"Upon You have I leaned and relied from birth; You are He Who took me from my mother's womb and You have been my benefactor from that day. My praise is continually of You." (Psalm 71:6, Amplified Bible)
It is interesting that the Amplified Bible translators here choose the word "benefactor" to describe the Blessed Trinity. One definition for "benefactor" is "kindly helper." He is.
The psalmist is recounting the sustenance, the "help" of the Lord Jesus ever since the former's birth. He then says, "My praise is continually of you." And the implication is that, "my praise will continue till I leave this life."
I have read a number of accounts of the Holocaust in my life time, and recently I have been reading one written by a biographer of Winston Churchill. Several times he speaks of Jews in some of the worst conditions imaginable, yet still reading the prayers of the Psalms regularly, even while being beaten, starved, seeing their families taken off to gas chambers. You hear of people who say that they have given up on God, that God "let them down," that, well, excuse the sarcasm here, but boo, hoo, hoo. I don't want to sound mean or callus, but think of what these faithful readers/pray-ers of the Psalms were going through, then ask the question, "Do I have any excuses?"
"Upon You have I leaned and relied from birth," even with rebels, nonbelievers, it was, has been, and will be the Lord Jesus Christ Who continues to sustain life on Planet Earth. Yes, Jesus is Life, and, "in Him all things consist/hold together." Make no mistake; whether lover of Jesus or hater, whether faithful, or unbelieving, it is still only of Jesus mankind can say, "Upon You have I leaned and relied from birth; You are He Who took me from my mother's womb...." The choice is not between the truth or falsehood of the statement. The choice is whether one rails on it as myth, or accepts it as the very, "Words of God."
Now, what are you and I going to do in response to such love and care? For me, "My praise is continually of You," Father, Son, Holy Spirit---- in Jesus' Name, Amen.
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The psalmist is recounting the sustenance, the "help" of the Lord Jesus ever since the former's birth. He then says, "My praise is continually of you." And the implication is that, "my praise will continue till I leave this life."
I have read a number of accounts of the Holocaust in my life time, and recently I have been reading one written by a biographer of Winston Churchill. Several times he speaks of Jews in some of the worst conditions imaginable, yet still reading the prayers of the Psalms regularly, even while being beaten, starved, seeing their families taken off to gas chambers. You hear of people who say that they have given up on God, that God "let them down," that, well, excuse the sarcasm here, but boo, hoo, hoo. I don't want to sound mean or callus, but think of what these faithful readers/pray-ers of the Psalms were going through, then ask the question, "Do I have any excuses?"
"Upon You have I leaned and relied from birth," even with rebels, nonbelievers, it was, has been, and will be the Lord Jesus Christ Who continues to sustain life on Planet Earth. Yes, Jesus is Life, and, "in Him all things consist/hold together." Make no mistake; whether lover of Jesus or hater, whether faithful, or unbelieving, it is still only of Jesus mankind can say, "Upon You have I leaned and relied from birth; You are He Who took me from my mother's womb...." The choice is not between the truth or falsehood of the statement. The choice is whether one rails on it as myth, or accepts it as the very, "Words of God."
Now, what are you and I going to do in response to such love and care? For me, "My praise is continually of You," Father, Son, Holy Spirit---- in Jesus' Name, Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
