Psalm Saturday (6a)

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.  Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.  My soul is sore vexed: but thou O Lord, how long?

Psalm 6:1-3

We looked last Saturday at the first verse of this Psalm.  We should be thankful that the Lord rebukes and chastens us in love and mercy instead of rebuking and chastening us in anger and displeasure.

Verse 2 continues that theme by asking the Lord to “have mercy upon me” because “…I am weak.”  The Psalmist acknowledges his own weakness and because of that weakness, he petitions the Lord for mercy.  Fortunately, the Lord is a merciful God Who understands our weakness.

After asking for mercy, the Psalmist continues by asking the Lord to heal him.  He has come to the Lord for mercy and healing.  When you think about it, how much of our prayers are dedicated to those two themes?  I would say probably quite a bit.  We often pray for the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness.  When sin often, and we fail Him often.  We very often need his mercy.  And we often pray for healing.  Sometimes we pray for our own physical healing when we are sick or have some physical problem.  Sometimes we pray for the physical healing of a friend or loved one.  Other times, we might pray for mental or spiritual healing after facing some great trial, tribulation or heartbreak.

These prayers come in many forms, but prayers for mercy and healing are common (and good) subjects for prayer.  May we pray them often and may the Lord truly have mercy on us and heal us.

The Fall of Man

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:  (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Romans 5:12-14

It is an amazing statement that “…by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…”  One man, Adam, was responsible for all of the sin in the world today.  He is responsible for bringing sin and death on the human race.  All of the sin, wickedness, pain, sorrow and death we see all around us today came out of his sin in the Garden of Eden.

Adam chose to sin.  God gave him everything he needed and could ever have asked for to be successful.  God also gave him some very, very simple instructions on what he was supposed to do and what he was not supposed to do.  But Adam didn’t follow God’s simple instructions.  Adam rejected what God had said and plunged the entire human race into sin and misery.

We look back at this and we might be tempted to be angry with Adam at his sin.  But since Adam fell, we have all sinned on our own.  We would have responded the exact same way Adam did.  We would have fallen too.  And we know this because we have fallen.  We all have sinned.  We all have failed at one time or another.

Adam is representative of us.  He sinned.  We sin.  It is a terrible curse that must somehow be broken.  Fortunately, we can read on in this passage and find out that it has been broken by the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Not Just Saved From Wrath

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Romans 5:9-11

The thing that amazes me about being a Christian is that there are so many different amazing things involved in it.

Our problem is our sin.  That sin separates us from God and will condemn us to an eternal death.  Jesus died on the cross in our place, taking our sin on Himself.  He suffered so that we would not have to suffer.

That in itself would be an amazing thing.  Salvation from our sins and being saved from the wrath that it is in our future is a great thing.  Having a hope of going to Heaven and avoiding an eternal death in Hell are great things.  Those things all deal with the future.  At the end of this life, they are going to be the things that we desperately need.  And Jesus has provided them all for us, and He has provided them openly and freely.

But that is not all that He has done for us.  Verse 11 tells us another aspect of our salvation – “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Not only are we saved from the wrath of God and reconciled to Him, but we can have joy in God through Jesus in this life.

In addition to saving us, He gives us joy and gladness in our hearts.  Every time we think about it, we can probably come up with another wonderful thing that Jesus has done for us!

Reconciled by His Death, Saved by His Life

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Romans 5:10

We looked a little at this verse yesterday, but we will look at it a little more in depth today.  This verse tells us that “when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” and it tells us “we shall be saved by his life.”  In this one verse, we find two aspects of salvation and of being a Christian.

First, we see that we can be “reconciled to God.”  The word “reconciled” simply means “to restore friendly relations between two parties.”  The Bibles says that we are reconciled to God “by the death of his Son.”  The thing that long separated us from God was our sin.  But, on the cross and by His death, we can be forgiven of those sins.  That takes away the thing that separates us from God and we can say that we are “reconciled to God.”  We can look at that as the negative aspect – we had sins that had to be dealt with and Jesus took them upon Himself.

Second, we see that we can be “saved by his life.”  The previous verse says that we are “saved from wrath through him.”  His resurrection and His life give us life.  They give us freedom from fear and dread.  They give us a reason to live and a sure hope for the future.  Jesus does it all for us – He takes away our sin, and gives us life.  What a wonderful Saviour!

If we had only our sins forgiven, it would be a great thing, but we also have life in Him and through Him.  As Jesus said in John 10:10b, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Much More…

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Romans 5:6-9

After telling us just how much He loves us in verses 6-9, God tells us just how secure our salvation in Jesus Christ really is.

In verses 6-9, we saw that Jesus died for us even when were yet sinners.  Jesus gave Himself for us even when we hated Him and were His enemies.  That blood that He shed on Calvary justifies us.  It allows us to be forgiven of our sins and to now have a right relationship with God.  Verse one of this chapter tells us “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  We are no longer the enemies of God.  We even are at peace with God.

If God loved us so much and was willing to sacrifice so very much for us when we were still at enmity with Him, imagine how much He loves us and how much He is willing to help us now what we are no longer at enmity with Him.  He loved us when we were sinners and were His enemies.  Now, we are no longer His enemies.  We are His children!

