God's Redemption!

Dear friends,

The following is a condensed version of the devotions Lawrence and I had online via MSN Messenger last Saturday. I hope it gives some great food for thought.

Sincerely,
Brooke, co-moderator for Thoughts of the Heart ministry.

P.S. The Scripture for that day’s devotion was Psalm 18. Enjoy!

Lawrence:

Verses 1-3 show King David's trust in the Lord. He knew who God is to him, and he is sure that he has God's favour and intervention to help him and to see him through. There in verse 3, King David praised God for who He is, and has put his faith in His character and power. King David lived his life in a pleasing manner to God, and thus gained His favour. At the same time, let's shift the focus upon us. None of us are perfect. Yet we have the Lord's sacrifice for us, not because we deserved it, He wants us to claim that as His gift of love for us. Meaning regardless of how many flaws and sins we have, we can surrender it to God and accept His gift of salvation, and have God's favour. We have all we need from God, but we need to live in the Truth that He wants us to realize. That we are saved, and God will not remember our sins as long we repent and come back to Him. Furthermore, we cannot earn God's favour, nor His love with what we do. All these promises from God are true . . . that He will prove faithful, and He wants us to see what He has given us, and what we're entitled to now by His sacrifice. It just brings me back to the heart of salvation actually. God will be faithful, even though we're faithless. Our guilt doesn't change God's nature. His words are true and His nature will never change. God will save His people, He will hear us, regardless of our faith, but what God wants to see is our faith, our trust in Him, to see us living in the truth and to live in His ways, which are pleasing to Him.

Looking away from God, we shall see what the enemy wants us to see. But looking back to Him, we shall see how powerful and sovereign He is. Our focus should be God -ward, lest our faith shall falter. Peter looked away from the Lord, and he began to sink. But before that, he looked upon the Lord, and he walked on water. We should focus on what He can do, and what He can do through us, with His power, not on our own limitations. I've tried to get God’s love for me by doing things for Him before, but I kept feeling sad, feeling that I've never done enough, and I never felt the joy or fulfillment until I realized that God's love for me doesn't depend on my merits, but because He chooses to love me, regardless. He just wants me to see that. That I've been loved for who I am, and I'm clean through the Lord.

This Psalm may cause some people to think that they need to earn favor by doing what is pleasing to Him. But the truth is, God wants us to live the way He wants because He is concerned for us and only wants what is best for us. It's not about earning favor, it's just an act of loving obedience, and respect for the Lord. God is faithful and unchanging, regardless. He will intervene for His beloved children.

Brooke:

Amen. God’s concern came first, before our obedience.

For what I have to say, notice how in verse 24 David says God has rewarded him according to the cleanness of his hands in God’s sight. In the OT King David offered sacrifices to pay for his sin, therefore giving him the cleanness of hands in God's sight. It's not that he was claiming to be perfect, just saying he tried, and that he now saw himself as God did, clean due to the sacrifices. He didn't speak of his past sins because so far as God was concerned, they didn't exist. The OT animal sacrifices looked forward to Christ's sacrifice (meaning the symbolism and rituals all pointed to Christ's future sacrifice). King David knew that if God didn't see him as guilty anymore, that's what mattered. God's view is all that counts, and we can now say the same thanks to Christ's sacrifice for us, that we are holy in God's sight, made that way by Christ's sacrifice when we accepted His payment for our sins.

Lawrence:

We should live in the way of the Truth now. We've been released and are free, redeemed by the Lord, and we're His. We're given the privilege to be in His presence, the Holiest of Holies. The enemy is good at bombarding us with lies and burdens that will weigh us down. We're not immune to them, but we can choose to continue to claim His truth, and to see ourselves from His eyes, and to see our problems from His viewpoint.