Today’s Reading: Psalm 40-42, Acts 27:1-26
Today’s Reflection: Psalm 40:9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
The defense of the preacher is the very truth for which he finds himself attacked! In this prayer for help, the Psalmist David is reminding The Lord of the days in which he represented the cause of righteousness as he preached in the great congregation. In essence, he is saying to Our Lord, “I defended Your Word, and now I ask you to defend me!”
As he finds himself surrounded not only by those who seek to destroy him (v. 14), but also by his own sins which cause him to lose heart (v. 12), he remembers that his hope and his help is not only in WHAT he preached, but in WHO he preached! The meaning for the word righteousness in this text is not only “justice or rightness” which are principles of law, but also “of Davidic king, Messiah”, which is the Person of grace and truth, Jesus Christ (see John 1:17)!
Knowing that the law was weak through the flesh, and that he is guilty before a Holy God by the demands of the law, David appeals not to the justice of God, but to the mercy of God (v. 11)! David was essentially declaring to God that his faith was in the righteousness of GOD, which he preached, and not in his own right standing.
David did not think that his good deeds would amount to righteousness, but that God’s grace and mercy would not allow Him to be merciless to one who had trust in His righteousness to be his own. Simply put, David threw himself at the mercy of the Just One, and found what he needed. He wasn’t appealing to the letter of the law which kills, but to the Spirit of God, which gives life (see 2 Cor. 3:6).
You might say that David found the benefits of God’s grace before the dispensation of Grace had ever begun. If you will remember, God said he found one who was after His own heart when he found David. And what did David find when he sought the heart of God? Did he find justice? The Law? Holiness? Sure did! But is that all? Not even close! He found grace, love, joy, forgiveness, mercy, gentleness, peace, provisions, power, and the list could go on and on!
So I close with this. Preaching and trusting Christ may get yourself into trouble with men, but it will also get you into mercy, grace, and preserving power with God Almighty (v. 11)!
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Floodgates of Heaven
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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill
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