those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. [psalm 119:74]
what do you want the people to DO when they see you?
in my flesh, i want people to rejoice in me.
but i long for a heart that wants the glory to point only to Jesus. I want to wait upon the Lord. i hope in his word.
i wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope; [psalm 130:5]
when we hope in the word and rely on the word and speak the word, the psalmist tells us the result: those who fear you shall see me and rejoice. those who fear God see us for who we are: co-heirs who are broken yet redeemed, and they rejoice in that reconciling work that only God through Christ could do.
remind yourself of 2 corinthians 2:15-16:
“for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. who is sufficient for these things?”
those who fear God, those who are being saved and will see us and rejoice with us in our hope in God and in the fragrance of eternal life. they are brothers and sisters in Christ, who will continue to rejoice with us in eternity!
what of the perishing? they will not rejoice. when they see our hope in God and when they smell the aroma of Christ, it will remind them that they are perishing. they will hate us. they are the insolent mentioned no less than six times in psalm 119.
let us not be discouraged by this–let us press on to know and to hope in the word, let us press on to know and hope in the Lord, Christ Jesus! let us rejoice together!
O Lord–
let those who are perishing see you, let them smell the sweet aroma of Christ, let them taste and see that the Lord is good! let them hope in your word! we are not sufficient for these things, and yet you use us to demonstrate your glory to the lost. let us know ourselves fully and intimately known and accepted and free, let our boast and victory be in Christ alone. let us be people who continually rejoice!
amen
~conor eastman