Friday slowdown

I couldn't find this as a video or an audio recording, so I'm posting it here for us to read. I found these hymn lyrics very inspiring, and I truly feel that they echo the words of the psalm we are reading (Psalm 71).  It was written by H. Glen Lanier in 1976.

"O God Your Constant Care"

O God, your constant care and love
are shed upon us from above,
throughout our lives in every stage,
from infancy to later age.

We thank you, Lord, for dreams of youth,
for wisdom leading on to truth,
for memories gathered through the years,
and faith that grows from joy to tears.

All time is yours, O Lord, to give;
may we, in all the years we live,
find every day of life is new,
a celebration, Lord, with you.

Let not the passing of the years
rob us of joy, nor cause us fears,
and give us faith, O Lord, that we
may live with you, eternally.

Aging gracefully and graciously

God is at work in each one of us. 

If we submit to His work, we can have more godly beauty show through our "rough spots." He is still loving, teaching, creating us in His image; it works a lot better when we willingly participate!

But it does take work. It takes contemplating our past and considering our future. It requires asking Him what He wants us to do, and then being obedient to His will. The payoff? Tremendous! A peace and a quiet contentment that transcends the world's understanding. Our relationship with God improves. Our relationships with others improve. And we feel we have a real purpose for the mature years of our lives. 

Grab a pen or pencil and a small piece of paper. 

Ready?

Write some thoughts down . . . .What words do you think of when you think of aging? Growing older? Think about those for a moment. 

Were all of the words that you wrote negative words? Do they make us feel vulnerable?

If so, remembering God as our refuge can help.

Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress. (Psalm 71:3, NIV)

Back there (a couple of paragraphs ago) when you thought of words that describe growing older . . . did any of them seem vibrant? Active? Or were you seeing a rocking chair in your mind's eye? (Grin) Does a purpose-filled life seem at odds with "aging"?

Remembering that God has a purpose for our lives can help.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till l I declare your power to the next generation,  your mighty acts to all who are to come. (Psalm 71:17-18)

You see, as we begin (or continue) to deal with the outward effects of aging, we may have a tendency to focus on ourselves. But we have a job to do!

The psalmist reminds us that it's our responsibility to declare the goodness and power of God to the next generation. With our words and with our behavior, we need to be telling our story. We all have different (and wonder filled) stories of God's love and provision for us - some of us have miracles to tell. If we fail in our responsibility there will be two results: we will be miserable, and we'll leave a negative effect on those who follow us in life. If we are not showing that God is sufficient for our old age, how will younger persons be inspired to trust Him in their lives? 

God is faithful! We need to "say" that not only with our words but our behavior. Our lives need to be intentional - focused on completing His purpose for us. 

Self focused? Depressed? We are failing to give our families an example of aging faithfully.

Not interested in talking? We are missing our opportunities to tell our "God-stories" to strengthen our children and friends in their faith.

I'd like to leave you with a couple of challenges for this weekend. First, read (and re-read) Psalm 71. I think we will be referring to this passage during our study. Second, choose a photo or a small item that reminds you of one of your own stories. Write a brief note and then choose someone to gift this to. You may never realize this side of heaven what your story will inspire someone to endure or to achieve!

Aging gracefully - with enthusiasm

So far, we've discussed growing old gracefully keeping the Lord in mind, and keeping heaven in mind, too.

Today, we see that we can bring enthusiasm in ways that younger "whippersnappers" may not be able to! (You like that term? My grandma used it a lot . . . to her, it was not such a derogatory term, it was just an observation that sometimes younger folks think they know a great deal more than they actually do, and they have lots of energy to pursue the things they don't know much about. Whew. A long sentence, there.) We may move more slowly than the young whippersnappers, but we have a lot more experience, and that IS worth something!

But I did mention enthusiasm. Not experience. What do I mean?

Well, as we grow older, there's temptation to fall into the trap of "I've already done that." Now, sage words of wisdom are truly awesome, but these are not:

•            We've done that before.
•             That won't work.
•             Everybody knows about that.
•              I'm retired now and I can retire as a Christian, too.    
•              There's nothing I can do.  

Those don't fall into the enthusiasm category! 

And they certainly are not examples of aging gracefully . . . . 

