God Gives Long Life
Friday, March 3
God Gives Long Life
I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation. Psalm 91:16
God promises long life to the person who trusts Him and loves Him. God wants us to live a satisfied life, but let’s also not neglect the promise of a long life. King David was Israel’s most valiant, daring warrior, yet he lived to be a ripe old age, “full of days,” as the Old Testament authors liked to say. His life was filled with combat, high-risk situations, and impossible odds. Yet, he did not die in battle; his head went down in peace in his old age. Long life is a great concluding promise of protection. Of course, a believer may die young, but his death is simply a change of address from this earth to heaven. He passes from temporal life to eternal life. The Lord also promises salvation. God wants us to claim the promise of long life, but He also wants us to use that long life for Him. Ask yourself, “What am I going to do with my long life?”
Behold simply means to see something and take hold of it and make it our own. You can read it as take hold. God wants us to take hold of His salvation. This is what we ought to do with our long life. Live it to the fullest in God taking hold of the promises which were written before time for our sake.
The movement of this last line in Psalm 91 describes our ultimate, final victory. The order of this sentence gives us the promise that we will see salvation face to face DURING and AFTER our long, satisfied life in Christ Jesus.
Jesus constantly reminded us, “Salvation is Now! Today it has come!” Many people are surprised when they look up the word “salvation” in a Bible concordance and find that it has a much deeper meaning than just a ticket to heaven. We often miss the richness of this promise.
Many people read Psalm 91 and simply see it with their eyes, but very few behold it in their lives. My prayer is for that to change. This concludes our journey through Psalm 91. I pray that it has been a blessing for you. Pray with me….
Prayer for today: Dear God, thank You for Your everlasting presence which always walks with me. I thank You for this time spent reminding me of Your promises. I pray that my understanding will be enlarged to realize all that is available to me. I choose to walk in faith and not in fear. I am making a choice to spend time daily with You in the secret place. In the name of Jesus. Amen