Sunday, December 30,
2012, 5:36 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me this morning with the song “Thank You, Lord” playing in my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 71 (NIV 1984):
In you, O Lord, I have
taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Rescue me and deliver
me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to
save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, O my God,
from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel men.
For you have been my
hope, O Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
From birth I have
relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
I have become like a portent
to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled
with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long…
But as for me, I will
always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
My mouth will tell of
your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
I will come and
proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours
alone.
Since my youth, O God,
you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous
deeds.
Even when I am old and
gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your
power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
Your righteousness
reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
Though you have made
me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the
earth
you will again bring me up.
You will increase my
honor
and comfort me once again.
I will praise you with
the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praise to
you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for
joy
when I sing praise to you—
I, whom you have redeemed.
My tongue will tell of
your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted
to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.
In His Righteousness
God’s
righteousness can be defined in terms of his divine and sinless perfection; his
holiness, justice, faithfulness, purity of heart and motive, honesty, and his
love.
In
God’s justice, he could not let sin go unpunished, so he sent his Son to earth
to die on the cross for our sins, so that through faith in Jesus Christ we
might be made right with God, having Christ’s righteousness credited to our
account (see Rom. 3:21-26). Through Jesus Christ’s shed blood on the cross we
are rescued (delivered; saved) from slavery to sin, from the ultimate penalty
of sin (eternal damnation), and we are set free to love, serve and obey our
Lord in humble submission to his will for our lives.
We
come to faith in Jesus Christ via repentance and obedience. Scripture teaches
us that the way in which we come to know Christ is through forsaking (dying to)
our old lives of living for sin and self, being transformed in heart and mind
via the power and working of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives, through
following Jesus in obedience, and through being reborn into new lives in
Christ, “created to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness.” [See
Luke 9:23-25; Eph. 2:8-9; 4:17-24; Rom. 12:1-2; and John 3:1-21, et al.]
My Rock of
Refuge
When
we invite Jesus Christ into our lives to be our Lord (master) and Savior of our
lives, he comes to dwell within us in the person of his Holy Spirit whom he
promised to send in his place when he left the earth and went back to heaven
after his resurrection from the dead. When Jesus Christ was alive on this earth
he was with people physically, but when he left this earth he sent his Holy
Spirit to live within all of his true followers, so that he can be with all of
us 24 hours a day seven days a week. Because Jesus Christ’s death split the
veil in the temple in two that stood between us and the presence of our holy
God, we can now approach the throne of God’s grace with confidence to help us
in our time of need.
Jesus
Christ, via his Holy Spirit, is there with us always to offer comfort,
encouragement, counsel, direction, knowledge and understanding, insight into
the truths of God’s word, correction, rebuke, instructions in righteousness,
and to daily deliver us from wickedness and from temptation to sin, and even
from our own selves sometimes, as well as to deliver us from the fear of men
and what men might do to us, and/or from their evil influences.
When
the world is crashing all around us, and things in our lives are not going
according to our plans and purposes, we can count on God/Jesus and his
faithfulness. He is in absolute control of all things, and his purposes cannot
be thwarted. He knows exactly what we are going through, he allowed it in our
lives for a purpose, and so we must trust in his sovereign grace, knowing that he
will work out all things for good for those who love him and who have been
called according to his purposes. He is our hope even when all else seems
hopeless! He is our refuge in the storms of our lives. He is our fortress and
our refuge.
Praise Him!
The
psalms offer us so many words of encouragement and hope, and they teach us much
about praising and thanking God in all our circumstances. This psalmist was
evidently being attacked or oppressed by the grasp of evil and cruel men. His
enemies spoke strongly against him, and those who waited to kill him conspired
together against him. Evidently his hardships were a sign to his enemies that
he was forgotten and forsaken by God, so they took this as an opportunity to
overtake him, because they assumed there would be no one to rescue him. The
psalmist also recognized that God had his hand in his troubles, as well. In
other words, he acknowledged that God was in complete control over all things,
and so that meant God had allowed these troubles in his life for his divine
purposes.
In
all these things the psalmist said that he would ever praise the Lord. In fact,
he said that his mouth was filled with God’s praise, declaring his splendor all
day long. Wow! And, he continued by saying that he would praise God “more and
more.” He said: “My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation
all day long, though I know not its measure.” Completely unaware of the limit
or the extent of God’s love, grace and mercy, and not having knowledge and
understanding of God’s ultimate plan of salvation for mankind, still the
psalmist praised God for all that he could see and understand, and even what he
knew was the goodness of God not yet seen. What an awesome example to us!
Not
only did the psalmist privately praise God and give him honor and glory for all
who he was and did and for what was not yet seen of his mighty acts, the
psalmist made proclamation of God’s mighty acts. A proclamation is a public
announcement of something. To proclaim something is also to declare someone to
be who he or she says he or she is, or to show or reveal clearly what something
is [Resource: Encarta Dictionary]. So, the psalmist made public testimony to
God’s saving grace, his righteousness, and his marvelous deeds. As well, he
prayed for God’s protection and mercy over his life until he was able to
declare the power of God to the next generation. What an awesome goal and vision!
Hope in Him
The
psalmist put his absolute faith and trust in Almighty God, no matter what came
his way. He knew that God would restore his life again, whether in this life or
the next. Since he mentioned that he knew God would bring him up from the
depths of the earth, it appears he may have been speaking of the time when he
would be resurrected from the grave at the time Jesus comes to receive his
bride to himself and we are all with the Lord forever. Then we will be
perfectly restored, our tears and pain will cease, and we will enjoy our
eternal home with God forever. And, we will forever praise our Lord! Amen!
Lessons to
Learn
From
this psalm we learn that God is our deliverer and he is our salvation. He is
our refuge during the storms of our lives. We can trust him and praise him no
matter what is going on in our lives, because we know he is in control and he
allows all things in our lives for a purpose. We learn the importance of trust,
hope and confidence in the Lord at all times, and especially we are encouraged
to praise the Lord in all circumstances at all times. Beyond that we also gain
understanding into the importance of making public testimony of his saving
grace and all that he does on our behalf for our good. No matter what others
may say about us, too, we should give it over to the Lord, and trust him to
work it all out, and we should not fret or worry but always trust God. “Who, O
God, is like you?”
Thank You, Lord / An Original
Work / May 19, 2011
Thank You,
Lord, for saving me;
From my sins
set free.
Crucified and
risen Lord,
They hung on a
tree.
They thought
they had finished You.
You came back
to life;
Triumphed over
hell and sin;
You gave eternal
life.
Thank You,
Lord, for victory
Over all my
sin,
So that I might
live with You;
You cleansed me
within;
Filled me with
your love and pow’r;
Give me
strength each day,
So that I might
live for You,
To love You and
obey.
Thank You,
Lord, for your return.
Soon You will
arrive
To receive Your
bride to You;
Meet You in the
sky.
You’ll wipe
away all our tears;
Free us from
our fears;
Crown our heads
in victory.
We’ll praise
You with our cheers!
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