Our bodies may be growing older, but when we are keeping the Lord in mind, our spirits should be renewed each day.

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. (II Corinthians 4:16, NASB) 

And let's not forget the familiar passage in Isaiah:

Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. (Isaiah 40:31)

I like the sound of that, don't you? Renewing our spirit. Gaining new strength.

It's the natural result of what we talked about the other day -- God knows about old age. He knows about our infirmities. He knows that we have achy arthritis and that our muscle tone is not what it used to be. He knows that sadness sometimes weighs down our spirits, and that we still worry about our young'uns even when they are grown. (Grin) 

He knows and He cares and He renews our spirits and our strength. 

And He knows we have a lot to offer the younger folks.

Offering it with enthusiasm, instead of sourpuss looks and tones, will make us far more appealing and will get us far more willing listeners!

We can be enthusiastic about teaching - it's the older men who are singled out as candidates for elders and leaders in the church.

shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not with greed but with eagerness; (I Peter 5:2)

It's the older women who are tasked with teaching the younger women. Remember the passage in Titus?

teachers of good things; 4 that they may teach the young women ...(Titus 2:3b-4a, AJKV)

Many times, it is the older Christians who are retired or semi-retired, and are blessed with more time to devote to service. It's just logical that we have more ability to visit the infirmed, to write cards and notes to those who need encouragement, and to influence friends and neighbors we meet as we go about our day. Some Christians are blessed with a little extra financially, and can help those who are in need - giving them extra opportunities to witness to those who need to hear the gospel of Christ.

I found it intriguing to read the following verse. Caleb was eighty-five years old when he spoke (and he was ready and raring to go and do what God had planned for him):

 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. (Joshua 14:12, AJKV)

Caleb was one of the two spies who first scouted the Promised Land and returned with confidence that God would deliver the land into the hands of the people. 

He had waited for his opportunity, and he relied upon the promise of God to enable him to conquer his portion of the land. He didn't rely upon his own natural strength and courage, or on the numbers and prowess of the warlike tribe of Judah (of which he was prince).

What an example for us as we try to age gracefully in our faith and in our daily lives! We, too, can rely on the promises of God to help us conquer the problems before us. There's no need to struggle along in our own strength, for He has promised to supply strength to us, and to meet all of our needs.

Aging gracefully - begin here!

I'm going to lay out this post just like a Southern Baptist preacher: I'll note three things we will consider....... growing older as a Christian should include thinking about God's care, trusting in a lively hope of heaven, and tackling life with enthusiasm. 

Did you see that? Did you see what I did there? (Grin)

Hopefully, this bird's eye view will whet our appetites for our study and encourage us to remain steadfast in our Christian faith, too.

Let's dig right in!

These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, 175 years.  Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. (Genesis 25:7-8, NASB)

Wow. It always amazes me to read in the Old Testament about the incredible lives of those heroes of our faith, and about their deaths, as well. One hundred and seventy-five years! If we look back at chapter 21 of Genesis, we see that he became a dad again at the age of 100 when Isaac was born! He had some bobbles, to be sure, but he served God for all those many years. Others in the Old Testament lived amazingly long lives, not just Abraham. God cared for them and guided them, and protected them. He totally understands how we feel as we are growing older.

You know, that moment that you realize, "Gee, whiz, I'm getting old!" It may be when the grandkids roll their eyes at something they find unbelievable about the recent past. It may be when we are looking at some old family pictures, or when someone close to us passes away. It may be when you are looking at the larger number of grays in your hair. It may just be when you are standing, having just hoisted yourself out of the chair with some difficulty, and you are trying to remember what you were going to go and do?

Oy.

In our focus passage for this study, God says this:

You who have been carried by Me from birth
And have been carried from the womb;
4 Even to your old age I will be the same,
And even to your graying years I will carry you!
I have done it, and I will bear you;
And I will carry you and I will save you. (Isaiah 46:3b-4, NASB)

Who is He talking to, here?

All of us. Each one of us.

He has known us and provided for us since we were formed in the womb. He's cared for us from then until our birth and then all of our life. He's continued to care for us and carry us. He's been with us. He was right there when we had that "I'm getting old moment," and He felt that pain or fear or apprehension. He understands. 

