Clear the mind. Clear the being.
Thank God for all things. Thank God for life beyond mere existence.
Thank our Father for His faithfulness and trustworthiness through it all.
Even through our struggles, and even in our finding it hard to believe, He remains.
He is truly faithful even when we are faithless.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 97
A Song of Praise to the Sovereign LORD
1 The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad!
2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.
4 His lightnings light the world; The earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory.
Quick question to think about – While we understand our righteousness as ‘having right standing with God’, what, then, is God’s righteousness?
The word used is צֶדֶק / tsedeq / tseh’-dek: From H6663; the right (natural, moral or legal); also (abstractly) equity or (figuratively) prosperity: – X even, (X that which is altogether) just (-ice), ([un-]) right (-eous) (cause, -ly, -ness). Is righteousness (or the ‘right’), then, in the lines of prosperous equity, prosperous justice, justice/equity in prosperity?
There is also a cross-reference from Psalm 97:6 to Psalm 19:1, where it states: The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Is God’s righteousness then His glory, and is His glory to lead us to say He is abundant in justice, prosperous in equity, just and equal in His dispensation?
It opens our eyes even further to the sheer grace that we receive from Him – for, indeed, only a truly just and righteous God is worthy of dispensing true grace.
That’s beautiful. The complete grace we receive can only come from an absolutely righteous God. Consequently, the grace that we deal is proportionate to how great of grace we perceive to receive from Him…
…and quite recently, I suppose I’ve been brought to demonstrate how the grace I deal by way of rebuke is truly proportionate to how I appreciate the gracious rebuke I receive from our Father.
The discipline I dole out is proportionate to the discipline I receive from Him. And it’s here that I appreciate what Andrew Farley shared on more than one occasion – that the discipline we do receive from the Lord is not punishment for our past, but preparation for our future.
I’ll admit there was still some spite in my rebuke, coming from a desire to retaliate and to take revenge against all threats to my home, foreign and domestic – BUT I said what I needed to say also out of love for those who were at most risk of taking offense; Not because I was against them, but because I didn’t want them to go any deeper into the downward spirals they’ve already brought themselves into.
Right, and if you’ve been wondering why I haven’t been posting as consistently in the past days, then, well, here, you’re seeing I have been going through a lot.
But let’s keep at it, shall we? Admittedly, it’s taken some effort for me to have a go at writing again.
7 Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O LORD.
9 For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
There’s that one meme going around showing tattoo fails, and one in particular said, across a poor man’s chest: ‘Only judge can God me‘;
Yet, while we know and can agree to a point that the correct saying is that only God can judge us, the truth of the matter is: ‘Only God can judge’. Period. And considering who He is – fully gracious and therefore full of full grace, we are not rejoicing or praising Him out of fear and terror; No, brothers and sisters in Christ, our hearts are glad because He is exalted, and His judgments are good.
10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
I’m keeping this all in mind with all that’s in my mind so far… all that’s yet to be dispensed into another medium for proper documentation and clarification.
Yes, that all means I’m going to be writing a lot more, and soon.
God bless you.
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