The Lord will perfect that which concerns me
Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands”
Two things to notice here….that it is the Lord Who will perfect or complete the work in me (and as always, He stresses the personal! Hallelujah!)
To perfect, or complete that which concerns me….is in my life, what concerns His Will done in me.
And to complete that which “concerns” or bothers, frustrates, or worries me. As we bring all these things to Him, even as David did in this psalm
Psalm 138:7 “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thou shalt stretch forth Thine hand (notice His hand at work for us, again) against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy right hand shall save me.”
And second, that it is with “Thine own hands”.
His hands shaped man first out of the dust of the ground.
His hands were nailed on the cross to redeem me from my sins…and brought salvation to His own.
His glorified hands will hold on to us, till the end….leading us (John 10:10) as our Shepherd.
But now, for those who seek Him, and love Him….He speaks again of shaping with His own hands. (How personal is that!)
With His own hands means…He will work in a very personal manner for His child….molding us into the character of His Son within us. (Eph. 2:10)
Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.”
And what is the ground that we can pray on? “Thy mercy O Lord endureth for ever”.
(My husband once, years ago, was praying about our ministry….for it seemed that there was a general apathy, and lack of personal obedience to the Lord.
He prayed about his own heart….and the discouragement that was there about the situation. He prayed about our family….and our church….and was given this verse:
Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.”
We were all called to be there….we were all given promises to obtain. It was His own hands that had done this work….therefore my husband was to use this as a promise and stir up the gift that was in him….and awaken all of us to God’s warning.
2 Timothy 1:6-7 “…stir up the gift of God, which is in thee….For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.”
He started praying for the Lord to work….(and it is a prayer that we too, can pray)…forsake not the work of Thine own hands.
Psalm 119:126 “It is time for Thee, Lord to work: for they have made void Thy law.”
And there was a difference….in him…the Holy Spirit giving him joy again…
…..and in others, once they became aware that they had “fallen asleep”…they were more diligent in seeking the Lord’s Will and doing it….and thanking Him for it!
Eph. 5:14-16 “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
See then that ye walk circumspectly (looking around to check for dangers), not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18-19 “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the Spirit.”)
No matter where we are in our walk to heaven, there will be times of discouragement. We will grow sleepy….and our joy in the things of God may be overshadowed by our own, or other’s lack of diligence and obedience.
Let us seek our Lord in these times….and not try and deal with them alone.
It is His Work we do….it is His Word we preach,….it is His Will we want.
The Lord will (not maybe, or perhaps…but will) perfect that which concerns me….
….Thy mercy, O Lord endures for ever (praise God, so that I can always look up and see Christ standing before God for me, in power and might!)….
….forsake not the works of Thine own hands (and here is the prayer we can always pray…which will lead us back to placing our all, in His capable hands.)
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 