Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord or declare all His praise? Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to Your people. Help me when You save them, that I may look upon the prosperity of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance. (Verses 1-5)
According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. 1 Peter 1
This psalm is going to recount the miracles of God performed over and over again for a people who tended to forget about them almost as soon as they happened. People whose hearts were selfish and prideful. A generation of slave laborers who quickly forgot what they were saved from, grumbling and complaining on the way to what they were being saved to. The Israelites, chosen by God, not because they were stellar human beings always doing righteousness at all times. God chose them...because He chose them. His call. And guess what? They were just people like we are. But the expectation is that when they actually know Him, it makes them different. It whets the appetite to know Him better, this One Whose love endures forever--Who goes deeply into our bone marrow to reform our puny lifeblood, transforming our DNA to match His.
The miracles our God performed for His chosen people as they wandered in the wilderness journey toward Canaan were profound. A giant rendering of His love and protection. Perhaps the problem was they had to step back from the canvas to see the whole picture, and only Moses was capable of such a feat. Parting seas to reveal dry land, plagues, and food, clothing that never wears out, a cloud of glory filled with His purposes and a pillar of fire to light their way. Quail dropping from heaven and water gushing in rivers onto the desert sand. Ultimately, cities were taken simply by the silent marching of a million people and the sound of trumpets. But these miracles didn't bring the change in their hearts their Father hoped for. There was but one miracle left in order to cause His children to inherit all that is His. To finally understand what lengths their Father would go to in order to share all that is His with all who are His. The miracle that would bring that about dwarfed anything God had ever manifested on Earth. It actually shook the planet, plunging it into total darkness. The Light of the World for a brief moment snuffed out.
"Help me, Lord, when you save Your people!" The cry of the psalmist became ours. No longer are the Jews alone chosen by God, but the rest of us, too, can now become His very own. Someone has to die in order for there to be an inheritance. We get what was promised to us by the person who dies. Her home or jewelry. His business or Harley Davidson. What was theirs is now ours. So it is with God. We inherit all that belongs to Christ because by His death and resurrection, we are brothers and sisters of His; therefore, joint heirs with Christ. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). What kind of God is willing to sacrifice Himself in order to make us His kids? Who wants before we even know He loves us for us to belong to Him? And what is it He wants from us? Love. Intentional and reciprocal. Like any other father. Only our Father is capable of pure love, untainted and unreserved--no conditions. Once, through faith in Christ, we are adopted into His chosen family, we are His forever. Our God guards our faith, loves us when we are faithless, drives our lives in love to finally see us arrive home to our imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance!
Better than the parting of the seas, more awesome than manna from heaven or the shaking of Mount Sinai, holier than the cloud that covered the tabernacle, greater than the Law that came from the finger of God, is the miracle of His coming to Earth to walk its dust and eat its food. To share with us the experience of being human so that we could share with Him forever the experience of being divine. Miracles once again attested to the fact that Jesus is omnipotent. We marveled at raising of the dead, the healing of the blind, lame and leprous, the demon boy vomiting up the spirits of his travail, and the adulterous woman slathered in the dignity of His touch. The mystery of the ages. The plan into which angels longed to look. The most profound miracle of all promises me I can be born anew, not into my earthly family, but into His eternal one. And the miracles were no more the point with Jesus than they were in the desert. The point is, of course, the God of All wants relationship with me...and you. And He went to the greatest lengths possible to attain that. Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it...How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation (Hebrews 2)?
According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. 1 Peter 1
This psalm is going to recount the miracles of God performed over and over again for a people who tended to forget about them almost as soon as they happened. People whose hearts were selfish and prideful. A generation of slave laborers who quickly forgot what they were saved from, grumbling and complaining on the way to what they were being saved to. The Israelites, chosen by God, not because they were stellar human beings always doing righteousness at all times. God chose them...because He chose them. His call. And guess what? They were just people like we are. But the expectation is that when they actually know Him, it makes them different. It whets the appetite to know Him better, this One Whose love endures forever--Who goes deeply into our bone marrow to reform our puny lifeblood, transforming our DNA to match His.
The miracles our God performed for His chosen people as they wandered in the wilderness journey toward Canaan were profound. A giant rendering of His love and protection. Perhaps the problem was they had to step back from the canvas to see the whole picture, and only Moses was capable of such a feat. Parting seas to reveal dry land, plagues, and food, clothing that never wears out, a cloud of glory filled with His purposes and a pillar of fire to light their way. Quail dropping from heaven and water gushing in rivers onto the desert sand. Ultimately, cities were taken simply by the silent marching of a million people and the sound of trumpets. But these miracles didn't bring the change in their hearts their Father hoped for. There was but one miracle left in order to cause His children to inherit all that is His. To finally understand what lengths their Father would go to in order to share all that is His with all who are His. The miracle that would bring that about dwarfed anything God had ever manifested on Earth. It actually shook the planet, plunging it into total darkness. The Light of the World for a brief moment snuffed out.
"Help me, Lord, when you save Your people!" The cry of the psalmist became ours. No longer are the Jews alone chosen by God, but the rest of us, too, can now become His very own. Someone has to die in order for there to be an inheritance. We get what was promised to us by the person who dies. Her home or jewelry. His business or Harley Davidson. What was theirs is now ours. So it is with God. We inherit all that belongs to Christ because by His death and resurrection, we are brothers and sisters of His; therefore, joint heirs with Christ. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). What kind of God is willing to sacrifice Himself in order to make us His kids? Who wants before we even know He loves us for us to belong to Him? And what is it He wants from us? Love. Intentional and reciprocal. Like any other father. Only our Father is capable of pure love, untainted and unreserved--no conditions. Once, through faith in Christ, we are adopted into His chosen family, we are His forever. Our God guards our faith, loves us when we are faithless, drives our lives in love to finally see us arrive home to our imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance!
Better than the parting of the seas, more awesome than manna from heaven or the shaking of Mount Sinai, holier than the cloud that covered the tabernacle, greater than the Law that came from the finger of God, is the miracle of His coming to Earth to walk its dust and eat its food. To share with us the experience of being human so that we could share with Him forever the experience of being divine. Miracles once again attested to the fact that Jesus is omnipotent. We marveled at raising of the dead, the healing of the blind, lame and leprous, the demon boy vomiting up the spirits of his travail, and the adulterous woman slathered in the dignity of His touch. The mystery of the ages. The plan into which angels longed to look. The most profound miracle of all promises me I can be born anew, not into my earthly family, but into His eternal one. And the miracles were no more the point with Jesus than they were in the desert. The point is, of course, the God of All wants relationship with me...and you. And He went to the greatest lengths possible to attain that. Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it...How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation (Hebrews 2)?
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