WE ARE RICH

The longer that I walk with the Lord, the more I am finding out how frail and needy I am of Him. Jesus had even warned us that without Him we can do nothing (John 15:4-5). However, along with the knowledge of our neediness also comes the knowledge of His love, riches, and compassion, as David had written:

Psalm 103:11-18 (NASB) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

12  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13  Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

14  For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.

15  As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16  When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.

17  But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,

18  To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.

I am not saying that I can grasp the depth of His lovingkindness (11 above). We cannot get our minds around it (Ephesians 3:19). However, we do know that if He loved us so much that He died for us while we were His enemies, how much more now after we have become His adoring friends (Romans 5:8-10)!

He gives us another indication of the extent of His love. Unbelievably, the Cross was the time of His greatest glory (John 12:23-24), not when He would ascend into heaven or when He would defeat His enemies and set up His everlasting kingdom. It was by the Cross that He gave us a picture of true love and proved to skeptics like me that He wasn’t a machine or a sadist who enjoys watching suffering. Sadists do not die the most painful and humiliating death even for their friends or to deceive.

He has forgiven us completely for our grievous sins, which had nailed Him to the Cross (12). He has compassion for those who fear Him (13, 17). What does it mean to fear Him? It means to place Him ahead of all of our interests (Matthew 6:33) and to abide obediently in His Word (18). However, many preach a false hope that we can live as we please and be saved. No! Forgiveness is for those who fear Him and perform His Word:

·       If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)

This doesn’t mean that obedience or law-keeping saves us. However, it is the fruit of a living faith, the indwelling Spirit, and of a regenerated heart. If obedience is not present, neither is faith or the Spirit.

Apart from God, “we are but dust” (14) and grass that withers (15). This might sound strange or demeaning in a world where we are taught to believe in ourselves. However, this truth is very liberating. It teaches us that we no longer have to impress others or to continually prove to ourselves that we have worth and have the ability to be admired and successful. We no longer need to compete for these limited commodities, because we are already beloved and exalted by the only One who matters. Therefore, the struggling Psalmist had proclaimed:

·       Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:23-26)

The Psalmist had been angry and jealous of the successes of the wicked. He had been comparing his negligible fortunes with theirs. However, after God had opened his eyes up to see the bigger picture, he understood that he was complete. He had everything that he needed. This is what we too need to see (Colossians 2:8-10).