This chapter is a beautiful song to The LORD It describes the state of those who have followed, trusted, and obeyed Him. It is a song that shows what God does for His people. It is God who authors salvation and all good things come from Him. Verses 1-4 read,
“We have a strong city;
he sets up salvation
as walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
All people are welcome into the protection and goodness of His Salvation they only must keep faith. Verse 3 is one of the most quoted verses of the Bible and the promise of peace it offers makes the reason clear. The Lord does keep you in perfect peace when you trust Him, trust God’s sovereignty, trust He has a plan and a purpose and that He is a God of Justice and Love. Cling to Him, lean on Him and what worries could you have? What anxiety is there when you know God has good in store for you, has your best in mind and has a wonderful eternity established for you What apprehension is there when you follow God and keep His commands and He calls you righteous?
What does it mean to have one’s mind stayed on God? Does it mean you think of Him when things are good, that you post the things you are thankful for, that you post a verse or a Bible blog every day? Does it mean you call on God when you are in trouble ad things are going badly? It means He is not only in your conscious every minute of every day, but you are having an ongoing conversation with Him, your day and your life are about Him. You don’t have to call out for Him only when the bad is happening because you call out to Him continually and you understand the purpose of His judgments. Verses 8-10 read,
“In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and remembrance
are the desire of our soul.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 If favor is shown to the wicked,
he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.”
We do not follow God because we know that His judgments will fall on the world, but we do want others to find Him for that reason. Remember, The Day of Judgment is real, it is coming, and God doesn’t want anyone to perish and so we do not either. Verses 20-21 read,
“Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until the fury has passed by.
21 For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
and will no more cover its slain.”