PSALM 145:14-18 – “The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

THEME OF THE DAY: THE LORD IS NEAR.   The fall into sin by our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, brought catastrophic consequences to humanity.  Sickness, suffering, selfishness, and most importantly, separation from God occurred.  Alienated from Him, we welcomed human misery, and with that our relationship with God in the spiritual realm severed. Sin established an impenetrable wall between God and man making the nearness of God in spiritual intimacy impossible . . .  until the Gospel came through our Lord Jesus.  The Apostle Paul writes of this glorious work of reconciliation in his letter to the Ephesians . . .

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Ephesians 2:13-16).

In the work of the gospel, nearness to God is restored – “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).   So, what does nearness to God bring to us? Here are four glorious truths of nearness to Him . . .

First, we are brought near to the love of God.  In our adoption into God’s family, it is an adoption enabling us to enjoy the family relationship of love (Ephesians 1:5).

Next, we are brought near to the grace of God.  Now, as His redeemed, the grace of God that saves us is the grace of God that is sufficient for us in all things (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We also are brought near to the strength of God.  In our unregenerate state, we are held captive and enslaved to Satan, sin, and self.  Yet, in Christ, we have the glorious promises of His power and strength to obey God, and to serve Him (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Finally, Christ’s life and death brought us near to God for fellowship, or communion with Him in the restored relationship of harmony, joy, and spiritual intimacy (1 Corinthians 1:9).

So, when the Psalmist writes in today’s scripture that the Lord draws near to those who call upon Him in truth, that would be the promise to all who come to Him through the One who proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).  Let’s rejoice that our God draws near to His prized creation – us – once again because of the glorious work of our Lord Jesus Christ; a nearness of love, a nearness to grace, a nearness to strength and a nearness of fellowship.

PRAYER:  Father, I praise You for Your nearness and especially when I don’t feel Your nearness.

REFLECTION: The nearness of God is the comfort, strength, and hope of every child of God.