Too Poor, Too Good
Psalms 40:1-10
All about Him (40:1–5)
David focuses on three main themes in these verses: waiting, wailing, and witnessing. There is much to learn from the way he engages with God in each of these areas. First, David waits patiently for the LORD, knowing He will answer. Then he honestly confesses his troubles to God, wailing in his distress and opening his heart to God’s redemptive intervention. Finally, having tasted God’s deliverance, he bears witness to His goodness by praising His wonderful deeds. The real message of this psalm, however, is not David’s faithfulness but the faithful goodness of the God who sees our suffering, answers our cries for deliverance, enables us to bear witness in praise, and promises blessings upon those who trust in Him.
The Supreme Sacrifice (40:6–10)
There are times when I fall prey to the false belief that it is within my power to improve my standing before God. Apparently, the Israelites were also prone to this kind of thinking, as they relied on the Mosaic sacrificial system in an effort to earn their righteousness. David addresses the dangers of this as he speaks prophetically of the only sacrifice that would eternally satisfy God’s standard of holiness: the Messiah. For sinful man to be made right with God, we need a spiritual purity that is impossible to achieve apart from the work of our crucified and risen Lord Jesus. So when you are tempted to try to earn God’s favor with your own strength, remember that the sinless Son of God had to give up His life so that sinners like us could be made holy.
– Do you find it difficult to wait on God, wail before Him, or bear witness to His goodness? Ask God to give you more opportunities to stretch and strengthen your trust in Him.
– Do you ever cheapen God’s grace by trying to earn your salvation? Ask God to reveal the depths of your depravity so that you might humble yourself before His saving mercy.
Reflections
There are times when I fall prey to the false belief that it is within my power to improve my standing before God. Do you ever cheapen God’s grace by trying to earn your salvation?
This provocative thought reminded me of Joyce’s words. “Don’t try to impress me, because you won’t.” For the first time, I think I’m having a glimpse into God’s grace. I felt it was absolutely absurd that Joyce would make such a statement, and I used to get upset how it was impossible for me to come before God without the help of Jesus. I guess it’s the man-pride in me flaring up, being indignant at how this super being can wave a hand and diss my efforts in being a better man. In my mind, I was wondering how dare he belittle my (or anyone for the matter) hard work, my achievements and my conscious effort in making the right decisions and staying away from sin. “I” could have taken the easy road anytime, but “I” chose to go down the righteous, albeit more difficult path. Why then, should “I” be bunched together with criminals, and are equally unworthy in the eyes of the Lord? (Which brings me to the question: Can we measure the severity of a sin? Or is a sin, regardless of nature, still a sin, and should be dealt with equally?)
But I guess that’s the orphan in me thinking like that. I’m starting to see (and hoping to seek guidance on this particular matter) that regardless of what I do, my efforts will not be enough and I need Jesus’ help in standing before God. I’m starting to think more about the grace that God has given me and how my self-pride has (unknowingly) cheapened God’s grace.
I’m honestly slightly terrified at my change in perception. It comes to me as an illusion of familiarity or even confirmation bias, that my mind is slowly accepting these schools of thought due to my immersion in it. I feel as though I’m fighting a losing battle in trying to convince myself out of Christianity. While from the perspective of a Christian, one should be glad of this occurrence because that means theoretically, I am growing closer to God. Yet, I am fearful because it might just be that I am accruing certain outcomes incorrectly to their events and draw fallacious correlations and conclusions – a sign of a cognitive flaw that needs to be rectified.
Oh gosh I hope I’m not blabbing nonsense away and should I be, please extend your grace and ignore me 😅 My apologies, these are just some weird stuff that keep me up at night (hopefully not as bad as Obama-Trump’s)
Reference: http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trump-and-obama-a-night-to-remember
#showerthoughts
#HowManyMoreDaysDoIHaveUntilTheyRealiseIAmReallyWeirdAndLeaveMe🤔
belles-lettres 