2005-07-16 - Praise God for His Deliverance

Psalm 7, Part 5

7. A Resolve to Praise God for His Deliverance (v.17): ¹¹ The culmination of the psalm is one of praise for God. The praise for the deliverance from enemies is almost secondary, because it only demonstrates the righteousness of God, the glory of God's character. David and we need to praise God not so much for what He does, but for who He is.

   " O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:1).

   Conclusion: Where do we go from here? There are a couple of points we can take from this psalm. The first deals with how we should respond to the truth that God Will Judge! The second focuses on how the confidence in final justice can help us develop a spirit of trust in the Lord and end the demand for immediate justice.

   First, we are not called to pray for God's judgment of mankind. This isn't a wrong prayer, it is simply not the prayer of the church. We are called to make disciples. This means we must make the truth of the just God available to all men. They can only receive that gift when they understand the need for it. We must not allow fear of offense stop us from giving the truth. The truth that, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and the result, "man is destined to die once, and after that face judgment," "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 3:23; Hebrews 9:27; Romans 6:23).

   We must give the message of judgment, but also the hope of the way to escape the result of that judgment.

   "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, " (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

   So because we know God Will Judge, we should be motivated to offer the way of salvation to those who face that judgment.

   Second though, as we understand the nature of God, we then can face the evil around us with confidence in His nature, not just His justice, but also in His mercy and love. Because God is righteous, because He has saved us, we can rise above the painful circumstances of life and live at peace in the midst of them.

   "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4: 4-7).

   This peace is then a miraculous peace. This is a peace that comes from God through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a peace that is foolish from the world's perspective, because it doesn't depend on our situation, only our focus. Are we looking at the Lord, or are we looking at the waves?

   "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased, through the foolishness of what was preached, to save those who believe" (1 Corinthians 1:20-21).

¹¹ Ibid., p. 99

To be Continued.

Comments or Questions?
Geoff

GKragen@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org