Read Psalm 48-49
Any of you remember the Autostereograms that were poplar in the 1990’s? If the term isn't familiar, the images are. They are those pictures that just look like a ton of dots until you focus really carefully, and then a 3-D image appears. The most popular ones were the Magic Eye pictures. In fact they were so popular, that they put a collection of the pictures into a book and it made the New York Times best sellers list for over 70 weeks.
The key to seeing the 3-D image was learning to see behind all of the seemingly random dots. It could take awhile to train the eyes to do it, but once you learned how you could see the images behind the dots on any autostereogram you looked at. As I was reading through Psalm 48-49 I thought about this 90's phenomenon. And that idea of seeing what was behind the random dots.
You see, sometimes when we read the psalms, it just seems like a a lot of different problems going on with the psalmists and the people they were ministering to. In Psalm 49 you see the psalmist write about the wealthy and powerful and how they can be unjust to those who do not have riches.
It's no different today. We see the injustices in our world between the "haves" and the "have nots". We see examples of the unrighteous triumph over the righteous. We see good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. And like the psalmists, it can be a struggle not to have doubts and frustrations.
Maybe that's what you are going through right now in your own life. You're trying to do the right thing, the Christ honoring thing, but it seems like there's no reward in it. To make matters worse, it seems like those around you who don't love Jesus, are experiencing more blessings than you are. It's ok, to wrestle with that. We all have.
That's why it's important, like with the autostereogram, you have to learn to look behind it. The picture you don't see on the surface. Psalm 48-49 are a great example of this. While addressing the struggles of the day, the psalmist makes sure we seeing the bigger picture, the eternal picture.
Psalm 48:8 shows the bigger picture: "As we have heard, so have we seen in the cit of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever." Imagine a 3-D picture of God sitting on His throne in the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:2-3 describes this future day like this: "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.'"
This is not just a promise for Israel, it's for all of us. The day will come when God rules from His holy city for all eternity. We have to start seeing in 3-D with our faith. The hope the psalmists had is the same hope we have. Look beyond the seemingly randomness of our world and see the sovereignty of God using all things to eventually bring about His eternal reign. Choose to live with a 3-D faith.
What is going on right now that makes it hard to see the glories of eternity? How could you look with 3-D faith this week?
Take some time this week to read about the glories of heaven. Read Isaiah 11, 1 Corinthians 15, and Revelation 21-22 this week and celebrate your future home.
Prayer for the day: "Dear God, who will reign for eternity. Help me live by faith not by sight this week. Help me to see the bigger picture of your eternal plans for this world and for your people. Thank you that you have included me as your child. Thank you that you have given me an inheritance in heaven. You are so merciful to me. Thank you. Amen."