Ephesians 1:4 “..chosen before the foundation of the world to holy and without blame before you in love.:

Lord Jesus, my wonder at you grows as I consider what I am in myself: selfish, proud, weak, unstable, lustful, lazy, impatient, unbelieving and rebellious, to name a few of my sinful tendencies. And then my wonder grows more as I consider what I, as a sinner, deserve: condemnation, rejection, punishment, suffering, failure, death and eternal separation from you.

In the light of this, I am more and more amazed at your unending, rich, powerful and enthusiastic love, poured out over me every day. You are too good to be true–but you are! Too wonderful to be real, but you are! Too great to be grasped–you are beyond human conception, but you have revealed enough of yourself for us to trust you.

This is what you are! Your love is real, demonstrated at the culmination of history at the Cross and Resurrection–and then repeatedly affirmed in my life each day by your forgiveness, patience, kindness and grace.

What a privilege to bask in your love, exult in your goodness, revel in your acceptance, and rejoice in your forgiveness. May I never take any of this for granted, may my wonder at your great goodness ever increase and spill over into ongoing revival, which results in worship through obedience, praise through faith, and rejoicing through surrender.

Psalm 32:3,4 “When I kept silent, [not confessing, not acknowledging my sin] my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; [this is your love, moving us towards repentance.] my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah”

Psalm 32:5 “Then I acknowledged my sin to you [may I ever do so quickly, immediately!] and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

[Because you are Love, Lord Jesus, because you are Faithful, because you have paid the great price and you like to forgive, we can eagerly and boldly come to you to confess and repent. We are safe in you, we are protected in you, for “you are good and ready to forgive and abounding in mercy to all who call on you” (Ps. 86:5).

Why hold back? Why prolong the painful resistance? And for what? A little more indulging in anger or resentment or lust? We thereby grieve the Spirit and end up with a mouthful of gravel!

Let us instead run to His open arms, eager to lay our sin at His feet, to be forgiven, cleansed and back into fellowship and become beautiful like these flowers.

This is wisdom, this is freedom, and this is what He desires for us–the restoration of our joy in Him.

Of David. A maskil.

Psalm 32

“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”

[Praise you, Lord God, the Great and Holy One, that you have provided forgiveness for my many sins, wiping clean the record of my multitude of transgressions, including the ones to come.

I thank you, with all my heart, that you took me from being a correctly condemned criminal to being a sovereignly saved son, dearly loved, doted on and delighted in.

I praise you for qualifying me to be a partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of Light, inviting me in through the golden door into your family, your work, your love–when what I actually deserved was to be cast out into eternal darkness.

What a wonder to be cleansed, transformed, adopted, accepted and delighted in–all contrary to what I actually should have been given! You are truly the God of Grace, the King of Kindness and the Lord of Love.]

Psalm 31:23 “Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful,”

[There are an infinite number of reasons to love you, LORD Yahweh! Not the least of which is your faithfulness to your Word, to your promises, to your Character, to your love. We can be sure that whatever you allow into our lives, you have a plan, a purpose and will give provision and carry us through.

Because you are faithful, Lord Jesus, as you lead us through the valley of darkness, you preserve, protect and deliver those who trust in you, who walk in awe of you in obedience to your desires, living in the light of your great and holy presence. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them” (Ps. 34:7).]

“but the proud he pays back in full.”

[You will act against those who are proud–including against me if I need it. I praise you, Lord Jesus, that as the Good Shepherd you do rebuke us, correct us, chasten us and punish us when needed to get our attention.

Thank you that you will deal with those who, in pride, act against your children, against your Word, against Truth. Help us to reject pride, to be humble before you, not listening to our hearts, but to you.]

I have a friend who is a believer, but he complains about anything he doesn’t like. In fact, he scoffs at the idea of offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, which, according to Psalm 50:23, honors God.

We have been reading through Exodus and Numbers and, in relation to my  complaining friend,  it struck me that

the biggest, most grievous sin of the Israelites was complaining and grumbling. God responded to this swiftly and firmly. Here are some examples

Num 11:1  Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

Num 11:10  Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled.

Num 21:5,6 But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

Num 21:6  Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.

Exo 16:12  “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'”

Exo 16:13  That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

Num 11:33  But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.

Now, we all grumble at times, and often we don’t even notice it.  And we  don’t tend to view this as a serious sin. But  it is for it is the manifestation of the root sins of unbelief and rebellion. We refuse to believe that God is in control, that He gives us what is best, that He knows what He is doing. We think we know better!  These are serious sins, which bring negative outcomes.

To trust Him, to praise Him in the midst of difficulty, this honors Him and opens the way that we may see the salvation of the Lord (Psalm 50:23). So, when I am tempted to grumble or complain, I want to remember the Israelites in the desert and how their unbelief and rebellion disgraced God and brought such difficulty into their lives.

Lord, help us to immediately realize when we are complaining, to repent and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving in all things that we may fulfill the purpose of our lives, honoring you.