Thursday 13^th December

Psalm 139:23-24, Psalm 51

In my opinion, Matt Redman is one of the greatest songwriters of our time. My anthem for this year has been his song 10,000 reasons. What I love about this song is that it looks not to our circumstances but to God’s greatness and Majesty. Sometimes in our lives we seem to be so caught up in life’s problems that we forget to give God the praise He deserves. One of the lyrics that especially touched my heart in the song is where Matt writes that “Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes.” The theme of this song is that even when our circumstances pull us down there is always a reason to bless the Lord with our worship.

David, one of the greatest song/psalm writers of all time also had a deep reverence for God’s greatness and His need to be praised in all seasons. In reading Psalm 139 we learn of a God who is infinitely more amazing than we could ever imagine. But what response does that bring us to, as believers in Him? Well, we can learn from David’s response to God’s greatness. Knowing God’s Splendour and Might, brought David to a comprehension of his sinfulness in the presence of absolute purity. In Verse 24, David asks God to search his own heart to remove anything that “offended God” in his life. When we come into the presence of God, His holiness shows our sinfulness and our inadequacy to stand before Him. Our response is one of humility and repentance; to remove things from our lives that as David said “offends God”. The best news comes later.

Psalm 51 is David’s response to Nathans rebuke at his adulteress act with Bathsheba. David had been caught. In Psalm 139 David tells us that we can’t hide anything from an all knowing, all seeing God. Yet he didn’t listen to his own advice and got caught up in lusting after fleshly desires. Yet here we see the Godly response to not only knowing he had offended God in his sin but also to the knowledge of who God is. David knew that he had sinned against a Great God. He humbled himself and pleaded with God to take away not only his sins but the shame of it too.

 In verse 7 David asks God to wash him from his sin and make him whiter than snow. With today’s technology we know that snowflakes are made up from water vapor freezing around dust particles. Yet David’s request was simple. ‘I want to be WHITER than snow’. Although he probably didn’t know that snow was made up of dust particles, he knew that he wanted God to make him so clean and pure that he wanted to be whiter than snow. Throughout all David’s Psalms, no matter what circumstance he was in, He knew that God was slow to anger, rich in love and abundant in mercy. He knew when his life was mirrored against God’s greatness that he would fall short every time, yet he also knew that God’s mercy was always enough to forgive and wash away his sins.

In Jesus Christ we have a mediator who pleads on our behalf when we ask for forgiveness. It is Christ’s blood that washes away our sin and in Christ we have a safe refuge. We are hid within Christ so that the Father may not look at sin in us but rather look at Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for us (Colossians 3:3), which when we accept, washes our whiter than snow! Then we can stand forgiven at the cross, in reverence and awe of a personal loving Father.