Psalm 66:9

Psalm 66:9

He preserves our lives

This statement follows on, of course, from the invitation to praise that we considered yesterday. Verse 8 encourages us to praise the Lord audibly and verse 9 gives two powerful reasons why. The first of these is obvious. We praise the Lord because we are still alive! Have you had any brushes with death? Have you suffered serious illness? Have you been in an accident?  Are you aware of any situation when danger lurked and somehow, miraculously, you were saved from serious injury? My wife tells of an incident in a car with our children. When driving down a narrow road she was suddenly confronted by a lorry, travelling at speed,  that filled the space in front of her, there was no room to move aside and no time to stop. She closed her eyes and prayed and when she opened them, she saw the lorry in her rear-view mirror, driving away. “He has preserved our lives!” It may be that we can offer praise because without Him we would not be here, and we certainly would not have the hope of eternal life!

Secondly, “He has kept our feet from slipping.” The inference is that life is like a steep mountain path where there are loose rocks and unstable footings and yet, somehow, we have managed to stay safe and have not slidden backwards. Health, dangerous situations, lack of faith, personal sin; there is a long list of factors that can cause us to slip backwards and lose ground in our spiritual, physical and emotional journeys. However, it is good to know that if we keep our eyes on Him and keep looking up and forward, He will gently lead us on, in the direction that it is best for us to go. Let’s praise Him audibly today, with a sense of great peace and inner joy that He is watching over us every moment of our journey and He will continue to do so – forever! Hallelujah!

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