God’s Love Despite Man’s Wickedness
BRD REFLECTIONS
Genesis 38 and Psalm 36 (NIV)
(Tony Yeo, Steward, LCEC)
READ:
Psalm 36 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
The Psalm starts by referring to David as the “director of music” and in some translations, “the chief musician”. David is referred to as “the servant of the Lord”. Only Psalm 18 makes the same reference to David as “the servant of the Lord”. This highlights what an honour it is to be referred to as a servant of the Lord! We should recognise what an extreme honour it is to serve the Lord. We must not complain about any sacrifice we make in the service of our Lord.
In this Psalm, David refers to the evil, wickedness, and deceitfulness of man. How sinful and conceited man is. In contrast, David sings about the Lord’s boundless love for us, His righteousness, justice and our need to take refuge in Him.
This Psalm also highlights how our Lord loves us, despite our extremely sinful hearts.
APPLY:
What is wrong with the hearts of man since time immemorial?
We have no fear of God. We deceive ourselves by self-flattery and fail to see our sins. We say hateful and wicked things. We even have evil thoughts when we are in bed.
We keep repeating sins. Many a time we are not even aware of sinning. We lie to ourselves or reduce sins to minor transgressions easily justified and forgotten.
Yet we know our Lord loves us and how our sinning pierce Him. We know how we need Him.
I know of a friend who recently suffered the very painful consequences of sinning. What is heart-warming is his awareness of God’s presence in his pain. That gave him the strength to pull through.
DO:
I learn from this Psalm to:
RECOGNISE
Recognise our sins. Stop sinning before it consumes, blinds and destroys us.
REPENT
Repent now. It is never too late to turn to God.
REMEMBER
Remember the goodness of God. He has never left us. Remember He is the “fountain of life” and in His light, “we see light”. Our Lord will continue to love those who know Him. We must learn to fear the Lord and not underestimate the wrath of our Lord to “the evildoers lie fallen-thrown down, not able to rise!”.
PRAY:
Dear Lord, I recognise my sinful nature. I recognise how often I fail to see my sins and act with a wicked heart. Lord, I beg for your mercy, and I sincerely repent of my many sins. I remember your unfailing goodness and boundless love for each of us. I pray that you will always be with us and that we shall always be able to “take refuge in the shadow of your wings”.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
