Return, O my soul, to your rest

Return, O my soul, to your rest.” Psalm 116:7 It's early on the Lord's Day again this morning. May God bring you rest and refreshment for your soul this day. Be quiet before Him, tranquil, and at rest in the midst of your busy life or trials or dilemma you're going through. In fact this Psalm is for “distress and anguish” (116:3) in the midst of which God can still give us His peace and you can rest in Him. ^“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not yourself. . . .” Psalm 37:7

         It is His peace that will take you through your problems and dilemmas. He's already given you that peace: “My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 Don't block that peace and put your heart in a turmoil again by fretting and refusing to trust in and depend on the Lord. This Psalm tells you what to do: “I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.” 116:17 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart” and then you won't let your heart be troubled or afraid.

         “I will lift up the cup of salvation” 116:13 –remind yourself that God has transformed you from death to life and when you go from life through death into life everlasting, then “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” 116:15

Remind yourself, “O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds” 116:16 so that I am free in Him—and to Him be the glory. “If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36 “For freedom did Christ set you free; be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1

       Listen to Spurgeon more than a century ago: “'Return unto thy rest, O my soul.' He calls the rest still his own, and feels full liberty to return to it. What a mercy it is that even if our soul has left its rest for a while we can tell it--'it is thy rest still.' The Psalmist had evidently been somewhat disturbed in mind, his troubles had ruffled his spirit; but now with a sense of answered prayer upon him he quiets his soul [as in former days]. Even as a bird flies to its nest, so does his soul fly to his God. Whenever a child of God even for a moment loses his peace of mind, he should be concerned to find it again, not by seeking it in the world or in his own experience, but in the Lord alone. 'For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.' . . . so let us come back to Him who has treated us with such exceeding kindness.”

       

        “Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. . . . The Lord is on my side as my helper. . . . The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. . . . This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:5-7,14,23-24 ESV

                                                                --Pastor Burnside

That Christ may be all and in all 

       We stand in an unbroken historical line straight back to Jesus. And it is Jesus who many times attested to the truth and reliability of scripture as given by God Himself. ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4 ESV And He was quoting Old Testament scripture when He said that. And in another place He testified, “the Scripture cannot be broken.” John 10:35 And in that wonderful scene on the Emmaus Road after the Resurrection, Jesus walked along with the two disciples “and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27 The Old Testament scriptures are about Jesus.

       The New Testament scriptures are also about Jesus—all of them. It was He who inspired them and gave them authority. Jesus told the disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Mt. 28:18 ESV The night before He died, Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit who would “bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” So it was the authoritative words of Jesus that brought about the New Testament. He told the disciples that they had two Comforters or “paracletos” “called alongside to help” first Jesus and then the Holy Spirit. “I will not leave you as orphans,” He told them, “I will come to you.” And He came in the person of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit inspired or “God-breathed” all the New Testament scriptures as well as the Old Testament.

       So everything centers around Jesus Himself, including the inspiration of scripture, “that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18 That's why we can sing, “From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.” Be thankful that you were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) and that He gave us the scriptures and preserved them for two thousand years so that you were able to hear the gospel and were convicted by the Holy Spirit so that He brought you to Christ.

                                                               --Pastor Burnside