After the big snowstorm last week there was pristine loveliness everywhere, a reminder of what God’s goodness and creativity is doing in every challenge.
Psalm 2:12b
Psalm 2:12b “Blessed are all who take refuge in him [the Son].”
[You are THE Refuge, Lord Jesus, the refuge of hope, of protection, of forgiveness, of grace, of goodness, of provision, of love, of care, of delight, of rejoicing, of growth. In you we are blessed, made happy, fulfilled, provided for, given purpose and peace, meaning and joy as well as hope and grace–and all this in whatever circumstances we are found.
In you there is no evil, no darkness, no negativeness, no sin or harm. In you, our Refuge, there is only goodness and grace, light and love, positiveness and purity, stability and surety, provision and protection. We praise and glorify you for your pardon, purity and power.
You, Lord Jesus, are worthy of our bowing before you, of our giving you the praise of our lips, the glory of our faith, the honor of our trust, the joy of our obedience, and the adoration of our full worship of your marvelous character.
There is no reason to hold back, and there are endless reasons to surrender to you, the True Teacher, the Powerful Provider, the Good God, the Loving Lord, the Saving Shepherd, the Gracious Guide, the Eternal Emanuel, the Triune Team, the Utterly Other, the Sovereign Supreme.
I bow before you now, Lord Jesus, resting in your refuge, trusting your Word, praising your goodness, giving you honor. I commit myself to dwelling in your shelter, obeying your commands, waiting on your timing and trusting in your wisdom, that I may rest in the shadow of the Almighty, and thereby glorify you in my life today, O Lord.
Psalm 2:9
Psalm 2:9 “You will rule them [the nations] with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
[You, Lord Jesus, will deal with sin, punish evil and sweep away all who refuse to enter your shelter of protection and forgiveness. I praise you that you are not soft on sin, that you are firm and faithful in your determination to eliminate wickedness and evil from the new Heaven and new Earth. I praise you for the prospect of living there with no sin nature within, with no evil enemy without, encouraging me to do my own thing.
You have conquered, Lord Jesus. Now you reign in the hearts of your people, and you will bring about your full reign with the final judgment, sweeping away those who do not believe Truth, who rebel against your Word, who refuse to enter your rest.]
Today I praise you, Lord Jesus, as my King, my Shepherd, my Guide, my Protector, my Big Brother, my constant Companion. You are with me even in my dreams. I give you glory and honor for your great work in my life. And I praise you for all that you will do today—the surety of your protection, the certainty that you will work powerfully and incisively, the reliability that you will allow some difficulties to make me grow, to challenge me to trust you, to lead me to pray and to further obey your Word.
You are wonderful, and to be a beloved member of your family is beyond wonderful. It is more than any human being could imagine or wish: to be loved without restraint; to be delighted in, in spite of what I am; to have instant access to your presence; to be watched over and protected by the All-seeing, All-knowing, All-powerful, All-good One; to have purpose and meaning, direction and guidance, fullness of life and a glowing future! These are privileges beyond what we could ever hope for on a human level.
In addition you promise to every believer the possibility of all Joy and Peace, and overflowing Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13)—this is what every human heart desires—and as followers of you, Lord Jesus, all we have to do to receive this is to trust you.
Praise you, Most High God, Triune King, Marvelous Lord, that you are absolutely, totally, completely, eternally trustable; this trust is grounded in your character, proven in your works, proclaimed in your words and experienced every day in my life.
I bow before you now, I lift up your name, I proclaim your goodness, and rise up to obey the Worthy One, the Holy One, the Powerful One, the Good One. Glory be to you in my life today, Lord Jesus, my great God and my gracious King.
Psalm 2:5-6
Psalm 2:5 “Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath,”
[You, O Lord, hate sin, so your wrath will be poured out upon it, and upon anyone who refuses to repent and accept your protection of pardon. Your wrath is terrible, overwhelming and total. No man, no creature can stand against it.]
Psalm 2:6 saying, “I have installed my Kings on Zion, my holy hill.”
[God has chosen His regents and no one can oppose. He installs His rulers, so no one can throw them down without His permission. And He has chosen the place of ruling, no man can prevent this.]
Praise be to you, Lord God, King of all, Ruler of the universe, the inexorable, unquenchable, all-knowing and all-loving One. You unfailingly do what is right: you act at the optimum moment, moving swiftly and precisely, bringing good to pass–and part of that is to destroy wickedness. “The Lord watches over all those who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy” (Psa. 145).
I praise you that you not only offer us all that is needed to fight in the evil day, and having done all to stand (Eph. 6:10-18), you have also command us to do this. You make full provision and you call us to full obedience.
In this day, I want to join you in the battle, Lord, to keep on the full armor and stand in your strength against the evil in and around me, against my corrupt natural heart, against the devil and his forces. Without your provision, your power, your presence this is impossible.
Help us today to heed your call, to bow down in worship and to rise up in submission, to be filled so full with your Spirit that He spills over on those who meet us, washing wickedness from relationships, bringing peace and grace. Praise you, Lord Jesus, for what you will do in our lives today.]
Breakthrough!
A new day, a new dawn, another chance to praise you, Lord. And this time not only by faith but also because of your powerful answer to our prayers yesterday. The breakthrough we’ve been waiting for in Barbara has come: she heard from you that she will get well and now has hope. She can see light at the end of the tunnel and has become almost normal!
Praise be to You, Lord. I am sure there will still be ups and downs in her healing, but the trajectory has turned from a continual downward progression into increasing darkness to an upward one towards the light.
As it says in Psalm 62, “He is my mighty rock and my refuge.”
[You have made yourself MY rock through this whole time, a mighty, majestic, massive Rock, unshaken by anything that can happen.]
“Trust in him at all times, O people,”
[This is my part, our part, and you helped us in it. You always call us to participate with you, embracing what you bring, living with and for you by choice.]
“pour out your hearts to him”
[and so often in these last months I needed to cry out to you, to lift my soul, tell you all, Lord, dump out the pollution of my old nature so that you can fill me with your joy and peace as I trust in you in the midst of distress.]
“for God is our refuge.”
[You ARE our refuge, You are OUR refuge, You are our REFUGE, and I am deeply thankful to know that. Praise you that we can move forward with you, work with you, be useful for you, whether we can sense any of that or not.
You, Lord God, are the good and faithful God who is moving history inexorably to the conclusion you have planned, protecting and helping us individually along the way, and in the end will resolve the problem of evil and usher in a sinless, safe eternity where we will honor and praise you forever! Glory be to you.]
