It Is Well With My Soul

Meditations on the Psalms 

July 21, 2022

It Is Well With My Soul

Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?
    When the Lord restores his people,
    Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

Psalm 14:7

The first chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians praises the supremacy of Christ with some of the most beautiful prose of the Bible:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17 NRSV).

The foundation of Biblical faith is belief in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. This Creator God is intimately involved with His creation, as the Apostle Paul so eloquently affirmed.

In every generation, there are those who affirm their faith with the words of Paul, “For in him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28). Just as some people laughed at Paul in contempt, so also, in every generation there are those who deny the existence of God.

Psalm 14 is David’s personal psalm of lament that was later incorporated into the liturgy of worship of Israel, David demonstrates one of the most difficult aspects of faith; quietly resting in the assurance of your faith while the world around you scorns and ridicules your love for God. Perhaps, even worse than the scoffers, are those who claim a devotion to God, yet relish in their self-willed life. Even so, the fully-devoted followers of Christ look forward to that day “When the Lord restores his people” (Psalm 14:7b), and we sing our never-ending praise.

My Takeaway: In reading Psalm 14, I am reminded of a line in the eulogy I shared for my dear friend, Guy Leary. The line is a quote from an essay by Matt Labash in which he included this insight about his sister, Tamara:

She’s a believer, herself.  And in difficult times, she has learned a trick that I’m only still able to pull off on occasion, since I often fear God more than love him, and love him more than trust him.  That trick is this: she has learned to sit with pain and uncertainty, while not losing faith.

May it be so for all who are seeking the life in Christ as their way of life.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.