A God of mercy

If it is true that God takes no pleasure in wickedness - that He "hate[s] all workers of iniquity" and "abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man," as Psalm 5:4-6 says - than it is a problem of incredible concern and importance for each and every one of us. I wouldn't say I was bloodthirsty (far from it, in fact!), but when I see the bitterness, hatred, and resentment my heart holds on to and even takes pleasure in, I can't deny that there is wickedness and sin inside me. And the general consensus of the rest of humanity, and the doctrine of Christianity, is that I am not alone in this deep internal sinfulness: for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23)

What do we do, then? What is the next step to take, when we see the sin inside us, when the weight of it breaks our hearts and leads us to the edge of despair, because all our efforts cannot eradicate it completely from our lives? I think the same psalm that described the righteous position of a holy God towards wickedness describes equally well the only beneficial next step for us to take:

"But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple." - Psalm 5:7-8

Continuing to try to perfect myself will never succeed; the only option that can bring life, joy, and contentment is to come to God riding the waves of His mercy, carried in the arms of His mercy, lifted on the wings of His mercy: forgiven and reconciled by His mercy. Striving to lift myself to heaven or to give myself worth and value, to earn the respect and adulation of others and even of God, can only lead to the empty and cold triumph of pride that is more failure than victory even in its highest moment; but coming to God with reverence and humility, to lift unto Him the worship and adoration of a heart in love to a God worthy of praise - that is the key to peace and fulfillment, the one thing necessary to find meaning and freedom.

It is indeed true that God takes no pleasure in wickedness, but it is also true that He is a God of mercy, and because He is a God of mercy we can be a people of hope. We can cry to our God in our trouble, even when our trouble is brought on by our own sin, and we can wait eagerly, watching as for the morning, for His answer to our prayer. Because we have put our trust in Him, we can rejoice in the surety of His faithfulness, and let the burdens and pains of this life and of our sin be carried for us by the God who defends us with strength unassailable.

Worship and work

In the middle of a little book of discourses, there is a collection of discourses on What We Learn From the Lilies In the Field and From the Birds of the Air, and the middle of this little collection is a discourse entitled "How Glorious It Is to Be a Human Being." And in this discourse the author argues that the glory of being human comes from these two things that we alone of all creation can do: that we can worship, and that we can work.

When the author of this discourse took the time to look at the lilies of the field, as Jesus commanded, and thought about how God clothes us in so much more glory than the lilies, he saw that this clothing must refer to something innate in us as being humans, not in our literal clothing (which has never been so glorious as the lily, not even that which adorned King Solomon). And what was this particular glory, that could be compared to the beauty in which the lilies were clothed? It was, the author concluded, simply that to be human means to have been created in the image of God, in a unique manner not shared by any other created thing. The lily bears witness to its Creator, but it does not bear the image of its Creator. We as human beings do, and that is our glory. In the quote I posted earlier, you can read how the author of this discourse explained that we resemble God as His inverse image by worshiping Him, and how that worship is our glory because by it we show that we were made in His image.

When this author then turned to look at the birds of the air, he saw how the bird did not worry about providing for himself in the future because the bird did not work nor have indeed any conception of the future. So while we ought to learn not to worry from the bird, our not worrying is different in essence from the bird's, because we touch the eternal and thus understand the future. It is our glory - as a created being with an eternal spirit, not just a temporal body - to be able to understand the worry about the future, and it is our glory to be able to work for the needs of our eternity and our future as the bird cannot work but as God Himself does work. It is another aspect of our being created in the image of God! And when we work, because we understand that it is God who provides for us ultimately as He provides for the bird (which is why we need not worry), we can think of ourselves as working together with God instead of as working for ourselves. And this also is our glory.

So to worship God and to work together with God (as being made in His image we are able to do in a way that nature cannot) - those are the things that the author of this discourse has concluded are the twin glories of a human being. And it makes me excited! For in those two glories we find eternal value and purpose for our lives, in God. Live is not empty and dark, because we have a God who loves us, who is worthy of our love and adoration and praise, in whom we can delight. Neither is life meaningless and despairing, because we have a God with whom we can work as He carries out His great eternal plan - and even the most trivial aspects of our temporal work are woven by Him into that great plan.

The glory of being human

"The upright gait is the sign of distinction, but to be able to prostrate oneself in adoration and worship is even more glorious; and all nature is like the great staff of servants who remind the human being, the ruler, about worshiping God. This is what is expected, not that the human being is to come and assume the command, which is also glorious and is assigned to him, but that worshiping he shall praise the Creator, something nature cannot do, since it can only remind the human being about doing that. It is glorious to be clothed as the lily, even more glorious to be the erect and upright ruler, but most glorious to be nothing by worshiping!
[...] The human being and God do not resemble each other directly but inversely; only when God has infinitely become the eternal and omnipresent object of worship and the human being always a worshiper, only then do they resemble each other. If human beings want to resemble God by ruling, they have forgotten God; then God has departed and they are playing the rulers in God's absence. This was paganism; this was human life in the absence of God. This was why paganism was still like nature, and the most grievous thing that can be said about it is that it could not worship." - Soren Kierkegaard, Uplifting Discourses in Various Spirits

In the beauty of holiness

"O, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!" - Ps. 96:9a

What makes our worship beautiful in the eyes of God? From this verse, I would say that it is our holiness before Him that fills our praises and sacrifices with beauty.

