Reading: Psalms 52, 53, 54
My Verse: "The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one" (Psalm 53:1-3).
I visualize this in my mind, LORD God. You gazing upon earth, Your creation, looking for someone that has a clean and pure heart, someone that gazes back at You fully and completely without any guile or stain upon their devotion to You. Sadly, You see none. You are God and I cannot even begin to imagine what this must do to You. And yet, You do not stop looking down upon us. You do not stop seeking us out. You continue to be relentless in Your pursuit of us as You look down from heaven.
I went to a science fiction movie with my son this past weekend. It was interesting and fun. One thing that I found interesting was the theme of - one can never know the future. In the movie they even had someone go into the past to change the course of events, actually changing their history. I found this particularly interesting as this is such a strong theme in many movies. This idea that our futures are not set in stone. This is actually what You teach in Your Word.
From the very beginning, You gave us this thing called "free will." Because of that all of scripture is about this great battle of wills. You relentlessly draw us to You with Your love and truth and goodness. We resist, then come to You, then fall away. It is incredibly dynamic - how things play out is certainly not set.
When I was a very young Christian I would often get this message from other older Christians that things were set. That You, LORD God already had everything set, and You knew what was going to happen. It was always almost like it didn't matter what we did, You already knew what was going to happen so well, whatever . . . That just never set well with me. As I have read Your word for myself I see that this isn't so. Your "will" is that we all come to You, that we all submit to Your great love for us. You are constantly working at that as You look down from heaven . . .
There is so much we do not understand, but we have Your Word to guide us. We can seek out Your truths within the depths of the Bible. As we seek and search for understanding, You reveal to each of us that which we need to know, as we walk this path You have set us upon. How I respond to Your love, Your guidance is certainly not set for I have a fallen nature like all of mankind.
"All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned-every one-to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6).
"for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
As I read the following verses I hear Your plaintive cry LORD God, You continually and relentlessly cry out to us to come to You!
"Be still, and know that I am God . . ." (Psalm 46:10)
"For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death" (Psalm 48:14).
"I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye" (Psalm 32:8).
No, You are not a benign god. You are not a 'hands off' god. You love us but will not force us. You do all that is needed to draw us to You but we must come to You of our own free will.
Thank You for not turning away but constantly and relentlessly looking down from heaven, seeking us out.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one" (Psalm 53:1-3).
I visualize this in my mind, LORD God. You gazing upon earth, Your creation, looking for someone that has a clean and pure heart, someone that gazes back at You fully and completely without any guile or stain upon their devotion to You. Sadly, You see none. You are God and I cannot even begin to imagine what this must do to You. And yet, You do not stop looking down upon us. You do not stop seeking us out. You continue to be relentless in Your pursuit of us as You look down from heaven.
I went to a science fiction movie with my son this past weekend. It was interesting and fun. One thing that I found interesting was the theme of - one can never know the future. In the movie they even had someone go into the past to change the course of events, actually changing their history. I found this particularly interesting as this is such a strong theme in many movies. This idea that our futures are not set in stone. This is actually what You teach in Your Word.
From the very beginning, You gave us this thing called "free will." Because of that all of scripture is about this great battle of wills. You relentlessly draw us to You with Your love and truth and goodness. We resist, then come to You, then fall away. It is incredibly dynamic - how things play out is certainly not set.
When I was a very young Christian I would often get this message from other older Christians that things were set. That You, LORD God already had everything set, and You knew what was going to happen. It was always almost like it didn't matter what we did, You already knew what was going to happen so well, whatever . . . That just never set well with me. As I have read Your word for myself I see that this isn't so. Your "will" is that we all come to You, that we all submit to Your great love for us. You are constantly working at that as You look down from heaven . . .
There is so much we do not understand, but we have Your Word to guide us. We can seek out Your truths within the depths of the Bible. As we seek and search for understanding, You reveal to each of us that which we need to know, as we walk this path You have set us upon. How I respond to Your love, Your guidance is certainly not set for I have a fallen nature like all of mankind.
"All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned-every one-to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6).
"for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
As I read the following verses I hear Your plaintive cry LORD God, You continually and relentlessly cry out to us to come to You!
"Be still, and know that I am God . . ." (Psalm 46:10)
"For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death" (Psalm 48:14).
"I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye" (Psalm 32:8).
No, You are not a benign god. You are not a 'hands off' god. You love us but will not force us. You do all that is needed to draw us to You but we must come to You of our own free will.
Thank You for not turning away but constantly and relentlessly looking down from heaven, seeking us out.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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