Psalm 19:1-6 NASB
The heavens are
telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is
declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth
speech,
And night to night
reveals knowledge.
There is no speech,
nor are there words;
Their voice is not
heard.
Their line has gone
out through all the earth,
And their utterances
to the end of the world.
In them He has placed
a tent for the sun,
Which is as a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a
strong man to run his course.
Its rising is from one
end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the
other end of them;
And there is nothing
hidden from its heat.
When I read this passage of scripture this morning, I was
reminded of Romans 1 where we are told how what is known about God is evident
within each one of us, for God has made it evident to us. How did he do this? He
did it through his created works.
“For since the
creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine
nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so
that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
So, even if we did not grow up attending gatherings of the
church or in families who made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and even
if we have never read the Bible (Genesis to Revelation), we cannot claim that
we didn’t know about God. For, God’s creation speaks to us every day in
declaring his glory, but without words.
But, it isn’t just that creation speaks volumes to us every
day about the glory of God, so that we know that he exists, but instinctively we
understand about his holiness, his righteousness and his purity, and that we
also should live righteously and not in sin.
So, it isn’t that we, as humans, are not aware of God and
his holiness, but that many people refuse to acknowledge God and to submit to
his Lordship over their lives, even many who profess to believe in Him. Thus, they
refuse to honor him for the God that he is, and they choose to go their own sinful
way, instead. And, that is why they are without excuse.
Psalm 19:7-11 NASB
The law of the Lord is
perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the
Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord
is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the
Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more
desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than
honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them Your
servant is warned;
In keeping them there
is great reward.
But, praise the Lord, we don’t have to remain in that state
of mind of living to our sinful flesh, instead of living to God. We can go from
hopeless to hopeful. We can be delivered out of our slavery to sin and walk in
freedom and live to righteousness.
It is all possible because Jesus Christ, God the Son, gave
his life up for us on a cross, taking our sins upon him. On that cross he put
our sin to death so that we might die with him to sin and live with him to
righteousness. He is the living Word of God who revives our souls and who gives
us new life in him, if we turn away from our sins and turn to follow him in
obedience. And, because he was resurrected from the dead, we can be, too.
When he comes to live within us, in the person of his
Spirit, we then have the Word of God within our hearts and minds. And, the Holy
Spirit guides us into all truth. But, we also have his written Word, which also
guides us into all truth. And, the written Word of God gives light to our
spiritual eyes, and directs us in the way we should go. But, it is the Holy
Spirit who makes it alive to our hearts and who speaks God’s Words into our lives.
But, the Word of God is not just for the purpose to teach us
right from wrong or to give us direction for our lives. Through the reading of
the Word we get to know our Lord in intimate relationship with him. He speaks
comfort to our hearts. He encourages us when we are feeling down. He counsels
us when we need to make decisions. And, he brings joy to our hearts, and
sometimes even laughter, but the right kind of laughter.
So, we should desire, not only the Living Word, Jesus
Christ, and our times of fellowship with him, but we should desire His Word,
i.e. we should find great joy in listening to him every day speak his truths to
our hearts.
For, the Word of God speaks volumes to us, not only about
God’s divine character and his will for our lives, and not only in giving us
guidance, counsel and words of hope, healing and encouragement, but also to
warn us, too, against making the wrong choices and suffering the consequences.
Psalm 19:12-14 NASB
Who can discern his
errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep back Your
servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over
me;
Then I will be
blameless,
And I shall be
acquitted of great transgression.
Let the words of my
mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your
sight,
O Lord, my rock and my
Redeemer.
Some people claim to not know about their sins or about what
to do to rectify their sin issues when they do know, because they repeat the
same ones over and over and over again fully knowing what they are doing, but
doing them anyway, because that is what they choose, to follow the flesh
instead of to follow God and his ways.
Nonetheless, it is possible to have those times when we do
not discern our own errors, perhaps because we have desensitized ourselves to
the truth through repeated offenses to where we believe the lies instead of the
truth and we truly are no longer even cognizant that we are doing wrong. In
other words, it is possible for people to sear their consciences to where they
no longer feel guilt for sin or even think of it as sin anymore.
It is also possible for us to give way to the flesh, at
times, in a hurried moment or when life’s pressures are shouting at us from
different sides, and for us to not be immediately aware of wrong attitudes or
actions or words until in a quiet moment the Holy Spirit speaks conviction to
our hearts. Then, we have to confess the sin to God, and if we offended someone
else, we need to apologize to him or to her, as well.
But, then there are those sins which are blatant rebellion
against God, which are arrogantly executed, in full and direct disobedience to
God’s commands. These are the presumptuous sins which must not rule over our
lives, and which we must make certain are no longer what we practice. For,
Jesus delivered us from the control of sin over our lives so that we would now
walk (conduct our lives) according to the Spirit, and not according to the
flesh.
God never said that we would never sin again once we believe
in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but his Word does teach that we should no
longer conduct our lives in the way of our sinful flesh (See: 1 Jn. 2:1-2; 1
Jn. 1:5-9). We should no longer make sin our practice. It should no longer be
what rules our lives. Sin should not be what we choose in place of obedience.
Instead, our attitude should be that we want our words and
our thinking to be what brings honor, glory and praise to God, and that they
should be what are acceptable and pleasing to God, in his sight. This should be
our hearts’ desires, not to see how much we can get away with without being
caught, and not looking for loopholes around having to obey the Lord.
We should desire our Lord above all else, and our desire
should be to please him in every way, and to never do what is displeasing in
his sight. And, this is our desire because we love him, because he died and
rose again that we might be delivered from our bondage to sin and so we might walk
in freedom from the control of sin, and now be able to walk in holiness, purity
and righteousness the rest of our lives. Amen!
Give
Me Jesus
Oh,
What Gladness!
An Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in His favor.
I’ll abide in His love always;
Follow His ways to the end.
Jesus is the Son of God.
He died upon a cruel cross.
He’s forgiven all my failures
By His mercy and His love.
Give me Jesus – His compassion,
And His mercy; loving kindness.
Let Him teach me how to love Him,
And to please Him. He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our sin
So we could have eternal life.
He will free you from your bondage
If you trust Him with your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me trust Him.
May I listen to His teachings.
May I follow where He leads me
In His service. He’s my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come again
To take His bride to be with Him.
Oh, what gladness; free from sadness
When I meet Him in the air.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus/God, for all
that you have done for us. May we love you and desire you above all else. Amen!
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