READ PSALM 40
THREE APPROPRIATE
RESPONSES TO GOD’S LOVE
Psalm 40:11-12
11 As for you,
O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love
and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils
have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have
overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than
the hairs of my head;
my heart fails
me.
As David goes on in this
psalm, he cannot help but remind himself of the grace of God in His life.
Where would we be, if it
were not for the grace of God? How could God continue to preserve us, if He is
not faithful? How would He continue to love us, if it were not for His
steadfast love?
David realizes his utter
sinfulness, and his humbly dependent response is the only appropriate one.
We are so blessed; we sin against
God, and are permitted to continually to ask His forgiveness, resting in the
promise of His faithful mercy toward His own.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We should marvel at this
promise, for the God of the universe is ready to repeatedly forgive those who
are ready to confess their sins.
We should be ecstatic to
know that the eternal God has loved His own from eternity past, and will love
us forever.
Ephesians 3:14-19
“For this reason I bow my knees before the
Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is
named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant
you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner
being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you,
being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength
to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length
and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of
God.”
Understanding this kind of
love is impossible for us, unless God causes us to understand its immensity.
How wonderful it is, to
know that although we are so frequently unfaithful, God is always faithful to
His promises.
Philippians 1:6
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a
good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus
Christ.”
God is at work in us and will
continue to preserve us, even though we will fail Him.
As David looked at his
life, aware of the many sins he had committed, he could only be overwhelmed by
the wonderful privilege he had in his relationship with his God.
Are we appropriately
overwhelmed by these realities? Have we let the cares of this world overshadow
these truths? Have we believed the lie that God cannot forgive one or more of
our sins? Does the thought creep in our minds that, as believers, we must earn
God’s love and forgiveness?
Our relationship with God began because of His
grace and faithfulness, continues only on that basis, and is preserved for the
same reasons. God wants us to be completely dependent on Him.
Knowing these truths
should produce appropriate responses.
1 - We should forgive because we have been
forgiven.
Ephesians 4:32
“Be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
2 - We should be faithful in serving God.
1 Peter 4:11
“…whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of
God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God
supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
3 - We should love one another fervently.
1 Peter 1:22-23
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to
the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly
from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable
seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”
May we live our lives with
appropriate gratitude to God and a godly response toward others!
No comments:
Post a Comment