kept

Psalm 146
Praise the LORD!Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth,the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

I was reading this the other day in my Bible study time. I’ve switched versions I read in this year to get a fresh glimpse into His Word and verse 6 struck me…”who (the LORD) keeps faith forever;” I looked it up in several more versions and many said “keep”. I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me as I read this…He keeps faith forever. There is the obvious understanding of the LORD being faithful forever, of keeping faith with us forever. But, what the Spirit was speaking to me was from an understanding of the word keep. (the dictionary defines keep as a verb meaning "to retain possession or to hold as one's own)…He keeps the faith for us; He holds our faith as His own. Yes, we have a responsibility to seek Him, to do in accordance with His purposes. But, He keeps our faith for us. We can trust Him to hold our faith in safe, strong hands. It goes along with Philippians 2:12-13 “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will (desire Him and His purposes) and to act (works of faith) according to His good purpose.”