Praise!

 

(2 Samuel 22:4) “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.”

 

What in your life is worthy of praise? Is it your bank balance or could it be your children’s achievement. Maybe your position as the owner of a conglomerate and the power you now wield is your claim to fame. There is much to do about nothing when we consider what is worthy of praise, if it falls outside of the scope of God’s provision for mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is worthy of praise. Why? Because no one else has it in their power to pardon your sin. This is a phenomenal achievement, He alone has paid the price for the repentant sinner. We have it in our power to forgive one another, but that forgiveness as liberating as it can be, will not stand the test of eternity. David gives us some insight to this, may we have ears to hear what the Spirit is teaching us. His sin had snowballed out of control. That is what sin does if left unchecked. He had impregnated a married woman and was now trying to cover it up, he went as far as ensuring the death of her husband. He had arranged that Uriah the Hittite, an honourable man, who had chosen to rather sleep on the steps of the king’s palace than return to his wife while his companions were at war. This is turn, squashed David’s plans for his cover up. He then sent a message to his head General, Joab and it reads like this; “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.”  And all because he felt he needed to hide his sin, sin will remained buried, but only for a season. David’s plans apparently worked out, however, only until the prophet Nathan confronts him and eventually says; “You are the man!”  Guilty of treason. God had exposed David’s sin and it was now out in the open. An example of what we will all have to face when we stand before the judgment seat of God and make no mistake that day is coming for the unbeliever. It’s not our sin that God is ultimately offended by, obviously God hates sin, as it falls outside of everything He is. But rather our response to it that moves God towards a favourable outcome for the sinner. It’s the love of God that forgives us. When David’s sin was brought into the light, his immediate reaction was to own it, and then repent. God has afforded all the same privilege, we can confess and find forgiveness for our sins in and through the finished work of the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished that for us all. But only those who respond favourably will find forgiveness for their sins, whilst all the others, which will be many, will be judged for theirs.

 

Those who reject Him and refuse to pay Him homage in this life will stand before a Holy God and give an account of their lives and every secret sin will be brought to the surface and judged. God is love, but I tell you this it is a fearful thing to fall onto the wrong side of His judgments. The cost is unthinkable, but think we must, whilst we have breath to implement His truths into our lives, it is imperative we take every opportunity to make straight our crooked paths and that can only ever be achieved in and through the finished work of the cross.

 

David sinned against so many people to cover up his iniquity, but look at his response to it in the Psalms; ​ “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalms 51: 1-4) – We need God’s forgiveness for our sin, without His endorsement we will suffer the fate of the devil and his angels, the Lake of Fire will be their final destination. Why? Because of their sin, in other words, their rebellion against God’s order.  

 

This is the reason for my applause, I will call upon the name of the Lord, He is worthy to be praised, hallelujah and Amen! He has saved me from a catastrophic dilemma, praise his name. Christian we have been born for such a time, it is time for us to dig our heels in and be countered. Where will you stand on this? Will you buckle to the pressure of society and the whimsical clattering voices that shout compromise is love or will you boldly come forth and be amongst the number who cries out in love to those lost and tainted by the wolves in sheep’s clothing; “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  (Matthew 7: 13-14) - Our lives must be all about the will of God the Father and not our selfish wants, we must learn to “let go and let God”, as it will certainly be worth it all, when we make it to heaven and see Him in all His splendour, what a day that will be, even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

 

Even the lessons we are taught in life, through the natural, help us understand that anything worthwhile comes at a cost. We must decrease so that God can increase. We must learn to depend solely on the finished work of the cross. We must throw all our eggs into one basket, and that basket must be the Lord Jesus. There can be no hedging of bets when it comes to the eternity. One foot in the world and the other in the church is simply not good enough.

 

The storm is coming and those not built on the Rock, will be swept away.

 

Look to Jesus and LIVE!

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone