Friday, October 11, 2019
Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord! He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant. He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations. All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy. They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity. He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has! Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever! Psalm 111:1-10
The amazement, wonder, awe, and gratitude for
and to God flowing from the Psalmist’s pen are a sum of that in which my heart
wants to lose itself. I have lived long
enough, and sinned big enough to know the vast difference between who is God
and who is not. And yet, my heart
aspires to immerse all of who I am in God’s love, compassion, strength, and wisdom. In short, I desire to desire Him more than
anything. I want to be (as Charles Wesley
wrote), lost in wonder, love, and praise.[2] Paradoxically, there also exists a side of me
that fears to come that close; God is awesome, and His power is without measure. Should God decide to not receive me with open
arms, the mere thought of being in His presence immediately leaps to what terrible
fate would become of a poor sinner like me.
(Toasted like a pop tart comes to mind!)
But God’s Word disagrees with that “toast” deduction. Consider the evidence:
To a wicked culture that only paid lip service to being God’s people he
said through the prophet Malachi:
Return to me, and I will return to you.(Malachi 3:7)
Before David was king he was hounded by Saul, chased into the wilderness,
living in caves, an outcast, man without a country. David considered his experience and
wrote:
Taste and see that the Lord is good Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!(Psalm 34:8)
To His dull-minded disciples who just could never quite get it, Jesus
said:
…those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.(John 6:37)
To crowds listening Jesus offered:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.(Matthew 11:28-29)
And, to anyone who ever did choose to come close, on bended knee,
willing to allow God to make Him their whole life, He said:
…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.(Hebrews 13:5 KJV)
For You Today
It’s never smart to approach God casually,
as if there is some slight chance that you can take Him or leave Him. But, when you’ve made up your mind that you’re
long overdue in getting things straight between your Creator and you…remember
all those invitations to come close; God loves you too much to go back on that
word!
Go to VIDEO
[2] Charles Wesley, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,
The United Methodist Hymnal, (1989, UMC Publishing House, Nashville), 384
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