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Abide, My Soul In...

Sometimes a phrase in a verse can really grab my attention.  But, beyond being an attention grabber, sometimes the phrase can take on a whole new level of importance, even to the point of being critical for life itself.

A phrase that recently did all that is “my soul shall abide in well being.”  This phrase is part of a verse from Psalm 25:  “His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.”  (v 13)

The context for those whose soul shall abide in well-being is very interesting.  From verses 1-12, it appears that there might be some prerequisites or conditions for a person to be able to abide (or dwell) in well-being.  Such seems to include being a person:

  • who lifts up their soul to God;
  • who trusts in God;
  • who waits on God;
  • who seeks to know God’s ways;
  • who is led by God;
  • who has their sins remembered no more;
  • who is humble;
  • who keeps the Lord’s covenant and testimonies;
  • who has their guilt pardoned;
  • who fears the Lord;
  • who receives instruction from the Lord.

 

This wonderful concept of well-being is not isolated to Psalm 25.  Take a look at the following:

Psalm 16:2 – “I say to the Lord, “’You are the Lord, my only source of well-being.’”  The only true, effective and lasting source of our well-being is God Himself.

Psalm 126:4 – “O Lord, restore our well-being, just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.”  When our well-being fades or disappears, the Lord is the one who can restore it.

Isaiah 45:7 – “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.”  The only One who can make the kind of well-being that we need is the Lord Himself and His ability to do so is substantiated by the fact that He formed light and darkness.

Our ever reliable source of well-being is God Himself.  When our well-being slips or declines, He is the one who restores it.  Our well-being doesn’t just happen and it seems to require some level of participation on our behalf.  That participation includes being people who have humble and teachable attitudes and who look to Him and trust Him.  We also need to be people who have had our sins dealt with and he has dealt with our sins through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, something we must believe and trust in.

The well-being of my soul is certainly worth making every effort to look to the one and only source of well-being, God Himself.  It is also very much worth my participation by becoming all that I should be in so that I can enter into that state of well-being.

It is, by far, the best state to dwell in!

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