S.M. Wibberley’s Blog

I praise you, my Heavenly Father, for your steadfast, unwavering love and goodness. I am so much the opposite: my emotions are up and down; my sense of achievement and worth waver; my happiness with myself fluctuates with what I perceive to be success or failure: my feelings change with how people interact with me, with how well I sleep and even with my dreams.

But you, Lord God, have made yourself my Rock, my stability. You are my Protector, my Fortress, my Forgiver, my Father. I praise you for the whole-hearted, deep and full acceptance you have given me in Christ.

I thank you for the gracious correction, the loving help, the continual support from your glorious riches, from your constant presence, your protection and provision. You have given me  my place in the universe.

In you I am forgiven; in you I am being transformed; in you I am on the upward journey to heaven; in you I have worth and meaning and unfailing love.

As it says in Ephesions 1, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love….”

What more could I want?

 

 

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.

 

Psalm 32:2 “Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

[Lord Jesus, I praise you that you not only erased my guilt, taking it upon yourself, but that you consistently work in me to bring transparency, making my spirit one of truth, instead of deceit.

My soul certainly has deceit—I do not like my sin being exposed, even to myself, and naturally seek to cover it up. And there is much hidden there that I don’t even know yet, but I praise you for leading me to confess consistently to you: that it is natural for me to be selfish and impatient, impolite and curt, proud and negative, thoughtless and overly focused on self–among many other sins.

Praise you, Lord, that your Spirit works in my spirit and soul to change all this, making me aware of what is wrong so I can abandon it, and know what is right, so I can embrace it.

Help me to stand in ever-growing awe of your greatness and goodness, of the unceasing, ever-cleansing flow of grace from your heart, and to fear you, not man.

Help me today to follow the leading of your Spirit and to be wise and effective for you, basking in the truth that you will never count my sin against me and that you are unceasingly at work to move me forward in sanctification.

You are weaving beautiful colors into my life, like this quilt. I thank you now for what you will do today, whether it be pleasant or painful, trusting you to do and bring what is best.

 

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 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.”

[When our hope is in you, the Time Starter, the Star-breather, the Dawn-bringer, the History Ender, we can be strong and encouraged, for you, Lord God, are powerful and good and wise and it is your nature to love.

When my heart is down, discouraged and disappointed, I can find my hope in you, the great and glorious God whose power is immeasurable, whose might is eternal, whose strength is unending, whose love guides all you do: “My soul, find rest in God alone, for my hope comes from him” (Ps. 62:5).

To hope in you is wisdom,

to trust you is good,

to obey you is freedom,

to lift our souls to you is joy.

Praise be to you, Lord God for what you will do today in the plans and events before me. I choose to trust you, honor you and worship you. Be glorified in my life today.]

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.]

Psalm 31:22 “In my alarm I said, ‘I am cut off from your sight!’ Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.”

[What seems to be an impossible situation for us is changed when we remember that you are there, Lord, that you are acting behind the scenes and will do what is best.

I think of the times we were threatened with expulsion from the country we were working in, but you heard our cry for mercy, Lord, and kept us there for many years more, in spite of the opposition and the plans of high ranking men.

And you often give us the privilege of going by faith for a while, believing you when we have no outward evidence, and thereby giving you greater glory before all.

As it says in Psalm 46,  “God is in the midst of her (then Jerusalem, now in us); she shall not be moved: God shall help her, at break of day,” that is after we have waited the whole night! “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Help us to trust you daily, Lord, obeying your call to: “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Ps. 50:14,15).]

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.

 

Psalm 31:21 “Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.”

[More than once David was trapped in a city by his enemies  (1 Sam. 23:7-13), but each time, in the midst of David’s danger, you, Lord, defended him, you acted to keep him safe when all seemed lost, when humanly speaking he appeared to have no way out.

So you do with us, when we are trapped by tragedy or loss, negativity or evil, difficulty or destruction (such as Barbara’s 6-year-long depression that finally ended in 2018), you are there, and you show us your wonderful love by giving us a way out. You encouraged us to trust and press on, and in the end you came through.]

To paraphrase Psalm 46:5, God is within us, we will not fall, He promises to help us at break of day–that is, after the longest, coldest part of the night.

You are the God of hope, who stands ready to “fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in you so that our lives can overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). Help us to consistently trust before your help comes.]

Psalm 31:20 “In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.”

[To others we may appear to be defenseless and totally vulnerable, but in your unseen presence we are sheltered and shielded by your power.

Our responsibility is to stay in your presence, in your refuge of truth, in your Word of wisdom: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 91:1).

This means that, in the midst of much pressure, we can trust you, praise you and respond to evil with what we know to be right: forgiving, returning good for hurt, resting in the truth that you are doing good in what appears to be bad.

Then, because you delight in us, in your mighty power you will protect us from true harm, work to guide and direct us and bring us out into a spacious place. To you be glory and honor, Lord for your goodness, power and love. Help me to dwell in them, rest in them and rejoice in them.]