Psalm 119 is an amazing Psalm with certain themes repeating themselves over and over. One of the themes is the wonder of the law and our need for salvation. Verses 129 - 136 are the section titled "Pe". It begins "Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul observes them." and it ends "My eyes shed streams of water because they do not keep Your law."
This is such wonderful clarity to the soul saved by grace. We want to do love the Lord and do all He has commanded us and yet we mourn our sin, knowing that we fall so short of His standard. God is making us into new creations, yet the old seems lurking just under the surface, ready to spring out and cause our feet to falter at any moment. I can think of no better example of our fallen condition than our own children. They start out babies, innocent and pure. Yet, as soon as they know what we want, they begin testing boundaries and the punishment phase begins. We use correction to teach right behavior - to try to train them to know the difference between right and wrong. Proverbs 22:15 says "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him." and in verse 6 "Train up a child n the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." But scripture also teaches us that the goal for each of us is not a checkbox of rules, but a heart condition. Micah 6:8 says "He has shown you oh man what is good and what the Lord requires of you; but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." True obedience stems from the heart, not the hand. Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have heglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." (Matt 23:23)
Selecting certain rules to follow with the up most of discipline is not the same as loving the Lord with all your heart and soul and mind. The one who love the Lord that way actually sees how fallen they are and how grateful they are for God's grace. The true experience of salvation is infinitely humbling and freeing all at the same time. I am perfectly saved and loved - so I am confident in my identity as a child of God and do not have to beat myself up over every little mistake and shortcoming in my life. I am perfectly saved and loved - so I know this is nothing I received on my own, but a gift and I cannot be proud and look down on others - we are all sinners pleading for mercy.
True salvation causes us to want to obey - we want to please the one who saved us and we know that we cannot save ourselves. I'm not trying to be good to earn my salvation - I try to be holy because God saved me.
My kids have really been pushing the limits in some areas and my husband and I found ourselves at a loss. Punishment wasn't seeming to help. These kids that could seem so great at times could also seem like they never heard a word we said. I was becoming more and more frustrated, drawing up new extreme punishments in my mind (like selling their Wii and giving away every TV in the house). But I didn't do that. For one, I knew it was extreme, but I also knew that my issue was not with Tv and video games. I wanted to see a heart in them that desired to obey. Am I any different before God? Do I not have areas of constant struggle, failing again and again and going back to God in confession? Do I not echo the Psalmist both stating my love for the law and crying tears lamenting my sin?
So my next step was not more severe punishment, but a long conversation with them about sin and forgiveness and grace. We discussed scripture together and talked about what our goals for them were, as children growing up in their own faith. I told them that this time, their sin had a consequence, but not for them. Their sin caused great sadness for David and I and for the Lord. And we talked about the price Jesus paid to bring salvation to us all.
For believers, we sin much like the Pharisees. We know all the major "Thou shall" and "Thou shall not", but our heart still rebels, revealing anger, pride, doubt and selfishness. I want my children to learn to have a heart that follows Jesus, not just a set of rules. And I'm still learning how to do that myself.
This blog is titled "I Need a Savior", because the more I learn about the Lord, the more I see how far I am from following His will. And the more I see the difference between my sin and His glory, the more beautiful the cross of Christ becomes. Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou, my God, would die for me!
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
7 times 7 - Remember me
After nearly two weeks, since my last post, I am happy to report that the Word is speaking and I no longer feel deaf to it. After being so moved months ago by this passage, it had seemed cold and distant - depressing and hopeless. I was moving through the Psalms, reading this passage as it recounted much of Numbers and studying Deuteronomy and the whole world just seemed lost in rebellion and despair. If God's people were in such a state, what hope did we have for a fallen world? But this morning I heard a sweet word of hope, a promise of faithfulness and a source of provision which pointed me back to the over-arching theme that had filled me with such joy the first time I read this passage. To summarize in one word - remember.
As I have been finishing Deuteronomy, I approached the death of Moses, where God speaks to him explaining the upcoming fall of Israel. God tells Moses that the people of Israel will forget the Lord and follow the idols of the neighboring lands and reject the word Moses had so faithfully preached. They would lose the promise land to opposing kingdoms as they suffered the consequence of their sin and rejection of God. This probably wasn't hard for Moses to imagine, given the great number of times the people had rejected God and Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. But I always felt bad for Moses. His life work was a waste. He brought a nation to the promise land and God's word to him before he dies basically tells him that everything he tried to teach the nation of Israel will be forgotten. How depressing!
But then you read past this final word God speaks to Moses and you see the final word Moses speaks to Israel - he blesses them. Immediately before his death in Deut 33, Moses blesses each tribe with peace, prosperity and great power. How could he say this knowing their fate? Because Moses knew something greater than the sin of Israel - he knew the great faithfulness of God.
Moses did not need to rely on the people being obedient and remembering all he had taught them. They would forget, they would sin and they would fall away. But God is God forever. Moses says "There is none like the God of Israel, who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies in His majesty...Blessed are you, O Israel; who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, who is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty." (Deut 33:26,29)
Psalm 106 ends with the same theme Moses ends his blessing - by turning from the wayward hearts of men to the faithfulness of God. "Nevertheless He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry; and He remembered His covenant for their sake ad relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion in the presence of all their captors." (vs 44-46)
What is the answer to the pain and despair we feel when we see the fallen world or our own fallen hearts? What do we do when we hear the whisper of the enemy telling us again how we have failed? Where do we go when we know that everything we offer is still not enough?
