She Shares Truth: Psalm 38

{Today I am joining a community of women dedicated to seeking the Lord together through studying God’s Word daily to share thoughts on Pslam 38 as part of our lent series. I have been following along with #SheReadsTruth since day number 2 and have been so blessed by all that God has done in and through this community.}
shesharestruth

Psalm 38
A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering

He was a man after God’s own heart.
After God’s own heart…oh that those words could be said of my life.
And I think that somehow David, this man of God, must have always been rejoicing, even in his pain. He must not have struggled to believe the good promises of God. He must have been able to easily rise above the pain and the trouble that plauged his life.

“For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.”

Psalm 38:4

Yet in the Psalms we see just the opposite.
He struggled greatly.
He waged valient wars…and not just on the battlefield, but within his own heart and mind. Battling to keep believing the goodness of God. Battling to keep seeking God’s face in the midst of pain.

“But for you, O Lord, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.”

Psalm 38:15

Sisters, I think we so often fall prey to the idea that strong faith means instant stregnth or unshakable faith. But sisters, strong faith means battling strong to keep acting on the promises of God in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations.

Battling with your mind and in your mind, no matter what “logic” you mind is shouting.
Battling the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s Word, no matter how convincing those lies are.
Battling sin with honesty about our brokenness and God’s goodness.
Battling pride with confession before God with full confidence in His great forgiveness.

“I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.”

Psalm 38:18

And confessing our sin should always lead the same place it led David…rejoicing.

Confessing our sins doesn’t lead to or condemnation or shame….it leads to rejoicing. Rejoicing in the Lord’s salvation.

Because that’s the beauty of our brokenness.
We need saving, but we have been saved.
We need forgiving, but we have been forgiven.

So let our hearts assume the humble stance of confession before the Lord…not just during lent, but every day of our lives. And before we even rise from our knees, let the joy of our salvation bring us to rejoicing.

“Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!”

Psalm 38:22

Asking for forgiveness, recognizes the fact that He is able to forgive.
But sisters, He is not just able, He is willing and eager to forgive.
So let us come with humility and leave with rejoicing.

Rejoicing in forgiveness.
Rejoicing in grace.
Rejoicing in salvation.
Rejoicing in Him.

Be blessed
<3

{If you want to read more of my story with understanding God’s grace and forgiveness, read here and here.}

What I Needed to Hear

I generally consider myself a gospel-centered person. All-in-all, I feel like I have a pretty decent understanding of grace….maybe that in and of itself is the problem.


Either way, when’s sat down to the (yesterday’s and today’s) #shereadstruth study this afternoon, grace smacked me in the face!

See, I have been really, really struggling to get my quiet time in over the past few weeks. I maybe sit down with my journal once or twice a week to really dig in. I know that’s not enough! But I have been allowing this slacking to cause me to feel guilty, to deny that there is any problem in my heart, and to actually keep me from drawing close to the Lord.

How messed up is that?

Well, I sat down and read the words pictured above, and the guilt washed away.

I needed this reminder.
God loves me at my worst.
He died for me when I hated Him.
He offered up His Son to take my punishment.

Then He took the righteousness of His perfect, sinless Son Jesus and gave it to ME!
Ladies, do we get this? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and asked Him to save and forgive you, then…

When God looks at you He sees all the glory and perfection of Jesus Christ!

Ladies, I don’t know about you, but I have such a hard time fathoming this sometimes. But it is glorious isn’t it? There is nothing that we can do that will change our position before God. Jesus secured that for us on the cross.

Wow.

We serve a good God.

I was reminded today, that my understanding of grace is far from perfect. I was reminded that I need to allow myself to daily be washed in this truth. I need to pour this truth into my heart moment by moment and let it affect every area of my life.

How do you remind yourself of grace? Do you struggle to believe that God views you as He does? How can I pray for you in this?

Be blessed,
Alesha

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