statements are of two kinds, the first five telling us what the Lord is, and the other two what the Lord does. We now consider these other two statements, what He does on behalf of His people.
- “The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down”, v. 14. As members of a fallen race, believers are liable to stumble on the Christian pathway. There are various reasons for this. One Christian may put “a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way”, Rom. 14. 13. A novice may be given recognition as an elder in a local church prematurely, causing him to be lifted up with pride and so “fall into the condemnation of the devil”, 1 Tim. 3. 6. A believer who becomes covetous of riches may “fall into temptation and a snare”, 6. 9. A Christian whose speech is not scrupulously honest may “fall into condemnation”, James 5. 12. And perhaps our greatest danger is self-confidence, referred to by Paul when he wrote, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall”, 1 Cor. 10. 12.
- “The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy”, v. 20. The word “preserve” translates a Hebrew word whose root-meaning is “to hedge about”, i.e. to guard, protect. Believers are under the protection of the Almighty God of the universe. This accounts for Paul’s majestic statement of assurance, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”, Rom. 8. 38, 39.
Taking these two verses together, it is clear that our liability to stumble and fall should keep us humble and trusting as we tread life’s pathway, but that our final and eternal security in Christ is unassailable.
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever”, Jude 24, 25.
