The true and only God is Holy, which is a word that we can only really slightly understand due to our fallen condition that we inherited from previous generations. The Word of God has carefully selected accounts of the lives of people, all of whom have lived under a great measure of God’s mercies, and are written to teach all people how to live according to God’s love and intervention to rescue sinners from His righteous judgment through the deliverer His Son Jesus The Christ! Therefore, by becoming students of the Word of God we can all come to realize that we are incapable of satisfying God on our own power apart from His sacrificial offering of Jesus His Son, and Jesus’ victorious resurrection from the dead; then step up to the challenge of “Learning Patience Through Everyday Trials”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Psalms 32:1 – 11 (KJV)
Blessed Are the Forgiven
Psa 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Psa 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Psa 32:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Psa 32:6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
Psa 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psa 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psa 32:9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Psa 32:10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Psa 32:11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1 – 11 (KJV)
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
Rom 5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Transforming Power Statements:
1) Realization that every life is filled with trials and that we all have our share of troubles, fears, disappointments, anxieties, pressures, as well as successes, victories, hopes, dreams aspirations, and so on; it is easy to understand that the roller coaster of life, especially without any understanding nor relationship with God Who is a very present help in a time of trouble, would be extremely devastating at best!
2) The Psalmist like many other examples in the Old Testament reveals the fact that nobody is righteous enough to ever stand before the Almighty on their own merits, and God Who is great in mercies has always been willing to give grace to everyone who comes to realize that we have a need to be forgiven even after we have done our very best!
3) Jesus, God the Son, was willing to divest Himself of total equality with God His Father, in order to also be born into this world in order to personally experience every human situation, but without sin, so that He would satisfy God His Father completely by HIMSELF, so that all who believe in HIM can also share HIS PERFECT Holiness, and therefore, be declared righteous in the sight of God, Who tasted death for all believers!