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"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." — Psalm 138:8


"Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a divine confidence. He did not say, 'I have grace enough to perfect that which concerneth me — my faith is so steady that it will not stagger — my resolution is so firm that nothing can move it; 'no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages, our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All that Nature spins time will unravel, to the eternal confusion of all who are clothed therein. The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing short of the Lord's work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is He who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it will never be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. he has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all.


Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates — 'You will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray.' Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, He will perfect that which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in Him alone, and never too much concerned to have such a trust."

— C.H. Spurgeon, Morning & Evening 5/23

“But wisdom is justified of her children.” — Matthew 11:19

Our blessed Lord, the lowly Jesus, when he walked upon the earth was always giving glory to the Father and magnifying His word. He alludes to the wisdom personified in the book of Proverbs in Matthew's gospel but He IS that wisdom that founded the earth and was set up from everlasting.[1]


Those without Christ will only find fault with His teaching, whether it comes from fasting John the Baptist or feasting Jesus Christ. His words are foolishness to the natural man[2] and a savor of death unto death.[3] But His sheep hear his voice[4] and follow after their shepherd and his statutes rejoice their hearts[5].


“I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions… I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” — Prov 8:12,17


Amen.


Scripture References: [1] Prov 3:19, 8:23 [2] 1st Cor 2:14 [3] 2nd Cor 2:16 [4] John 10:27 [5] Ps 19:8

There was a time when I feared that my soul was headed for eternal damnation. I felt God was so angry with me that I wouldn’t just die when my time was up, but that my soul would be eternally tormented after my death. I was afraid of this to the point of physical sickness.


This fear ultimately drove me to Jesus Christ because I realized that I could not bear the weight of my own sins. I felt like I would die because of them and that the pain of death would never end.


This is the fear of God before salvation, when He first reveals His omnipotence to us. We suddenly sense the gravity of His wrath and punishment because we realize how out of step we are with His law.


Yet through His incredible mercy, He shows us His Christ and calls us to Him for repentance, for remissions of sins, and ultimately for salvation. He frees us from the burden of transgression and builds our faith that he will heal us and love us and preserve us for eternity.


We no longer fear God’s wrath upon us, but we fear Him as a loving Father that we don’t want to disappoint.


Children of God don’t live in fear of being struck down at any moment and sent to hell, because we have the assurance of God’s promises and the peace that Jesus Christ is Lord over us. We fear God in the sense that we revere Him.


Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

Psalm 103:13

Photo by Trevor McKinnon, unsplash.com


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