Weekly Devotional 5th of July, 2024
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 5th of July, 2024
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we will continue with Psalm 103 – a Psalm of David.
Psalm 103:6 – “The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed.”
God is faithful to His people and works on their behalf against those who persecute and oppress them. In His righteousness, God provides justice for them by carrying out judgment against their oppressors. He faithfully demonstrated this throughout David’s life. The issue with Goliath is only one of many examples.
However, we must also acknowledge that this didn’t always happen in the way and the timing David cried out for. As hard as it is, we must bring these issues to Him in prayer, believing that He has heard us, that He loves us, and that He will be faithful, according to His plan and purpose. Although some have lost their lives, their blood has not been shed in vain, because our God is a God of justice.
Any study of God’s anger reveals that God may wait a long time before He lets His anger loose, and that is a good thing for all of us. He desires that our enemies would repent, see the error of their ways, and walk in a manner that is pleasing to Him. Thankfully His righteousness is regulated not according to our sins, but according to His purpose of mercy. Speaking of this Isaiah proclaimed,
“For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, To do His task, His unusual task, And to work His work, His extraordinary work.” (Isaiah 28:21).
Because we are all sinners and that we all fall short of God’s glory we can rejoice that He leads with mercy, not judgement.
Psalm 103:7 – “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.”
Israel was only able to see God’s actions, but God made known His WAYS to Moses. This verse says so much to us. God allowed Moses to see the way the Lord deals with people, which means He revealed His heart to Moses, not just His acts. He allowed Moses to see more than any person had seen before. He did not leave Moses to discover the truth for himself but became his instructor.
This was an incredible privilege, but what we need to understand today, is that, as true disciples of Christ, living under the New Covenant, we can know the Lord’s ways as per the Kingdom of God, through the Holy Spirit who makes all these things know to us (Ephesians 1:13).
Divine revelation is one of the first and greatest of divine favours with which those in Christ are blessed; for God restores us to Himself by revealing Himself to us and giving us knowledge, so that we may understand His way, the way which He requires us to walk in, as we line up our lives with His. By His acts, His promises, and His purposes we learn what He desires to produce in and through our lives.
Coming back to Moses, we have another principle that is important for us to learn. Out of a burning desire to know and understand the Lord, Moses humbly asked God to reveal His ways to Him. God graciously promised to grant his request (Exodus 33:12–23).
The next morning, Moses ascended Mount Sinai and the Lord passed by, revealing Himself to Moses (Exodus 34:1–9). Then, the Lord made a promise to Moses and the people of Israel: He pledged to do marvellous works on their behalf, miracles never seen before in all the world (Exodus 34:10–27).
David recalled that God had revealed Himself to Moses as a merciful judge. He quoted what God had proclaimed about Himself to Moses: that He is compassionate, understanding, gracious, slow to anger, and overflowing with mercy (verse 8; Exodus 34:6). God has never been rigorous and severe with us, but always tender, full of compassion, and ready to forgive.
Is this who God is to you? If you believe that you should push into Him, embrace Him as a Father and learn of His ways, not only for your own benefit but also the benefit of all those around you.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington