“…These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” NIV
“But to this one I will look [graciously],To him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who [reverently] trembles at My word and honors My commands.” Amplified
When I was young, my father taught my brother and I to shake a person’s hand firmly, never limp like a noodle. It was not a macho thing, it was the beginning of favor. Now that I have shaken many people’s hands I can say that when I get the limp noodle, for some reason, I don’t like it. The limp noodle hand does not portray strength, but weakness. So I make sure when I shake hands with whomever it is, it’s always firm and I look them in the eye. This, in turn, begins a favorable reaction from the other person.
The Lord has outlined what it takes to experience the favor of the Lord in the verse above. You may be asking why you have not seen this in your own life. Like maybe you could have avoided some pitfalls in your life. All of us have sinned and fallen short of His Glory so none of us can say that we are exempt from knowing this truth. After you read this, you may be asking yourself the “what if” question. What if I had listened and obeyed this truth? What if I had listened to the wise advise of my family and friends? It is never too late and that is the great news. God has not turned his back on mankind and we have His son Jesus that proves His love for us. I have copied the NIV version and the Amplified version so we could have a great understanding of what the Lord is talking about.
The first action item needed is being humble and contrite in spirit. If you are reading this and you say, “well I am humble and contrite” you aren’t. A good measuring stick for this is how much grace do you extend to those around you and what is your attitude while extending that grace. Contriteness comes from understanding that you have been saved by grace because you could not get close to God because of your own sinfulness. You, in turn treat people with the same grace Christ offers us. Satan is the accuser of the brethren but Christ is your redeemer. Don’t be the accuser but rather, offer the love of Christ to people understanding that the Spirit of God is the only thing that will crucify their flesh. You cannot achieve this not matter how hard you try to convince them. Your prayer should be for God to open their eyes to His love for them. It is only then that the flesh begins to die.
The next action is reverently honoring God’s words and commands. Read the Bible and follow what God says to do in it. It is the playbook from God. You know that special playbook coaches keep at their hand holding all those special plays no one knows about that is sure to win the game? The Bible is God playbook. Imagine the quarterback going into the game not knowing any of the plays from the coach. He could not even manage the offense much less win the game. Psalm 1:2 tells us, “but those whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night.” You should be pondering God’s word all day long and all night long. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” We ought to be in the Word every day and ponder on what it tells us every day. Favor from the Lord comes when we honor and reverently follow what the Word says to do, i.e. run the plays that God has set before us and don’t create our own on the fly in the field of play.
Today, remember that favor from the Lord does not come with a pass on all of life’s hard issues, it does come with an understanding that you serve the God of the universe and is anything too hard for God? When you follow God in all your ways you play the game of life with power and purpose.
Prayer: Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit will quicken us to get into the Word of God every day. I pray that we read and ponder on each verse while the Holy Spirit downloads us the hidden wisdom of each verse. I pray that we all retain and resight these truths all day long to ourselves and out loud. I pray the favor of the Lord will rest on all of us. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
Leave a comment