“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.” (verses 14-16)
I will always remember a certain Friday in July when the doctor called to give me the results of a biopsy on a mole. I heard the words melanoma and cancer, and although I took notes on how deep and wide it was, and what needed to be done right away, once I heard that “c” word, after that I really wasn’t listening well. I do remember hanging up the phone, looking at my very dear friend who was with me and saying, “Well, it doesn’t look good.” I told her the bad report..what I could remember of it and then out of my mouth came these words, “BUT I shall live and not die. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. And my Father will satisfy me with long life”. These were verses I had buried in my heart years ago that at this critical time of need, the Holy Spirit brought up from someplace inside me, and used them to help save my life. If you want to read the whole story, you can go to this blog; https://bloggerbuck.wordpress.com/2011/01/
To complete our “mining” of Psalm 91, we’re going to dig into these words: “long life”, “satisfy”, “show” and “salvation”.
Long means a physical length of time, length of days, or longevity. Life refers to a period of time. It can refer to one day, one year, or…many days and many years, but most specifically, it means a lifetime or a person’s span of time on this earth. However, in order to fully understand what God is promising here, we have to “mine” the word “satisfy”. This is the key that unlocks the meaning of the promise. Satisfy means to satiate, to stuff, to fill till one’s desires are gratified, to have in excess, to supply possession or enjoyment beyond natural sufficiency till no more is desired!
Did you get that? Janice, did YOU get that? It is clear that the Lord is promising that to those who love Him, He will supply us with the possession and enjoyment of an excess of days with each day (each 24 hour period of time) filled till our desires are fulfilled! Our days and years will be filled beyond natural sufficiency to the full with our desires gratified until we desire it no more. Listen once more…excess of days beyond natural sufficiency with each day stuffed with the gratification of our desires being fulfilled. It’s those words, beyond natural sufficiency, that grab my attention. This is a supernatural deal. After we do all that we can in the natural, God promises to come with His super to fulfill this promise. This is our God!
Proverbs 3:1-2, “Forget not my law, for length of days, and years of a life worth living, and peace continuing through old age till death shall they add to you.”
God’s desire for us is to fulfill our purpose here on earth. Our times are in His hand and He wants us to live out the full number of our days. He does not desire us to die prematurely. It says in Ecclesiastes 7:17, “Why should you die before your time?” People can shorten their own life span through not knowing the truth and by disobeying natural and spiritual laws. But that is not God’s best. He promises that if we love Him, He will grant us a long, fulfilling and satisfying life. We have to believe that…. and speak that.
Deuteronomy 30:19, 20, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live. And may love the Lord your God, obey his voice and CLING TO HIM: For He is your life and the length of thy days…”
Exodus 23:25, 26, “I will take sickness away from the midst of thee… and the number of your days I will fulfill”.
Psalm 92:12, “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree…be long-lived, stately, upright, useful and fruitful; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon…majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible. Planted in the house of the lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. Growing in grace they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of spiritual vitality and rich in the verdure of trust, love and contentment. They are living memorials to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises..”
God’s plan for His people is to live a long, healthy satisfying life, fulfilling His plans and purposes in the earth before we go “home” to heaven.
The Apostle Paul knew this when he said, “it is more needful to live on in the flesh for the church, to minister to and teach them, even though it is far better to go to Heaven to be with Christ. Philippians 1;21-24
I heard a statement that went something like this; “I believe I have purpose in heaven and I’m going back to see Him (Jesus) one day, but in the meantime, I have influence in this earth to fulfill His purposes and plans for me here.”
Listen to what the Bible says about King David’s “home-going”, “He died in a good old age, having enjoyed long life, riches, and honor.” (Chronicles 29:28)
“There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” Philippians 3:6 (The Message)
Let’s love God; let’s believe His promise of a long, satisfying life, let’s fulfill His plans for good in the earth allowing the Lord to bring us to a flourishing finish!
….to be continued…in the meantime, peace to you and your family!
