Lord Jesus, your marvelous, rich, infinite and eternal character, leading you to your finished work on the cross, is the basis for our coming to you. In our needs and distress we can cry with the Psalmist:
Psalm 25:6 “Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.”
[Out of these two wonderful qualities of mercy and love, you acted into the world, bringing complete, powerful, full-orbed salvation, freeing us from guilt, shame and fear.
Now, in our day, you continue to act out of the same monumental mercy and long lasting love. It is in you that our trust comes alive. It is your mercy and love that are the grounds for appeal to you. And it is out of love and mercy that you will answer today with what is best, wise and good. We can rest in that truth, praising you now for what you will do without knowing what that will be.
Psalm 25:7 “Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;”
[How can the eternal, infinite all-knowing Creator not remember all the pain-producing rebellion that flowed from my heart and actions? Yet you can choose to do so; you do choose to not remember.
This is different than forgetting; the memory is available, but you willfully do not bring it to mind, for my sin and rebellion have been dealt with in Christ’s marvelous sacrifice. You can put it out of your mind, removing it as far as East is from West.
“according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.”
[You allow us to appeal to your love, which is not just one of your characteristics or qualities which you can choose to exercise or not. No, you are love itself; it is your essence; it is what you are made of, along with life and light. Therefore, we can rest in the ocean of your love and grace, in your endless goodness and forgiveness, confident that we are cherished, delighted in and deeply loved.
What a marvelous, majestic, magnificent, mighty privilege it is to be in your family, to be a child of the King, fully pardoned, free of accusation, resting in your grace and goodness.
We are motivated by your love to respond in amazement and obedience, rejecting the selfish, independent, stubborn, rebellious desires of our natural self. Within the freedom you have given us, we can choose to obey your Word and your Spirit, trusting in you, serving you, loving you.
Praise be to you, Lord God, for you have drawn us into your embrace, and now lead us onward and upward in our walk with you, through the difficulties, dangers and disappointments of this world—all of which fade to nothing in the light of your presence. With our eyes on you, we can say with Asaph, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (Psa. 73:25).
Be glorified in my life daily, Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit. May your goodness, grace and glory overflow from my life onto all those I will meet today, so that they may also turn to you. Amen.
