PSALM 50:21 – These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.”
THEME OF THE DAY: OUR GLORIOUS AND TRUSTWORTHY GOD. There are four qualities in our God that will prove time and time again to be sources of encouragement when discouraged, strength when overwhelmed, courage when in doubt, and comfort when sorrows are deep. It is in remembering and clinging to them we grow closer to our Lord and find Him sufficient for all that we will encounter in life.
First, we find encouragement in God’s sovereign control over all things in this world and our lives. Don’t fret and worry. Nothing is happening by chance or catches God by surprise – In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11).
Next, we find strength when weak by God’s unchanging nature. How so? What God promises, God fulfills. He proclaims Himself the believer’s refuge, fortress, and strength in life’s storms – The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (Psalm 18:2). And He will be true to Himself and His Word because He does not nor cannot change – For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed (Malachi 3:6).
A third quality in our God that provides courage when we are tempted to doubt is His faithfulness. He has started a work of conforming us into the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus, and what God starts, God finishes – And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).
In addition to the qualities in our God providing us encouragement, strength and courage, today’s scripture adds a fourth – He is not like us, and oh, are we so glad! Yes, He is like us when it comes to identifying in our human weakness. Jesus experienced the pain of humanity without sin – For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Back to the scripture of the day. Since God is not like us, He never suffers from being “moody” or inconsistent in His emotions or we may say, “He never has a bad day!” And because He is not like us, we may rest confidently that He will treat us as He is – the unchanging God of steadfast love, mercy, and grace.
To say we have a glorious God to know, love and worship is the understatement of all understatements, but let its truth fuel us to a greater pursuit to know, love, and worship Him more and more.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for Your unchanging nature that strengthens my trust in You.”
QUOTE: “Be careful not to judge God or think of Him by human understanding. He is nothing like us.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim