Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,514
“The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I am not guilty of turning from my God.
All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
“To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.” (Psalms 18:20-29 NIV)
Now, on a surface read, and without reading the whole chapter, one might get the impression that King David was rather conceited in his boasting about his relationship with the Lord. But if you continue reading in this chapter you will see where David stated that it is God who armed him with strength and who kept his way secure. It was God who made his feet like the feet of a deer and who trained his hands for battle and who made his saving help David’s shield. And it was God’s right hand which sustained him.
And as I thought about that for a moment, what came to mind is how we might judge other humans on surface evaluations, too. And we might draw wrong conclusions about them without really getting to know them. So we have to “read on,” and take the time to get to know who they are in heart and mind and purpose. For we can’t “judge a book by its cover.” We have to open the book and read what it says before we make an evaluation. We have to do the same with people. For not everything is as it may appear to us.
And going along with that same subject, we should not make evaluations of people and who they are on the basis of the opinions of other humans or society or culture or the wisdom of this sinful world. If we are going to make judgments, we need to base them in the Word of Truth from God’s Holy Word, and look at some of the people in the Scriptures who were the Lord’s followers and what they were like. For God did not make us all the same. He made us all different on purpose. So we will not all fit into stereotyping.
David knew that who he was and how he lived his life were the result of the working of God in his life and not in his own flesh. He knew the weakness of the flesh and that he could not conquer those in his own flesh. He realized his total dependency upon the Lord to live a godly life as an example to other people. He was only able to live righteously and to keep the ways of the Lord and to not be guilty of turning from God because of the power of God at work in his life, but as he submitted to the Lord and obeyed his will.
So, this isn’t about us doing good works to earn our salvation. This is about us living out the salvation that the Lord already provided for us, by his grace, and in his power. He gives us all we need to remain faithful to him in service to him, to forsake our sins, to live morally pure lives, to be honest, to remain humble, and to follow him in walks of obedience to his commands. So he makes no demands of us that he will not provide what we need to obey him and to do his will. So there is never an excuse for disobedience.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Trust and Obey
Words by John H. Sammis, 1887
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887
When we walk with the Lord
in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise,
not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove
the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Caution: This link may contain ads
To The Faithful
An Original Work / February 4, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I am not guilty of turning from my God.
All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
“To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.” (Psalms 18:20-29 NIV)
Now, on a surface read, and without reading the whole chapter, one might get the impression that King David was rather conceited in his boasting about his relationship with the Lord. But if you continue reading in this chapter you will see where David stated that it is God who armed him with strength and who kept his way secure. It was God who made his feet like the feet of a deer and who trained his hands for battle and who made his saving help David’s shield. And it was God’s right hand which sustained him.
And as I thought about that for a moment, what came to mind is how we might judge other humans on surface evaluations, too. And we might draw wrong conclusions about them without really getting to know them. So we have to “read on,” and take the time to get to know who they are in heart and mind and purpose. For we can’t “judge a book by its cover.” We have to open the book and read what it says before we make an evaluation. We have to do the same with people. For not everything is as it may appear to us.
And going along with that same subject, we should not make evaluations of people and who they are on the basis of the opinions of other humans or society or culture or the wisdom of this sinful world. If we are going to make judgments, we need to base them in the Word of Truth from God’s Holy Word, and look at some of the people in the Scriptures who were the Lord’s followers and what they were like. For God did not make us all the same. He made us all different on purpose. So we will not all fit into stereotyping.
David knew that who he was and how he lived his life were the result of the working of God in his life and not in his own flesh. He knew the weakness of the flesh and that he could not conquer those in his own flesh. He realized his total dependency upon the Lord to live a godly life as an example to other people. He was only able to live righteously and to keep the ways of the Lord and to not be guilty of turning from God because of the power of God at work in his life, but as he submitted to the Lord and obeyed his will.
So, this isn’t about us doing good works to earn our salvation. This is about us living out the salvation that the Lord already provided for us, by his grace, and in his power. He gives us all we need to remain faithful to him in service to him, to forsake our sins, to live morally pure lives, to be honest, to remain humble, and to follow him in walks of obedience to his commands. So he makes no demands of us that he will not provide what we need to obey him and to do his will. So there is never an excuse for disobedience.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Trust and Obey
Words by John H. Sammis, 1887
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887
When we walk with the Lord
in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise,
not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove
the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Caution: This link may contain ads
To The Faithful
An Original Work / February 4, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
