Isn't that a great way to start your week? By calling out to God to preserve you, and affirming your trust in Him?
To preserve something means to keep it from decay, to keep it from 'ruining.' I don't want to ruin! I want to live in power for Jesus! The world is decaying -- I don't want to keep up with the world! Man's mind is decaying. The moral and ethical standard is decaying. Man is off-center, missing the mark (sinning!).
Instead, you and I want to be preserved.
You've probably eaten 'preserves' before, often meaning a jam or jelly that your mother or grandmother may have preserved. What do you do to preserve something? You put it in something that will
- Protect from the outside
- Maintain (preserve) it's freshness and and quality
There are approximately 18 Hebrew words used to 'preserve' and they all have a different inkling. This one, 'Shamar' is overwhelmingly interpreted to mean 'to keep,' 'to observe' and 'to guard,' thus translated 'preserve.' The theme of God's protection of His chosen people is overwhelming in the Old Testament, with 440 forms of reference to preserving.
If you know Christ, God has put in you purpose, peace, power, spiritual giftedness. Let's go forward this week knowing we are protected and thus empowered to impact everyone around us.
1 comment:
Great thoughts. Another thought is the idea of "pre-serve" me, Oh God.
Put me into places to serve before I even realize where I am. Prepare the way before me for service to you. Set up situations and meetings that give me opportunity to serve.
I like the idea of salt as a preservative. We are salt. We are not only kept from decay, we are renewed and reborn. We emerge from our salvation experience to a life of possibility and service.
I think David was praying for physical safety and for preservation from his own sinful leanings. We need to be preserved. Part of that process is our own responsibility in prayer, consuming the Word, and interacting with fellow believers.
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