We remember - we remember that we are saved by grace, not by our own deeds (Eph2:8). We remember that we are a chosen people - and God Himself chose us (1 Pet 2:9-10). We remember that we can overcome what we experience in this world, because we are from God and the One in us is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). We remember that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place, to offer us eternal life (John 3:16) We remember His word - His eternal and perfect Word, which revives us, no matter what our affliction. (Psalm 119:89-94)
We remember the weight of the world is not on our shoulders - but we rest securely in His hands. Ephesians 6 teaches us that to stand firm in this world, overcoming both trials and temptation and the schemes of the devil himself, we are to put on the armor of God. We don't defend ourselves by trying harder or doing better. We wrap ourselves up in the Lord. His Word is our defense. (Eph 6:10-17)
When Jesus is tempted in the desert, his answer to Satan is simple "it is written". Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, does not crush the devil in the might of His power (even though he does 3 years later when he conquers sin and death and hell). Jesus doesn't call on the heavenly host, although they were His to command, as we read in Matt 26:53. Jesus chooses to use the most powerful weapon under all of heaven and earth - the Word. Jesus speaks "it is written" and the devil leaves Him.
Our salvation is based on the grace of God alone - but the Lord does not leave us ill-equipped to face the world in these trying times. We have the same power Jesus used - we have the Word. We are called to remember His word and abide in His word.
Paul writes amazing words to the people in Corinth saying "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed....Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:7-8, 16-18)
We have all we need to overcome in this life and praise the Lord, it isn't on us! It is His word - which He has graciously given to us. Soak in it, abide in it, meditate on it, delight in it - this is our gift - this is our defense - this is our joy - this is our strength.
As I have been finishing Deuteronomy, I approached the death of Moses, where God speaks to him explaining the upcoming fall of Israel. God tells Moses that the people of Israel will forget the Lord and follow the idols of the neighboring lands and reject the word Moses had so faithfully preached. They would lose the promise land to opposing kingdoms as they suffered the consequence of their sin and rejection of God. This probably wasn't hard for Moses to imagine, given the great number of times the people had rejected God and Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. But I always felt bad for Moses. His life work was a waste. He brought a nation to the promise land and God's word to him before he dies basically tells him that everything he tried to teach the nation of Israel will be forgotten. How depressing!
But then you read past this final word God speaks to Moses and you see the final word Moses speaks to Israel - he blesses them. Immediately before his death in Deut 33, Moses blesses each tribe with peace, prosperity and great power. How could he say this knowing their fate? Because Moses knew something greater than the sin of Israel - he knew the great faithfulness of God.
Moses did not need to rely on the people being obedient and remembering all he had taught them. They would forget, they would sin and they would fall away. But God is God forever. Moses says "There is none like the God of Israel, who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies in His majesty...Blessed are you, O Israel; who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, who is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty." (Deut 33:26,29)
Psalm 106 ends with the same theme Moses ends his blessing - by turning from the wayward hearts of men to the faithfulness of God. "Nevertheless He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry; and He remembered His covenant for their sake ad relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion in the presence of all their captors." (vs 44-46)
What is the answer to the pain and despair we feel when we see the fallen world or our own fallen hearts? What do we do when we hear the whisper of the enemy telling us again how we have failed? Where do we go when we know that everything we offer is still not enough?
We remember - we remember that we are saved by grace, not by our own deeds (Eph2:8). We remember that we are a chosen people - and God Himself chose us (1 Pet 2:9-10). We remember that we can overcome what we experience in this world, because we are from God and the One in us is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). We remember that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place, to offer us eternal life (John 3:16) We remember His word - His eternal and perfect Word, which revives us, no matter what our affliction. (Psalm 119:89-94)
We remember the weight of the world is not on our shoulders - but we rest securely in His hands. Ephesians 6 teaches us that to stand firm in this world, overcoming both trials and temptation and the schemes of the devil himself, we are to put on the armor of God. We don't defend ourselves by trying harder or doing better. We wrap ourselves up in the Lord. His Word is our defense. (Eph 6:10-17)
When Jesus is tempted in the desert, his answer to Satan is simple "it is written". Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, does not crush the devil in the might of His power (even though he does 3 years later when he conquers sin and death and hell). Jesus doesn't call on the heavenly host, although they were His to command, as we read in Matt 26:53. Jesus chooses to use the most powerful weapon under all of heaven and earth - the Word. Jesus speaks "it is written" and the devil leaves Him.
Our salvation is based on the grace of God alone - but the Lord does not leave us ill-equipped to face the world in these trying times. We have the same power Jesus used - we have the Word. We are called to remember His word and abide in His word.
Paul writes amazing words to the people in Corinth saying "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed....Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:7-8, 16-18)
We have all we need to overcome in this life and praise the Lord, it isn't on us! It is His word - which He has graciously given to us. Soak in it, abide in it, meditate on it, delight in it - this is our gift - this is our defense - this is our joy - this is our strength.
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