If God loves guilty, wicked, vile, hateful sinners enough to die on the cross and give His life for them, imagine how much He is going to love His own children!  It is a wonderful truth and helps to show us just how secure we are in Him.

 

 

The Love of God

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

We looked Friday at the love of man.  Men will sometimes be willing to lay down their life if it means saving the life of one of their loved ones.  Men may even be occasionally willing to die for a “good man” as the text says.  But no man has the love the God has.  No man would be willing to do what Jesus Christ did for us.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God did not wait for us to become “better people.”  God did not send Jesus to die for the “good people.”  God did not hold back His love for us.  He loved us so much that, “while we were yet sinners,” Christ died for us.  We (mankind) were evil, wicked sinners who had rejected God and who knew nothing of righteousness.  We had rebelled against Him and were “at enmity with Him.”  We hated Him and wanted nothing to do with Him.

It is to us, as God-rejecting, hateful, wicked sinners, that Jesus came to die on the cross.  God’s love is far superior to man’s love.  God’s love is so far above man’s love that we can not even fathom to compare the two.  We value our lives far more than we value the lives of most other people (especially the ones who hate us).  But God valued our lives even more than he valued His own.  What a glorious truth and what a wonderful Saviour!

Praise Him, Praise Him (Hymn)

Praise Him, Praise Him!
Fanny Crosby (1869)

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy Name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:

Refrain
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.

Refrain

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever.
Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
Power and glory unto the Lord belong.

Refrain

As Christians, we are told to praise Him.  As Christians, we should want to praise Him.  This hymn will help.  Some hymns tell a story.  Some hymns give us some doctrine.  This hymn is all about praising the Lord.  It’s something we should be doing, so why not start today?

Psalm Saturday (6)

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.  Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.  My soul is sore vexed: but thou O Lord, how long?

Psalm 6:1-3

This Psalm is a prayer that we should all pray from time to time.  It is a prayer that we all need from time to time.

In the first verse, the Psalmist asks the Lord to “rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.”  Can you imagine what would happen if the Lord did rebuke us and chasten us in His anger?  We would not be able to survive.  We would be wiped out immediately.  The Lord would destroy us in an instant if that were the case.

We do things all the time that displease the Lord.  We are weak and frail creatures and we are prone to wander.  We are prone to sin.  Our sin and our failings displease the Lord and He rebukes us, chastens us, and corrects us.  Fortunately for us, He rebukes, chastens and corrects us in love and mercy.

We should be thankful every day that we serve a loving, merciful God and not a vengeful, hateful God.  We should be thankful every day that the Lord does not rebuke nor chasten us is anger.  We need to never forget the mercies of the Lord.  We need to never take for granted His goodness to us.

The Love of Man

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

Romans 5:6-7

The fact that Christ died for us as found in verse 6 is a wonderful truth.  We were without strength and he died for us.  The next verse gives us a comparison of His sacrificial death for us and what we might do in a similar situation.

It tells us that “…scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.”  That is what man would or might do.  Men have willingly sacrificed themselves over the years for many worthy causes.  They have died to protect their families and loved ones.  They have even died to protect their friends and their neighbors.  I would think that any one reading this post would have some people in their lives that they would be willing to die for.  But those are “good people.”  Those are people near and dear to us.

Now imagine a murderer.  Imagine the worst murderer you can think of.  He has killed many people, been tried and found guilty.  He is condemned to die and rightly so.  Would any of us step up and offer ourselves to die in his place?  Probably not.  I certainly wouldn’t want to die for a guilty man who probably hates me and would probably kill me if given the opportunity.

But that is exactly what Jesus did.  Jesus died for us in our weak and sinful state.  When you compare the love of people for each and the love of the Lord Jesus for people, there really is no comparison.  He loves us far, far more than we could ever imagine.

Christ Died For Us

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 5:6

To me, Romans 5 is one of the most powerful chapters in the entire Bible.  It shows us who we are, it shows us who Jesus Christ is and it shows us what He has done for us.

This verse gives us a powerful truth about ourselves and about our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  “For when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.”

The truth is that we need a Saviour.  We are “without strength.”  We are “the ungodly.”  As the Apostle Paul pointed out so eloquently earlier in the book, we are all sinners, we are all unrighteous and none of us are “good.”

But the truth is also this: when we were without strength and when we were ungodly, “Christ died…”  Jesus Christ saw us – weak, helpless, ungodly, and without hope.  And He came to Earth and died for us.  He “died for the ungodly.”

We are all, in our natural state, ungodly.  So we could even go so far as to substitute our names at the end of verse 6: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for (your name here).”  Looking at the verse like that maybe makes it a little more personal.

Jesus Christ died for us.  There is no greater truth in the world than that.  He loved us when were “at enmity” with Him.  He loved us enough, even in our weak and sinful condition, to die for us.  Jesus Christ died for us.  Let us never forget that fact and let us never take it for granted.  Let us be thankful for that every single day of our lives.  Jesus Christ died for us!