Scripture Nugget 5.17.2017
Scripture Read Psalms 57-59
Nugget Psalm 57:1-3, 5, 11; Psalm 58:10-11; Psalm 60:1-2, 6-7, 9-10, 14-17
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by. I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample on me. God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness. … Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. ... Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. ... The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. People will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’…Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who work evil; from the bloodthirsty save me. … Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with shard words on their lips -for ‘Who,’ they think, ‘will hear us?’ … O my strength, I will watch for you; for you, O God, are my fortress. My God in his steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. … Each evening they comeback, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill. But I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.”
Devotional Thought: Great assurance in God is necessary to cry for mercy for one self while destruction for the wicked. Great assurance comes from faith in God’s grace; grace offered to all, available to all. Grace that I/you have received and grace that we are responsible to share. Always remembering that grace is from God, nothing we have manufactured ourselves. The only way this statement; “the righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked,” even makes sense is if I/you/we have accepted and attempted to share God’s graced with others. If those who are “wicked” are judged before us and slain to the point of our feet being bathed in blood, and we have not shared Christ with them, then there can be no rejoicing. We are unable to change hard hearts, but the love and grace of God is able! Those who return in the cover of darkness to roam and prowl, steal and destroy need an introduction to God’s love and grace so that they can experience God’s mercy. That is why we must sing aloud of God’s steadfast love in the morning – so those who prowl at night may hear as they slink away. So their hearts may be changed, so they receive Jesus’ righteousness. So they enter into the fortress of God, the Kingdom of God. Then there will be rejoicing!