Worship for Today: God provides access to his mercy and grace in our time of need!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 38:18-22,

 
"I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin... O Lord, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior."

 

In this psalm David speaks of his guilt, verse 4, and that he is therefore suffering from God's wrath, verse 3. As he experiences the difficulties the Lord has brought into his life, represented by both his failing health and his enemies, he asks the Lord not to forsake him. Even his friends and neighbors have deserted him, verse 11 and in his desperation, as cast in the last verse, "Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior", he pleads with the Lord in the first verse, "do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath."

 

Sin has this devastating effect on us all. Jesus reminded us that we reap what we sow. Sin has its consequences. The writer of Hebrews, in 12:7-11, talks of God disciplining us for our own good, that we might share in his holiness and how painful that process is.

 

In this midst of this, however, God wants us to know of his love for us as his children. Our God is holy and righteous, and yet he has made us sinners holy as well. The writer of Hebrews tells us, "by one sacrifice he [Jesus Christ] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." Hebrews 10:14. Because of this we can approach God with confidence, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16.

 

How wonderful that when we find ourselves beset by sin and begin to feel as David did, "troubled by my sin", our Lord provides us access to him so that we "may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."!

 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com