Background

Thankful remembrance of past deliverance and believing prayer for trials to come are the themes of this psalm.. Our consolation for the present, and our hope for the future both come from the record of His past actions on our behalf.

Recognition / Provision / Worship / Servanthood / Help / Security / Joy / Work / Happiness / Perseverance / Hope / Humility / Obedience / Community / Blessing

Persecutions have been ours in abundance. Affliction is no new thing, and the deliverance that has come before we can expect will come again. Our past gives us assurance to meet our present need. Remember, and know strong support. You still remain in divine hands.

2Co 1:5 tells us that both suffering and comfort are ours in abundance. The key for perseverance is that we recall the abundant comfort of Christ in those times when sufferings seem ready to overwhelm us. We are a people with a record, and that record shows that although we've endured much, we've not been overcome. From this, it ought to be clear that we never shall be overcome.

Our comfort is in assurance: assurance of our salvation, assurance of God's love for us. That assurance is based on the solid evidence of His Son, sent to die for us when we were still enemies to Him. Yet, the scope of this psalm goes far beyond the personal, far beyond our benefits from salvation. Like the ones that have preceded this psalm, the vision spreads out, encompassing the society of God's people, the Church.

Christ has built his church upon a rock, and the gates of hell have not prevailed against it, nor ever shall. (Matthew Henry) The call to persevere is more than just a cry for us to hold up under the pressures of our daily lives. It is a call to His Church to stand fast, to resist the attempts made by society to bend us to their image, to hold forth the Gospel in purity and truth, to declare the Word of the Lord fearlessly.

Hold fast! Look at the history of His Church! Many times, we might say, that Church has been persecuted, many times, that Church has been driven underground by those who would seek its end. Yet never have they prevailed. When the Church has been attacked, it has only grown stronger.

Here is hope for those who are truly suffering persecution now. Face it, this is a thing largely unknown on these shores, and this might, perhaps, be the most effective attack the Church has been under; the attack of complacency. Persecutions have ever made God's people strong. It is in the 'good times' that we grow weak. Yet, even in this, the attack will not prevail. God is greater!

For Perseverance in the Present

There is an alternate understanding of this last verse based on observations of the agricultural habits of the Middle East. This seems reasonable, since that is source from which this psalms' imagery is drawn. There, the furrows are kept relatively short, so that opportunities can be had at each row's end to rest the oxen, and clean and adjust the plow before turning to do the next row. With that view in mind, we might see this verse as showing how methodical their persecutors are. They rest briefly after each fresh attack. There are brief respites in the persecution, but always with the overhanging knowledge that the attack will resume, always with the knowledge that the attackers won't tire, for they continually restore their strength for fresh assaults.

It behooves us to remember, though, that all our days are in His hands. If there are persecutions, they come because He has decreed them. It is at times like this that we must remember that all things work for good for those who labor in His service. If we are afflicted, it is to benefit us, whether to turn us to repentance, or to strengthen our spiritual muscles.

Isa 10:6-7

A slight diversion

At this point, our study took a slight detour, and we looked at a related thought from Romans, which had come up in my morning studies.

Ro 8:18-25

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

The remainder of the nights notes are here