God understands our aches and pains, and our infirmities and fears:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years approach when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”....For man goes to his eternal home while the mourners move around in the street. 6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; 7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 1:1, 5b-7)

Solomon was inspired to write this not only to encourage the young (to seek the Lord early) but to encourage the aging to think about the Lord; we need to keep God in mind as we live the days He gives to us. Keeping the Lord in mind will make our relationship with Him stronger; we will more easily recognize the importance (or irrelevance) of earthly things, and we will come to depend upon Him more. 

It may not be something that we want to dwell on, but as the old song says, "This world is not my home." That's where the "trusting in a lively hope of heaven" part comes in. (Grin)  It's entirely logical to say that we are closer to our "homegoing" now than we were when we were teenagers. But this is not a time of sorrow -- it's a time of joy! This should be a happy thought! Our bodies may be getting creakier and a bit more frail, but our spirits should be strengthening! My post is getting lengthy, so I'll not paste in the verses here, but PLEASE encourage your hearts by re-reading II Corinthians 4:17 through 5:8, OK? Deal? Good!

Our faith should strengthen as we grow older, as we remember God's care in times past, and enjoy evidences of His caring today. We are truly pilgrims:

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country which they left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)

Wow!

That hope of heaven will definitely make us tackle life with enthusiasm!  That's where we will pick up again tomorrow, OK?

Are we aging gracefully?

Recently, in another post on this study blog, we mentioned the term "aging gracefully." I was intrigued to read and study more, and to pull together some thoughts for us to consider. 
I know that there are women of all ages who read and pray here. There's even a fella or two that have stopped by and let me know they visited!  I believe the majority of us, though, are what I would call "seasoned warriors," whether we are talking warriors in prayer or in the trenches of everyday life. (Grin) 

Walk into a bookstore (yes, we still DO have those!) and you will see self-help books galore; some are focused on our best life in our later years. We can get advice on the best nutrition, the best home remedies, the best exercises, the best relational tools, and much more. 

Walk into a doctor's office, and you'll see people who at the first hint of discomfort will race to the physician for a prescription or a strategy. (You will also see people who stoically endure to the point of excruciation, and then find that there's not much that can be done, at so late a date. Perhaps somewhere in between is the best option.)

In a department store, a great amount of space on the cosmetic counters is devoted to creams, ointments, and disguises to prevent wrinkles if you don't have any, or to cover them up if you do have them. (Personally, I have enough wrinkles to qualify me for a post in the Basset hound club, but that's a whole different story.)

Exercise clubs and gyms have special days and times for us oldsters; presumably that is to make us more comfortable and induce us to participate. I wonder sometimes if it is really so that the youngsters don't have to hear us break wind as we struggle to keep up with the yoga instructor.

In good weather, you will see older folks walking or relaxing on the benches in the park. Their faces offer a wealth of differences. All are lined with wrinkles: the trophies of living to the final third of their lives; some wrinkles are arranged in smile lines and others in frowns. Some seem to welcome us to nod and smile at them. Some seem to shut us out, as if they'd prefer we hurry on our way and leave them alone.

Which old woman am I?

Which old woman (or man) are you?

I read in a book review that as we grow older, we have less energy to pretend. And that we care a bit less about what others think of us, too. The result is that the "real" us comes out. 

That hit home to me. It resonated. I could see it in my own life. 

And I wanted to make sure that the real me was an attractive, godly me. One that would be a good testimony for my Savior - one that would draw others to Him.

Want to join me on a pilgrimage to learn more?

I sure hope you said yes!

As we begin our study, let's keep our eyes on this verse. I've chosen it as our theme:

I have cared for you since you were born.
    Yes, I carried you before you were born.
4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
    until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
    I will carry you along and save you. (Isaiah 46:3b-4, NLT)

I'm looking forward to having you walk along with me in this study.

Friday slowdown

In spite of our sins and our mistakes.

In spite of our getting in the way. 

In spite of our asking for things to happen when we want them to, not when God says they should.

He will deliver us.

Your turn to answer

First, let me say that I TRULY appreciate the times that y'all are able to take a moment, consider these questions, and then type out an answer! I know I'm asking for a significant investment of your time, and I really am blessed, too, being able to read your comments. I enjoy hearing your input, and many times there are wonderful things to be learned from our collaborations!

So let's put our heads together again today, shall we?

We discussed so many things in the past two weeks, as we worked our way through Psalm 25. We talked about our sins, poor judgment calls and mistakes, and much more! We discussed trials and deliverance, and carefully (and honestly) examining our hearts. 

Keeping our study of Psalm 25 and the life of David in mind, here's our question for today:

Does God remove some or all of the consequences of our sin when we repent? Why or why not? If you have time, leave an answer in the comments and support your answer from scripture. (You may wish to refer to II Samuel 12, along with other passages of your choosing.)

Thanks in advance for your prayerful discussions and feedback - they mean the world to me!

 

Deliverance

All-knowing.

Almighty. Powerful.

Are these just words that we flippantly toss about? Or are they core beliefs?

Here's the test -- do we truly believe what David says in this psalm? 

Do we truly believe that no matter how difficult our trials are, our Father is able to deliver us from them? Do we know in our hearts that He is able? That He can do this for His glory and our good?

Do we truly believe in the mercy and grace that we sing about? That we read about?

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress. (Psalm 107:6, NIV)

“Because he has loved Me, I will save him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. (Psalm 91:14, NASB)

See? He even promises that He will deliver us. Oh, but wait. I think I remember that John the Baptist was "delivered" by being beheaded. . . . wasn't Stephen delivered by being stoned to death? And even Paul, the apostle whose letters we read and re-read, died at the hands of the Romans after a long stint in their prison system. . . . 

I guess we need to be careful to define "deliverance" in Biblical terms, not in the superficial terms that we humans usually think on. While some have been truly (and miraculously) delivered, others have been killed, or died in what were perceived as accidents, or even died as they were persecuted and murdered. 

The children of Israel were delivered from their troubles many times. Their leaders, David included, were rescued from distress time and again. In Hebrews, we read that Timothy was imprisoned and then released, while Paul remained there for many years.  Others were delivered in ways that seem incomprehensible to us on a human level: Samson died pulling down a banquet hall on his own head and the heads of God's enemies; Zechariah was killed between the temple and the altar; James (one of the sons of Zebedee) was killed by King Agrippa . . . . there are many examples.

It's not always the will of God to miraculously heal us or get us out of all of our troubles. And that bothers us sometimes, doesn't it? We just don't understand God's ways. In 1956, the world was shocked by the seemingly senseless murder of five Christian missionaries in the wilds of Ecuador. All across the globe, the names of Jim Elliott and the others became household words. Elliott's wife, Elisabeth, and her three year old daughter actually moved to the village of the tribesmen who had murdered her husband, and continued the work of telling the Waodani the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the coming years, the word would spread about the murderous villagers who accepted Christ as Savior; the Mission Aviation Fellowship would expand and serve even more countries across the globe; Elisabeth Elliott would be become renowned for her inspirational books . . . . yes, it's true. God's ways are sometimes surprising, even shocking to us. And deliverance can assume many different forms.

In Paul's last days, Christianity had morphed from a small, struggling movement into a religion with multitudes of followers. But it was no longer a religion that existed under the shelter of Judaism. It had become a crime to be a Christian. It was dangerous to be seen with Paul, a well-known Christian, and it was equally dangerous to be known as "one of those Christians." 

Does this sound familiar? We are rapidly heading in the same direction in our world today . . .

Paul, however, is not afraid. He knows that he will die. He knows he has escaped the mouth of the lion before, but that he will soon die. And he says that the Lord Jesus is with him.

But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (II Timothy 4:17-18, NIV)

These are the words of a man who is fully aware of the multiple layers of meaning in the word "deliverance." And Paul's fervent desire was that his life and his death would bring glory to God! Paul felt bound by duty and by love to affirm again and again -- in his letters he repeated that the Lord is always good, loving, and compassionate. Paul said no matter his circumstances, no matter his future, God was going to deliver him from his trials. 
And we can trust in the same. God is fully able to deliver us, even when we are the cause of our trials, either by sin or by foolish mistake. If we will humble ourselves and seek Him, He will instruct us so that we know His wisdom to guide us out of out trials. The difficult circumstances we find ourselves in should drive us to examine our hearts, as we studied last week. We must confess and then forsake our sins, and lastly, cry out to the Lord for His grace and deliverance -- our fervent desire should be for His glory, knowing that it's our ultimate good that He works toward.

Let those who love the Lord hate evil,
    for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
    and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. (Psalm 97:10)

Let's focus on loving Him, hating evil, and waiting on His timing for deliverance. Let's ask that the Lord will be glorified as He leads us.

Seeking God's wisdom in hard times

 

We saw that Step One was to examine our hearts and confess any sins that the Holy Spirit shows to us. Step Two of seeking the Lord during our hard times is to meditate and praise Him for Who He is.

We touched on this yesterday when we looked at the verses in Exodus. In that passage, God talks about Himself. He tells Moses (and us) about Himself.

In Psalm 25, David tells us more. He lays out his prayer in the first seven verses, and then many of the remaining verses are a review of Who the Lord is. I believe that David's primer here is instructing us to seek refreshment and encouragement by thinking about the goodness of God. 

Let's look at all the goodness of God that is revealed in this psalm: David says in verse three that no one who waits on the Lord will be ashamed - just as we mentioned yesterday, God is faithful; we can trust in Him. Verse five calls Him our Savior, and the next verse points out that He is a compassionate and loving God. He is called good and also upright in verse eight, and verse ten points out that He is truth. He is fair (v. 9) and forgiving (v. 11), and comforts the lonely (v. 16). His power is revealed in several verses, and in verse twenty-two David says God will redeem His people from all their troubles.

Wow! I would say that the attributes of God are "awesome," but that is such an overworked and overused word today that I feel I need to say something different! I guess my point here is that as we think about and meditate on God's goodness, and all of His attributes, we will be refreshed and encouraged as we face our hard times. Whether we are looking about us at horrific circumstances, or if we are face-to-face with the realization that we've cause this mess ourselves, thinking about our wondrous Redeemer will encourage us as we seek His wisdom.

Another thing that kinda jumps out at me as we study this psalm is that David also emphasizes asking God to teach us His ways, to instruct us in His paths. This is mentioned in five different verses! I figure that must be important! 

One commentary that I looked into said that the Hebrew word for "paths" refers to a well-worn, or beaten path. That it implied a path or road made by wagon wheels passing over the same ground, over and over again. Made me think of the "ruts" made by animals and wagons pulling loads over the same ground. Today in the western states of the US, one can still see the ruts made by wagons moving westward in the mid-1800's. In some places the iron-rimmed wagon wheels, pulled along usually by plodding oxen (not by horses, as some television shows would have us believe.....horses would not have as much strength nor the endurance needed for the weeks of pulling loaded wagons across the prairie) and some of the ruts can be easily seen today. Settlers were encouraged to follow behind the wagon in front of them, and not to stray from the trail into uncharted (and possibly much rougher) ground. 

David says in verse eight that God instructs sinners in His way -- wonderful! We qualify there! We also see in the psalm that we need to be willing to walk in His ways once He shows us the path. Willing to walk in His way? Well, of course I am! 

Good! Then the proofs of that will be that I am constant in prayer, and that I wait on the Lord, since His timing is not always mine. I must also be teachable - my desire should be to grow in understanding God's truths. The psalm also says I will be humble (v. 9) and that I will obey Him (v. 10).  The next verses say that I should fear Him and look to Him continually, and that I will walk in uprightness.  

Running through this entire psalm, like an undercurrent, is the idea of trust in the Lord.

My God, in You I trust,
Do not let me be ashamed;
Do not let my enemies rejoice over me.(v.2)

But is David that antsy about being ashamed? Is that something that worries him? In my old age, there's not much anymore that will truly embarrass me . . . unless it's appearing to be unreliable, or dishonest, or hypocritical, or delusional, or, or,  . . . hmmmm, even though those things would make me more sad than embarrassed, I guess I see David's point. He's "going public" in affirming his trust in the Lord. He's saying that if the Lord doesn't come through for him, and David's enemies are triumphant, it will be a blow to not just David's honor, but the Lord's honor, too. His enemies will look on, "Here is a man who trusted in the Lord. This is how things turned out."  So, as he prays, David says to the Lord that he's totally trusting in Him. "Don't let me be ashamed, because then Your Name would be dishonored."

