A True Heart and Skillful Hands

In Ps 78.72 this morning. Asaph finishes this great Psalm commenting on God's character. "He [God] cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands." Precious and deep truth. Our God has our best interests in mind because our best interests are found in what glorifies God the most. We do not serve a fickle God who treats us according to his whim at the moment, our God has a true heart and hands that are infinitely more skillful than the finest surgeon.


- "Grace is the glory of God, not the merit of him who has been freed." Prosper of Aquitaine

Location:Home

The Song of the Redeemed

When God redeems his people, when he finally finishes history and completes salvation; when he swallows up death forever, the redeemed will sing a song to him, part of which is in Is 25.9 - "In that day the people will proclaim, this is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!"

I look forward to that day and to that song, and I - along with all who are there - will sing at the top of my lungs!


- "Grace is the glory of God, not the merit of him who has been freed." Prosper of Aquitaine

Location:Home

Who can stand before a great king.

"No wonder you are greatly feared. Who can stand before you
when your anger explodes." Ps. 76.7

A good example of why I like to read the NLT from time to time. The imagery is so vivid, especially in the Psalms. The answer of course is that no one - no person or thing - can stand before God when his anger explodes. He is the great king before whom all bow, whether willingly or unwillingly.


- "Grace is the glory of God, not the merit of him who has been freed." Prosper of Aquitaine

Location:PHX

This Wicked Congregation

Reading in Numbers 14.35, this morning, where God refers to the generation of the Exodus as This Wicked Congregation. He could not have chosen harsher words. The remarkable thing is that this generation saw God move in power like perhaps no generation has seen before or since, except maybe the generation of Christ. They witnessed the ten plagues; they lived through the release from Egypt; they walked across the Red Sea between two walls of water; they experienced the miracle of manna; they saw water come from a rock in the desert, and yet when it came to take the land God had given them, they shrank back, to their own destruction; thus earning the name, This Wicked Congregation.

What to take from this? First Hebrews uses them as an object lesson on (lack of) faith. The writer says, "don't shrink back from following the Lord like his own people shrank back; they did not enter God's rest because of their unbelief. Don't miss out on God's rest because of your own unbelief." Second, a lesson for us is to trust God's promises despite appearances. This Wicked Congregation became distracted by appearances and refused to trust in what God had promised.