Psalms 145:17-20 ESV
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.”
In All His Ways
The Lord is righteous in all his ways. He is just, innocent,
blameless, godly, right, ethical, moral, faithful, pure, and sinless in all
conduct and in character. Everything he does is honest, faithful, and pure.
There is no sin in him at all. He is kind (merciful, virtuous, godly, holy, and
gracious) in all his works. And His motives and his actions are always pure, without
fault.
So, when the Lord gives us commands to follow, which he does
in the New Testament, too, he is doing so for our good, and for the good of
others. He has our best interest at heart and in mind. When he draws the line
in the sand and he says we cannot cross over that line, that is for our good.
And when he disciplines and corrects us, that is for our good, too.
So, the kindness of God does not mean that God is soft on
sin now that we are under grace. His forgiveness of our sins and his salvation
and eternal life, although free gifts to us, are conditional upon our accepting
those free gifts in the way that God requires. For “free” does not mean we do
nothing in return. “Free” just means Jesus paid the price for us.
For God’s grace and his salvation are all about delivering
us from our slavery (addiction) to sin so we will now be slaves of God and of
his righteousness. Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him
and to his righteousness. By faith we are crucified with Christ in death to sin
so that we might live new lives in Christ, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness (Rom 6:1-23; 1 Pet 2:24; Eph 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26).
The Truth in Jesus
So, if we think God’s kindness to us is merely in forgiving
our sins so that when we die we can go to heaven, we are sadly mistaken. His
kindness to us is in delivering us from our addiction to sin so that we can now
walk in conduct and in practice according to the Spirit and no longer according
to the flesh. His grace frees us from our chains. It does not leave us in our
chains, only now guilt free (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).
So, when this says that the Lord is near to all who call on
him in truth, he is speaking of us being honest, yes, and sincere, yes, but
also according to his truth and righteousness, not according to our own
interpretation of truth. And the truth that is in Christ Jesus says we are not
to live any longer like the ungodly, following the sinful passions of our flesh
(Eph 4:17-24).
Instead, we are to put off our old self which is being
corrupted through deceitful desires, and we are to be changed in heart and mind
of the Spirit of God, and we are to put on the new self in Christ Jesus,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Now we are to live
holy lives, pleasing to God, no longer under the control of sin and of Satan.
Those Who Fear Him
For, the Lord fulfills the desire of those who fear him, and
to fear God is to obey him, to revere him, to honor him with our lives, to live
for him and for his righteousness, and to submit to him as Lord (owner-master).
To fear God is also to worship him, and our acceptable worship is to give our
lives to the Lord as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him (Rom 12:1-2).
We are not fearing God if we have this idea that we can live
however we want now that we are “saved.” If we believe we don’t have to submit
to him as Lord, and if we think that we don’t have to repent of our sins or
walk in obedience to his commands, then we don’t fear him. We do not honor him
as the holy God that He is, but we honor ourselves, instead.
The Lord fulfills the desire of those who fear him, because
those who fear him desire what He desires. His desires have now become our
desires. His passions are our passions. His concerns are our concerns, because
we are close to his heart, and we feel his heart, and we hate what he hates,
and we love what he loves, and our desire is now to do his will, not our own.
He listens to the cries of those whose hearts are in line
with his, who want what he wants, who are not looking for selfish gain or to
spend what they get on fleshly and lustful pleasures. They want to see the eyes
of the spiritually blinded opened, and they want to see people be turned from
darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they can receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ
(see Acts 26:18).
They want to see people delivered from bondage to sin and to
walk in freedom from sin’s control in holiness and righteousness and in purity
of devotion to God. They want to see them grow in their walks of faith and in
their love for the Lord and to be used of God to minister his love and grace to
others. For they love God and their fellow humans with God’s love.
All Who Love Him
The Lord preserves (upholds, maintains, sustains) all who
love him, and to love God is to obey him. If we say that we love God and that
we know God but we do not do what he says in practice, but we live to the
flesh, instead, then we don’t know God, and he doesn’t know us, and we are not
saved from our sins, and we don’t have eternal life with God (1 Jn 2:3-6).
Now, this is not saying that we must live in absolute
sinless perfection (1 Jn 2:1-2), but that sin is not to be what we practice. We
are to no longer walk in sin according to our flesh and under the control of
Satan, for Jesus set us free so that we would now honor him with our lives, and
so we would walk in holiness and righteousness (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph
4:17-24).
For, if we continue living in sin, and we do not make
righteousness our practice, but sin is what we practice deliberately, we do not
have the hope of salvation from sin, forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life
with God. But we will face the wrath of God. For God will destroy the wicked
who would not bow the knee to him (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co
5:10).
For, Jesus Christ came to die for us to make us into new
creatures in Christ Jesus, not like the old us. And he came to deliver us from
our addiction to sin so that we would now live as slaves of God and of his
righteousness. He came to be Lord (owner-master) of our lives, not to take a
back seat to other gods and to our selfish wills. For He is the Great I Am!
Mary, Did You Know?
Songwriters: Greene Lee Rufus / Lowry Mark Alan
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy
Is heaven's perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you're
Holding is the great, I Am
Mary, did you know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsgIhlYQmM
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