Here's the summary for Step Two: meditate and be encouraged by all of the wondrous attributes of our Lord, and then trust in Him to work so that His Name will not be dishonored -- instead His Name will be glorified!

Seeking the Lord in our hard times

 

We're still camped out here at Psalm 25, and we are picking up where we left off last week . . . we said then that in our hard times, whether caused by circumstances or sin, we need to seek the Lord. We need to ask for wisdom.

The absolutely foundational truth for seeking the Lord is that we must confess our sins and ask for His pardon. It's step one. Numero uno. Can't get anywhere until we do this.

As we saw last week, David is being very transparent in this psalm. He is letting us look into his heart - and he is painfully aware of his shortcomings. Not just his sins in the current mud-pie that he finds himself in, but even going back and looking at the sins of his youth. 

Some people have a real problem with this. A big problem. A pride and self-righteousness problem. 

We shouldn't just shrug off our sins by saying something like, "Oh, what do you expect? Come on, I was just (insert age) years old!"

We also can't compare ourselves to our enemies and pat ourselves on the back: "I may have some faults, but look at those peeps! They are downright evil."

David doesn't belittle his sins, either, or try to downplay them . . . "Sure, I was wrong to sleep with Bathsheba, but that's water under the dam. I'm just a hot-blooded guy that saw a beautiful lady."

David doesn't blame God, either; that's something that some people use to try to feel better about past sins. "I made some mistakes, give me a break. I'm human. God made me this way."

Well. 

No, no, and no. David feels the pain of his guilt and it drives him to confess again his sin to God, and to plead for His pardon. Let's look at our psalm:

For the sake of your name, Lord,
    forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (v. 11, NIV)

You might be thinking, shouldn't David be concentrating on himself, and how badly he has failed? Instead he is asking for forgiveness for the sake of the Lord's name . . . David is wholly sincere when he says his iniquity is great. Not "great" like we think. His iniquity is large. It's way bigger than it should be, and he's guilty about it. The phrase "the sake of your name" refers to all of the attributes of God. His characteristics. "What makes Him tick." It hearkens back to all that He has revealed to us, about Himself.

One of the earliest instances that we have in the scripture of God revealing Himself happened after the children of Israel really messed up one time. Yeah, I know, they did that a lot. But then, I do, too, so I'm not gonna poke fingers at them. (Grin) When Moses went up on the mountain and was busy receiving the tablets and commandments, the kids at home got bored. Apparently it didn't occur to Aaron to try anything else to keep them occupied - instead, he asked all of them for their gold bracelets and necklaces and bling of all kinds, and like he told Moses, he put it in the fire and out came the golden calf. I'm not kidding; you can check it out in Exodus 32:24.

Now, I bet you know the rest of the story . . . . Moses was livid, and smashed the precious tablets. Then he ground up the calf and (ugh) made the revelers drink water with that powder in it. He approached God on their behalf and pleaded for their lives, and for God to be with them. To make a long story short, Moses went back up the mountain called Sinai and God met with him. God had explained to Moses that if he saw God in all His glory, he would die. He arranged for Moses to see His back as He went by on the mountain. 

And as He did, He spoke words that reveal so much about our Father God:

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; (Exodus 34:5-7a)

The Lord.

How many times in just one day do we use those words? Are we paying attention? How many times do we stop and think of just what is "in" His name?

He's compassionate and gracious:

We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:11, NASB)

He's slow to anger:

And tear your heart and not merely your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And relenting of catastrophe. (Joel 2:13)

Abounding in love and faithfulness:

Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments; (Deuteronomy 7:9)

Forgiving:

 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7)

He will punish the guilty:

For whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
Just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:12)

David knew that he deserved the punishment part. He was sorrowful over his sins and reminding God of the lovingkindness that He Himself had noted as a part of His character. That part of His character that David had seen at work, over and over again in his life. God is holy; He is the exact antithesis of sin. But He can be both the "just" and the "justifier" because of Jesus' work on the cross. Jesus satisfied the justice portion of the equation when He bore our sins on the cross. So then, God is not only the One Who points out our sins, but He is also the One Who provides grace and forgives those sins. Truly that is something to ponder and then to rejoice over!

Even as we follow David's primer on seeking the Lord in the hard times -- examining our hearts and confessing our sins -- we are blessed to rely on His grace through the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.