Monday, August 20, 2018

Year 8, Day 232: Psalm 100-101


Theological Commentary: Click Here


It’s been a string of praise psalms for the last few days.  It’s been an incredible journey to remember that our hearts should be lifted up.  Why should our hearts be lifted up?  We are His people.  We are the sheep of His pasture.  We belong to God, and God is Lord over all.  That’s reason to give praise right there.

That being said, Psalm 101 brings us back to reality.  Do you hear the words of warning in this psalm?  The slanderer will be destroyed.  The haughty and the arrogant will not be tolerated.  No deceitful person will dwell with the Lord.  The liar will be a curse before God.

We have every reason to celebrate, but we also have every reason to stay alert.  Remember the lessons about cheap and costly grace from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Cheap grace tells us about God’s love but never encourages us to change.  It is costly grace – the kind of grace that God spent in coming to earth to die for us – that calls us to change and become more like Him.

Yes, God is love.  Yes, God calls to us and embraces us in relationship.  But in doing so, He asks us to pursue righteousness.  He wants us to live in the light of His truth.  He wants us to cast aside lies and deceit and slander.  He wants us to live like Him. 

We are to be joyful and give praise to God.  But it can’t stop there.  God’s love transforms us.  God’s love brings about change.  God’s love transforms us into beings that we cannot be without Him.

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