Freed from the Darkness

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
– Luke 1:68

Bless the Lord! Praise Him because He has come to us and redeemed us, saved us.

God saves. He is merciful. He forgives sins. He guides us into the way of peace. God is faithful to keep his promises. Salvation in Christ comes from God and is the fulfillment of His covenant with Abraham. He, and He only, accomplishes salvation.

We need salvation. We need His mercy and faithfulness and forgiveness. We need His guidance. Before salvation, we sat “in darkness and the shadow of death (v. 79).” Now, He is guiding us on the way of peace.

We should praise Him. Bless Him. He has accomplished salvation. He has kept His promise to Israel and the nations through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

We, His people, are no longer in darkness, under the oppression of death, because He has been faithful to save us by grace through faith in Christ.

We often do not trust in His faithfulness. We often still live like we’re in darkness. We do not give Him the praise and blessing due Him.

We live in darkness though we have been freed from it by God’s faithfulness, mercy, grace, forgiveness. We need Him to guide us away from the darkness, the oppression of sin and death.

It is by His grace we are forgiven – our sin, our old nature is crucified with Him – and it is by His grace that we are raised with Him new creatures, in His image, free from darkness and the shadow of death.

God, You have already faithfully, mercifully done the work required to free us from darkness and the shadow of death. We don’t want to sit in it anymore. Please change us so that we “might serve [You] without fear, in holiness and righteousness before [You] all [our] days (v. 74-75).”

Be Blessed

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
– Psalm 84:5

The one who trusts God, who finds strength in God, whose heart is seeking God, moving toward His presence, is blessed.

God strengthens those who trust Him. He gives life and protection, grace and glory, joy and blessing. He makes our sorrow life-giving. He hears our prayers. He withholds nothing good from the person who trusts Him.

Do you find this kind of joy in God’s presence? Do you long for it this way? Do you long like this for worship? God strengthens us when we trust Him, but we don’t always trust Him. Why don’t we trust Him?

 

We often grow embittered, angry, sorrowful, allow our attitudes to be dictated by our circumstances because we don’t trust God. We lose the desire to be in His presence, the joy of worshipping Him, of being with Him because we don’t trust Him as we should.

We need His strength, His grace, His protection, His glory, all the good things He gives to those who trust Him, who seek Him, who truly spend time in His presence. Therefore, we need to seek Him first, to trust Him above all.

Lord God, please change our wills so that we want to trust You at all times and in all things, so that we seek Your presence above all.

It is only by Jesus’ grace and sacrifice that we’re even able to come into God’s presence, to receive His great blessings.

Magnify

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified.”
But I am afflicted and needy;
Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay.
Psalms‬ ‭70‬:‭4-5‬ NASB

Let those who seek God, who love His salvation, rejoice in Him and magnify Him. When they are in need and call on Him, He will come.

Though His timing is not always the same as ours, God helps those who seek Him, love His salvation, and magnify Him.

But we shouldn’t necessarily expect His help if I’m living in rebellion against Him.

Seek God. Rejoice in Him. Magnify Him. Call for His help when we are in need. Expect His help when we call.

He will help us when we’re in need if we truly seek Him at all times. He is worthy to be sought, to be rejoiced in, to be magnified.

Do you really seek God? Do you really love His salvation? Do you rejoice in Him? Magnify Him?

We are under attack. We do have an enemy, and we need God’s help against him.

We need to truly seek God. We need His grace to transform us. Then, we will seek God as He desires to be sought.

Our Protector

But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;

Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,

For You have been my stronghold

And a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my strength, I will sing praises to You;

For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.

(‭Psalm‬ ‭59‬:‭16-17‬ NASB)

No matter what anyone else does, let us sing of God’s strength and His lovingkindness because He’s always protected us before. Let us praise Him because He is our fortress, our strength, and He has always loved us and been kind to us.

God is strong. He protects His children. He loves us and is kind to us.

We are weak and in need of His protection and strength. We have an enemy from whom we need protection (though not necessarily a physical enemy as the psalmist’s was).

If we are His, God will protect us from our enemy. The psalmist praises God before he is protected, while he is in distress, because He knows who God is.

Even though we know He is strong enough, kind enough, and loves us enough to take care of us, we don’t always trust Him to. We are afraid.

Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate act of God’s lovingkindness. Couple that with His resurrection – He is strong enough to overcome death – and there is every reason to trust Him. There is no reason not to.

We need not fear because God is our strength. We need to have the courage that arises from faith. And in that courage we can joyfully sing the praises of God, our protector.

To the Ends of the Earth

As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness. – Psalm 48:10

This morning, I was struck by the words of this Psalm: “As is Your name, O God, so is Your praise…” The power, the majesty, the immensity of the name of God overwhelms. His name holds power throughout the universe. His hand is evident all over creation.

Even so is His praise. If we don’t praise Him, every rock, in every corner of the earth, every star, every galaxy, everything that is proclaims the glory of its Creator. There is no escaping His praise. There is no way He will not be praised.

To the ends of the earth, praise Him!