Established 🌱

Verse: “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24

Keyword: Established

In Oxford dictionary, it means “to make stable, make firm”

(Tagalog: Itinatag; Matatag - firm, strong & constant)

Meditation: As I was meditating the whole chapter in Psalms & proverbs months ago, this word (established) was mentioned many times by David in Psalms. And for me, it is a revelation of how David drew himself to God, how he surrendered his heart many times and how obedient His heart was even on times that he couldn’t understand the things that are happening and the things that are about to happen to him.🌱

Just like David, we too have our own battles, problems & difficulties in life. Minsan hindi natin alam if yung mga nangyayari sa atin sa kasalukuyan is making sense ba kase hindi natin maintindihan bakit nangyayari eto sa atin, but God would always remind us that all things work together for good. He allowed things to happen to let all the areas of our lives be established to trust Him, to have faith in Him and to always lean on to Him: 

When you need help, you call Him first. 

When you feel broken, you ask first for His comfort. 

When you don’t know what to do, you ask first for His wisdom & understanding.

When you feel weak, you ask Him first for strength.

When you’re happy, you give Him your thanks first.

When you’re weary, you come to Him first.

We can only establish ourselves to God, if we make Him our first to our everything.

God knows our strength & weaknesses, and so does satan… and satan uses our weaknesses to believe in his lies. The kind of lie that can make us down and can destroy us. That is why God always reminds each one of us to read His word and to plant it in our hearts, so we won’t be deceived easily by the lies of satan. If your heart is established with the Word of the Lord, no words, no comments or suggestions from people that can pull you away from Him. You might feel down for a moment but the word of God will lift you up and will encourage you to keep moving forward. 

Example: Job - We know that he lost everything that he had even if he was described as a blameless person (or napakabait na tao). During those difficult moments of his life, people around him are encouraging him to turn away from God, kase wala naman na lahat sa kanya. But Job stood up and never allowed himself to get swayed by the words of the people. He was established to serve the Lord even in his nothingness. 

We too can be in the same situation as Job. Maaaring mawala ano man ang meron tayo ngayon, but with an established heart, like Job we will still praise the Lord, give Him thanks & Honor Him. Let us allow God to establish our hearts, so that whoever will come and leave in our lives (sino man dumating o umalis sa buhay natin), we will still stand up to continuously serve the Lord.

Do not be discouraged if you feel like you fail God with your decision or you fall into temptation, because as written in our verse today “though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong” hindi ka bibitawan ng ating Panginoon kahit gaano pa tayo ka makasalanan. Just always go back to Him and He will establish your steps until His return. 

Just like David, God had prepared greater things for us and that is the promise that we can find in 2 Samuel 5:12 “And David knew that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.”