Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Psalm 7:17

By

Psalm 7:17    "I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high."

David wrote earlier in verse 8 of this Psalm, "... judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me." As he began to write concerning the wicked and seeking the Lord's judgment, his heart began to turn.  It seems to me that he must have begun to take inventory of his life even as he was speaking against others. For in the Psalm previous to this one, he cried out for mercy and now he was thinking about his own righteousness.

Surely David was enabled to see that his own righteousness was nothing in comparison to the holy perfection of our God.  Your and my righteousness is nothing without the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We cannot stand before the thrice Holy God trying to declare our own goodness.  I can assure you there will be no one standing in the portals of heaven trying to declare to God how great things we have done on earth.  There will be no one walking around heaven comparing stars and crowns. When we see the true glory of God all thoughts of goodness will be cast at the feet of our precious Lord. You can read in Revelation 4 that all crowns will be cast at the very feet of Jesus. He, alone, deserves all accolades of glory and goodness.

True worship occurs when that truth is understood. When David took his eyes off his own righteousness (which was nothing of himself), he then began to praise the LORD.  Many people think they will start going to church and be active in church when they get their lives straightened out. We can never straighten ourselves out. We need the Lord, whether it be on a personal basis, family basis, community basis, or national basis.  We are delivered by His righteousness alone. David realized this and at that time he declared, "I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high."  It is time for all God's people to begin praising the Almighty God instead of anything earthly that we think will fulfill our lives. Only Christ can do that.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

By
Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...
Read more

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

By
Read more

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

By
Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...
Read more