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Daily Devotion: Psalm 31:23-24

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Psalm 31:23-24    "O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.  (24)  Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD."

Throughout this Psalm, David has spoken of the manner in which the Lord has blessed him in his deepest needs. In fact, this has been his theme through most of the Psalms.  He has said things such as, "The Lord is MY shepherd. He is MY rock, MY strength, My refuge."  It does my heart good to hear David speak these things. It does my heart good to hear children of God speak out concerning the manner in which the Lord has blessed them. It is a source of encouragement for me and for others.

But notice the tone of these two verses. He now directs his thoughts away from himself to the needs of others.  He has said, "I will love the Lord."  In today's verse, he directs that thought to others, "O love the LORD, all ye his saints."  His deep desire was for others to see and love the Lord in the same manner as he did.  We understand that we cannot place God's love into the heart of another and neither can we draw God's love out of the heart of someone else. But there is something we can do - We can be the faithful witness for which we have been called to be.

We can continue to testify of God's goodness, just as David did. We can continue to try to impress upon others the faithfulness of our Lord. We can be that witness. Or as the Apostle Paul stated: We can plant. We can water. But it is indeed God who gives the increase.  Though we understand God is the one who brings out the final results, we are not dismissed from the responsibility of witnessing unto the Lord's grace and mercy.

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