2007-03-04 - How to Shine

Psalm 37:5,6 "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun"

Sometimes we get things backwards. But these verses, and the verses which surround them, help us gain a true perspective on works, righteousness, and how the Lord blesses and is intimately involved in both leading and sustaining us. Let us take courage from this passage. If we commit our way to the Lord, if we trust Him, He has promised us that He will bless us. This reminds me of the Romans 9:20-24 passage of the potter and the clay. It is the Lord who takes us and forms us. He makes known from the clay, "the riches of his glory," and does so in us, the "objects of his mercy."

What is the qualification of being an object of mercy? It might surprise you when I say that to be an object of mercy, we must first be sinners. We must first be in need of mercy. The second qualification to be an object of mercy is sorrow for our sin. It is only when we have hit this bottom depth of knowing we are sinners, and professing a sense of sorrow because of our sin, that we can really be objects of mercy. It is when we reach down deep that we can come up and commit our way to the Lord. We must first reach an end of ourselves. We must first feel our sin, mourn over our sin - and even reach the point of being miserable for our sin - that we can crawl out of this pit, committing anew our way to the Lord and trusting in Him. It is then that our righteousness can shine like the dawn. It is then that our cause is no longer just our cause, but the Lords cause, and as objects of mercy, we can be as the noonday sun.

There are some who can go to the depths of their sin. They can see that there is nothing good in their character. They can say in their hearts, "In my case, there are aggravating circumstances. With me, it is worse than all others. I am beyond doubt hopeless. I have reached the end of me, and I see nothing." It is this very thought that should give us hope. It is when we reach down to the dregs that we can be brought up again. We must first come to an end of ourselves, before we can truly commit our way to the Lord. It is when we know we cannot trust ourselves that we can put all our trust in Him. It is then that we can be reformed, remade, reborn into newness of life, and "shine like the dawn." It is then the Lord working in us. It is then that the justice of our cause will be the justice of His cause, and He will bless. It is then that He has promised to bless.

Have you reached empty? There is hope in an unfilled soul. It can be filled. It is here that we trust in an ever-gracious and merciful Lord and rely on Him alone. Rejoice if you have reached this point, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will do this." Bring your empty self, miserable and beaten down by sin, to the Lord and let Him fill you up, remake you according to His mercy, sustain you with His unfailing grace, and you will "shine like the dawn." Bring it all to the cross, lay it there, and He will prepare you for things you never thought possible. His mercy is beyond comprehension - and here in this Psalm, He has promised blessing to all who will trust Him and seek Him first above all else.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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