Great is the LORD

11 Apr Great is the LORD

Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore,
“Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”  Psalm 35v27

Words are very important, in fact the words we put in our mouths have the power to set the course of our lives. For example in order to be saved we had to believe with our heart and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. Part of the instruction God gave Joshua to ensure His success was not to let the book of the law depart from his mouth but to mediate on it day and night.

Here in Psalm 35 we have an instruction in what to speak. In fact, we are instructed to say evermore that “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”. A fairly simple instruction which when we start to speak and meditate on will change us and by changing us will result in our circumstances changing. You see Faith comes from hearing and hearing of the word of God; so as you open your mouth to say you start to hear the word, as you hear the word continually it starts to affect your expectations and faith starts to come.

The phrase itself is very short and can be broken in to 4 segments which I want to look at one at a time;

Great is the Lord

We are declaring that God is great. Great in himself but also great to perform what He has promised. When we consider who delights in the welfare of his servant it is the one who has the resources to bring this welfare to pass. So it’s not a limited individual who desires to bring about our welfare but it is the great Lord who created the heavens and earth with His words who delights in our welfare. Great is the Lord!

Who Delights

In the Welfare

The word welfare is the Hebrew word shalom and means the peace, completeness, soundness, welfare, safety, health, tranquillity and contentment.

So this Great Lord takes delight in the Shalom of His servants. Meaning it is His delight to take my heart and lead me into Shalom. The abundant life Jesus promises me is one of Shalom and Shalom means;

• Peace
• Completeness
• Soundness
• Welfare
• Safety
• Health
• Tranquillity

Think about it for a moment, it’s not just God’s will to bring me into Shalom it is His delight.

Of his servant!

His delight is in the welfare of his servant. The word here for servant is not a domestic worker that has the right to leave when they want to, but a bondservant who is tied to His master for life. You have a relationship between one who serves and God himself and it is those in relationship that He delights in providing their Shalom.

However we are not called to be bondservants of this great God but His sons –“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are”.  1 John 3v1

Jesus himself said “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

So as I approach this scripture I do so as a son who serves willingly in my father’s household. If my heavenly father desires Shalom for his bondservants how much more would He delight in it for His sons and daughters? As I have spoken aloud and meditate on this scripture it has made me realise just how much my Shalom is His delight. With this realisation my expectation of Shalom has increased. This is God’s will for you and I encourage you to take the time to read and mediate this scripture and enter into His Shalom.

Alex