Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Lord remember Your past actions, not mine!


June 7, 2016
Worship: I Will Lift My Eyes by Bebo Norman
God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near calm my fear and take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let mercy sing
her melody over me
and God, right here all I bring
is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

'Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
the Lover I need to save me
'Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
so hold me now

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now

Songwriters: INGRAM, JASON DAVID / NORMAN, JEFFREY STEPHEN
I Will Lift My Eyes lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group

Witness:
Turmoil is the word of the day. I cry out as Job did:

                                    I have no peace, no quietness;
                                    I have no rest, but only turmoil."
                                    Job 3:26 NIV

I make no pretension that I have it bad as Job did humanly speaking. Nor do I want to give the impression that I am a basket case right now. On the other hand, the events of these last few weeks and the upheaval of my schedule have caused no little stress in my life as I referred to in my previous journal entry, and I am casting my cares on my God, but I do wish it would all go away. I am also mad at myself for wasting so much time yesterday. So much so that I began my quiet time after 12 AM and now my eyes are closing even as I type out this very sentence.
I got up and put away some of my clothes I washed hoping it would wake me up. However, it was to no avail. I’m typing again and struggling to stay awake. One thing that came to me while hanging up my clothes was the lack of honesty with myself and anyone reading this. I said I was casting my cares on God, but that isn’t exactly true. Sure, I am casting from time to time, but I am also piling on                                                                                                                                                          new ones and reclaiming old ones. This is the battle we all face and I thank the Lord I have a Helper to remind me when I am. Sleep calls me now. The sentenccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbe I wrote above, and the preceding gibberish, are the times I fell asleep typing. I will continue later after a time of rest.
Wow! I do not know how I wrote the above the way I did. I understand the multiple letters in a row but not the space between words. Our Christian walk looks like this, doesn’t it? Sometimes like coherent sentences, sometimes in spurts, and sometimes (for many) in long strings of seemingly unintelligent lines. The comfort I receive from Scripture is this; that when life makes no sense, I can pour my heart out or sit silently before the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to intercede for me.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Romans 8:26-27 NIV

What an awesome promise! There is also something here that I haven’t noticed before, though I have read this verse so many times (yet not enough obviously). The passage ends with these words: “the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” Talk about a powerful promise!! When we pray, we try to pray according to God’s will but we admit that we don’t always know what that is and often ask amiss. The Holy Spirit never does!!! Perhaps in times like these, we need to be quiet and allow the Spirit to guide us in prayer. Perhaps in times of deep agony, we need not say anything at all but let the Spirit translate our groaning into His heavenly groaning which is understood by our Heavenly Father and always according to His will.
In these situations, my faith is reignited and the promise that follows becomes sweet again. Perhaps God has brought me to this place in order to remind me of His benevolent sovereignty.

WORD:
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O Lord.
NIV
Ps 25:6-7

6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.
KJV
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, your compassion and unfailing love,
which you have shown from long ages past.
7 Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.
Remember me in the light of your unfailing love,
for you are merciful, O Lord.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
Ps 25:6-7

6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
 for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
ESV

II. Don’t Remember Who I Was or Am (v. 7a)

At the beginning of this portion of the study, I pondered on whether this verse referred to just youthful transgressions or transgressions past and present. I consulted several commentaries and found both views expounded.
It really doesn’t matter whether David is just speaking of past sins of his youth, or his present sins as well. David is making a contrast with how God acted in the past and the way he, David, has acted in the past. In light of the covenant promises of blessings for obedience and cursing for disobedience, David is asking for mercy and grace in light of Who God is. It is as if he is saying: Lord remember Your past, not mine!
Barnes says:

[Remember not the sins of my youth] In strong contrast with God, the psalmist brings forward his own conduct and life. He could ask of God (Ps 25:6) to remember His own acts-what "He himself" had done; but could not ask him to remember HIS conduct-HIS past life. He could only pray that this might be forgotten.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)


As I was struggling for a deeper meaning to this passage, I remembered my discussion concerning the name of the LORD in Exodus 3:14. I concluded that it conveys the meaning: “I will be what I always have been.” In a former study, I also commented on this meaning in reference to God’s immutability or unchangeableness. In contrast, I recognize that I am not. I am frail and am subject often to my emotions and cave into my temptations. Like David, I am asking in light of God’s love and mercy and according to His goodness (and in view of the cross upon which all forgiveness is based), not to be treated according to what I have been, but according to what I am and will be in light of God’s loving kindness and tender mercies showed towards His elect (especially in the light of the cross!).

 The good news is that, while God shall be what He has always been, I will not be what I have always been. No, I am being changed into the likeness of His Son. This is the promise declared in the verses which follow the one I inserted as a poster picture in my witness section above. Romans 8:29-30 contains this glorious promise:


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