Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalm 99:1-9
Psalm 99:1-9
1 The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. 2 Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name--he is holy. 4 The King is mighty, he loves justice--you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right. 5 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy. 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the LORD and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them. 8 O LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds. 9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.
For obvious reasons most of us prefer to dwell on the love of God, his goodness toward us and how he is our ever present protector and shield against all evil and our strength in trials. He is all of this and so much more. However, the justice and equity side of God demands that he punish evil and wickedness, which is called sin in the Bible. These two sides of God (as we see them) are not necessarily opposed to each other but rather they complement each other.
So we then see a God who punishes sin and rewards doing right. With this, we tend to think the more we do right the more we will be rewarded and the more wrong we do the greater our punishment. While this is logical, it ignores the grace of God and his forgiveness provided in Jesus and leads to either total frustration in trying to serve God or an attitude of self-righteousness on our part.
Frustration because we fail to live up to God’s perfect standard and we know it – so why even try? Self-righteousness when we begin to view ourselves against what others are doing instead of the reality of God’s word and his perfection. This leads us to make our thinking and our understanding the standard for others so that we look with disdain on those who don’t measure up to how we perceive ourselves. It is the sacrifice of Jesus for our sin that allows God to be both just in punishment and the justifier of those who trust in him.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your love which prompted your mercy toward me in my plight with sin and death. Thank you for providing a way for me to be forgiven for all the things I have done wrong. Help me learn from every time I sin to hate sin more and to seek to become more like you in all your glory. Thank you for providing your Spirit to live in me, to change me into your image and to help me be stronger in my life for you. Since I am what I am by your grace, use me in your service according to you will. I pray in the name of Jesus.
--Robert