But I am not holy, I cry! Do You not see the petty selfishness in my heart, the irritation over trivial inconveniences, the all-too-ready sharpened words of anger, or the idleness with which I can approach my responsibilities? How can I ever hope to come before You, my God, with worship that is genuinely beautiful, that is not torn and stained by my unholiness?

Come to Me in My grace, He replies, in the soft whisper of love. Don't you remember, My child, that you are in My Son and He is in you? When I look at you, I see His righteousness; in Him, you are holy and blameless in truth and in love. Do not be afraid! And do not come in your own strength, dressed in the rags of your own righteousness - come clothed in the righteousness of My Son, which He freely gave to you. You are holy in Him, and in Him you are beautiful and your worship is beautiful to Me. I am Your God, and I have made You beautiful with the beauty of holiness!

"O come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand." - Psalm 95:6-7

A beautiful work

Yesterday morning our pastor preached on the beginning of Matthew 26, including a little story that has long been one of my favorites. A woman (identified in John as Mary the sister of Lazarus) breaks a flask of expensive oil over Jesus' head, anointing Him with it, and the disciples (specifically Judas, as John again points out) become indignant because they feel like it was a waste, when it could have instead been sold and the money used to care for the poor. But I love Jesus' response:

"Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me." (v10)

That word "good" is translated as "beautiful" in other versions; I looked it up on Blue Letter Bible's handy online concordance and found the word can mean: beautiful, excellent, surpassing, precious, admirable, praiseworthy, or honorable (among other things). That concept of her act being a beautiful work really stands out to me, and I think maybe it could help me better understand what beauty is in God's eyes. So why was this particular act so beautiful and precious to Jesus? I think there are three primary reasons.

First, it was wholehearted and unreserved. She held nothing back from Him, and offered to Him what was probably the most valuable thing she owned. She didn't give grudgingly or out of compulsion, but freely and richly out of the depths of her love for Him.

Second, it was an act of worship. She knew who He was - the Son of God and the Messiah - and was honoring Him accordingly, submitting herself to Him and living for His glory. In addition, she wasn't doing it to gain the admiration or approval of the other people watching. She simply wanted to praise and glorify Jesus.

Finally, it was born out of knowledge of and submission to His plan. The disciples still didn't entirely understand that Jesus' plan was to suffer and die, but she did, and anointed Him for His burial. When they did begin to understand what He meant to do, they tried to change His plan, but she accepted it in trust and chose to follow and honor Him as He worked out His purpose. That is the attitude God wants us to have, I think - one of acceptance and trust, giving honor and worship to Him.

So we and our works are beautiful to God when we follow the pattern Mary set, regardless of what the world or even other Christians think of us. What matters is our heart before God - that we submit to His plan and worship Him without holding any part of us back from Him.

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

If you listen to Christian radio on a regular basis, you're probably familiar with Laura Story's song "Blessings". I know I've heard it many times! Today I listened a little more closely to the lyrics, though, and all of a sudden this song that had just been another nice song had me almost crying as I drove to work.

"We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear.
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.
We doubt Your goodness,
We doubt Your love,
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough.
And all the while You hear each desperate plea,
And long that we'd have faith to believe"

It is so true! When I'm struggling with sins I can't conquer, or feelings I can't control, or desires I know I shouldn't have but can't get rid of, I start to get angry with God. I'm like, I have come to You about these things so many times, so why am I still struggling with them? Are You still there? Do You still love me? And I do this despite the countless times that I have felt Him holding me in the midst of sorrow and protecting me when I have felt utterly alone and helpless. The testimony of the Word and of my own life is that God is unfailingly faithful, unconditionally loving, and unalterably righteous, and that He will never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5), and it seems to me that trusting Him to be those things will cause joy to bloom even in the most barren and desolate times.

And He tells me I am His own...

Hymns and contemporary worship songs are often so rich with both meaning and beauty, pairing the truth of the Word with music. So I don't mind at all when one gets stuck in my head because I can get so much out of having those words going around in my mind all day long :) Today this old hymn went around with me for a while:

"I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses,

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me,

Within my heart is ringing."

Thinking about that kind of intimacy with God brings tears to my eyes because it is so amazing! He tells me I am His own - He accepts me, and wants me, and chooses me, with all my sins and flaws. He speaks to me, He puts a song of joy in my heart, and He pours His love and grace over me in more abundance than I can fathom! How wonderful is our God!