Monday, January 07,
2013, 4:04 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “I Will Lift My Eyes” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your
servant is listening. I read Psalm 103 (NIV
1984):
Praise the Lord, O my
soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my
soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your
sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life
from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your
desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the
eagle’s…
The Lord is
compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
…he does not treat us
as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the
heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear
him;
as far as the east is
from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions
from us.
As a father has
compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who
fear him;
for he knows how we
are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days
are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it
and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting
to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s
children—
with those who keep
his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
The Lord has
established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you
his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the Lord, all
his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all
his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, O my
soul.
All His Benefits
This is a call to praise the Lord for his goodness and to
not forget his benefits, i.e. to not forget all the good things he has done for
us because of his great love, mercy and compassion toward us. It is easy to
take God for granted when things are going well in our lives, and we might
forget all that he has done for us, undeserving though we are. So, it is good
to be reminded of his grace toward us so that we might respond, not only with
praise, but with gratefulness in heart and attitude in our desire to please our
Lord in all ways.
The benefits of a genuine covenant relationship with
Almighty God via faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior are that he
forgives all our sins, he heals our diseases, he has rescued us from the pit of
hell, and he has bestowed upon us his love and compassion. He satisfies our
desires with good things from his storehouse of spiritual riches and blessings,
and he renews our strength day by day so that we can continue to daily walk in
his truth.
Our Lord is compassionate, gracious; slow to anger, and abounding
in love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our
iniquities. That is awesome! I am so thankful for his salvation, for his
forgiveness, and that he does not treat us as our sins deserve, but that he
willingly came to earth, took on human flesh, was crucified for our sins, and
that through faith in Jesus Christ we can be set free, not only from the
ultimate penalty of sin, but from slavery to sin so that we can walk in
faithful obedience to our God.
Those Who Fear Him
So, to whom do these benefits apply? In the context of this
psalm the beneficiaries of God’s grace are those who fear God. To fear God
means to have respect, awe and reverence for God. Involved in this reverence is
worship and devotion to God. And, involved in worship of God and devotion to him
is love for and commitment to him, to his will and to his ways; and to have loyalty,
fidelity, steadfastness, fervor, faithfulness, allegiance and obedience to him.
Not only is this true in the Old Testament, but similar words are spoken in the
New Testament concerning our relationship with Jesus Christ and our need to
fear him.
In Romans 3 we read that in our sinful nature there is no
fear of God before our eyes. We read in 2 Corinthians 5 these words of Paul
where he said that since he and his fellow apostles knew what it was to fear
the Lord, they tried to persuade men to also fear the Lord. They made it their
goal to please God, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”
And, they taught that Christ Jesus died for all, “that those who live should no
longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
And, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new
has come!”
In Ephesians 6 we read, with regard to instructions to
slaves that they should obey their earthly masters as they would obey Christ –
with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, the concentration here being
on how we should treat Christ with obedience, respect and fear (awe;
reverence). And, in Philippians 2 we read that that we should obey Christ, and
we should continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, “for it
is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” This
is not works-based salvation. This is the process of sanctification that God
works in our hearts as we cooperate fully with that work through obedience to
him and to his commands, with all due respect.
In 1 Peter 1 we read that we should prepare our minds for
action; be self-controlled; and set our hope fully on God’s grace to be given
us when Jesus Christ is revealed, i.e. on our eternal rewards when Jesus Christ
returns and our salvation is complete. As obedient children, we should no
longer conform to the evil desires we had when we lived in ignorance, but we
should be holy in all we do. As well, we are to live on this earth as strangers
in reverent fear of God, not caught up in the things of this world but fully
aware of what Christ did for us, and with respectful obedience and surrender to
his will for our lives because of his shed blood on the cross for our sins so
that we could go free.
And, in the book of Revelation we read that we are to fear
God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. We are to
worship him, our creator, and we are to bring glory to his name because he
alone is holy. And, we read in chapter 19 that we, his servants, who fear him,
should praise him, which then takes us right back to Psalm 103.
What it Means
This is what it means to fear God – to live to please him in
every way, to no longer live for ourselves but for Christ Jesus who died so we
could go free; to leave our lives of sin behind us, to be transformed in heart
and mind by the working of the Holy Spirit of God in regeneration, and to
become new creatures in Christ Jesus. As well, it means to obey Christ with
respect and sincerity of heart, and to cooperate fully with God’s work of
sanctification in our hearts; to no longer be conformed to evil desires, but to
live on this earth as strangers in reverent awe, respect and honor of God in
all that we do. And, it means to worship God and to give him glory, not just
with our lips but with our very lives.
None of us will do all of this all the time with absolute
perfection, and this is not salvation by works or by perfection, either. We are
saved by God’s grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves but it is the
gift of God lest anyone should boast (see Eph. 2:8-9). Yet faith is not just an
emotional feeling or an intellectual assent to what Christ Jesus did for us on
the cross, but involved in faith is the fear of (reverence for) God, obedience
to his commands, and repentance, i.e. a complete change of mind and heart away
from a life of sin and self and toward following our Lord Jesus Christ in
surrender and obedience to his will and to his ways for our lives (see Luke
9:23-25; Eph. 4:17-24).
Praise the Lord
All God’s works should praise the Lord! Those of us who have
been redeemed by Christ’s blood via faith in Jesus Christ should especially
have cause to praise him. All those who obey his word and who do his will should
praise him. We should all praise him because of his great love for us, because
of his mercy and compassion on us, and because of his forgiveness of our sins
provided by Jesus’ blood sacrifice on the cross so we could go free. We should
especially praise him because he does not treat us who fear him as our sins
deserve, but he has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the
west. Amen!
I am so thankful that my Lord did not leave me in that pit
of sin but that he reached down from heaven and he drew me up out of deep
waters and he placed my life on the Rock, Jesus Christ, and he gave me a firm
place to stand so that my heart may sing to him and not be silent. I will give
him thanks forever!
I Will Lift My Eyes
/ An Original Work / December 12, 2012
Based off Psalms 121-125
I will lift my eyes
To my Lord Most High.
My help comes from
Him,
Who saved me from sin.
He will not let your
foot slip, and
He who watches will
not sleep.
Our Lord watches over
you, and
Your life He will
keep.
I will lift my eyes
To my Lord Most High.
My help comes from
Him,
Who saved me from sin.
I give thanks to Him.
I will lift my eyes
To my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord.
My sins, He’s
forgiv’n.
Because of His great
love for us,
He made us alive with
Christ.
Through the kindness
of our Savior,
He gave us new life.
I will lift my eyes
To my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord.
My sins, He’s
forgiv’n.
My home now in heav’n.
Praise be to the Lord,
Who is on our side.
Our help found in Him.
He gives peace within.
Those who trust will
ne’er be shaken.
God will supply all we
need.
Our Lord has done
great things for us.
He’s our friend,
indeed!
Praise be to the Lord,
Who is on our side.
Our help found in Him.
He gives peace within.
I can count on Him.
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