Daily Manna · Day 359 · December 25
Goodness Laid Up for You
“Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”
Near its end, this psalm breaks into a shout of thanks: "Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city." Before you read the middle of it, though, it helps to know that the man who wrote it is not out of trouble yet.
David is writing while people are plotting his death. He says so in the same psalm: "For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life." It is also the psalm Jesus quoted from the cross, when He said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." So this was not written by a man whose prayers were being answered quickly.
Notice that David does not claim the goodness has already arrived. He says God has "laid up" His goodness. That is a word for hiding treasure, for storing something away on purpose where it is kept safe for later. Then, in the same sentence, he uses a second word: "which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men." "Wrought" means done or worked. So some of God's goodness is stored up for later, and some has already been done out in the open, where everybody could see it. David holds both together, and he does not pretend the stored part has already been handed over.
Look at who it is stored for: "them that fear thee" and "them that trust in thee before the sons of men." These are people who take shelter in God where others can see them, at the very moment when running somewhere else would be quicker and would look more sensible.
So write down one thing you asked God for and have not received, and put today's date beside it. Underneath, write one line: "Stored, not refused." Keep the paper. That line is what this verse claims, and it may take you a long time to believe it. But the God who has already done good in front of everyone is the same God who is keeping the rest for you.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 359 is Born Into a War (Isaiah 9:6).