Devotion for Easter Tuesday, 26 April 2011 Anno Domini

Devotion for Easter Tuesday, 26 April 2011 Anno Domini
1 I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. 9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. (Psalms 30:1-12)

“I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.” How often are we made low by the tongues and blows of our enemy, and we think all is lost; but it is the patience of the saints to wait upon the Hand of the Lord in all our trials. He will always bring things right. Though we may be hard pressed by the foe and seemingly conquered, the Lord will surely lift you up out of the mire and place your feet on solid ground. He will not allow the enemy of the saints to rejoice for very long at a presumed victory. Suddenly, they discover that they have not fared well and the saint is lifted up.

“O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.” Crying out to the Lord is not done meekly and in low tones. We must unashamedly call upon Him when the conflict becomes too bold. As Peter, when he was bade to walk upon the sea and saw the wind boisterous, began to sink into the depths. He had no leisure for sophisticated words and terms in prayer. He cared not how the prayer sounded to his companions in the boat, but he was concerned for his own survival. At such a time, nothing else matters but a desperate prayer. Christ was his only hope – just as He is OUR only hope. He cried out a three-word prayer, “LORD, save me!” The Christian life is not comprised of smooth seas and gentle breezes. Often we must confront great dangers with faith and courage. But the battle belongs to the LORD and He often reminds us of that need to call upon His name even in urgency.

“O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” The moment of our birth, our lives begin a march toward death. We are born as good as dead, for without an intervention, death is a certainty to all men. But there remains to us, by the unmerited Grace of God, an intervention that will spare our lives from eternal death. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” (Col 2:13). All who know not the Grace of God are already dead in their sins, but He has given all who call upon His Name the great blessing of eternal life through the grace of Jesus Christ.
“Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.” Yes, the Christian has cause to sing! Cause, because of the joy he has attained in his salvation, and joy in the act of singing those praises at the remembrance of the goodness and mercy of the LORD.
“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Here, we have one of the most beautiful passages in Scripture! First, the anger of the Lord toward His people is not a withering anger – it is the kind of anger a loving father feels for an erring child. It looms large to us, but passes over in a moment. Our walk in this world is very like a walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. We face great sorrows, but also are blessed with the certain knowledge that, to the People of God, death is not real, but only a ‘shadow’. We have ever with us as a comfort the Lily of the Valleys (note the plural form from SS 2:1). And we have above us the Bright and Morning Star to be a star of promise of the coming Day Star! It broods over our heads all through the night of our walk, and is the last star of heaven to disappear as the Day Star arises. Just as the tears of sorrow the disciples shed during the long night while Christ was in the Tomb, so may our tears be. However, when the night is past, and the morning begins to dawn, we discover that our tears were not warranted. The joy of daybreak consumes us!
“And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.” When we most believe that we are doing well by our own works, God will remind us that our works have not profited. Pride of position will lead to dismal failure. It is the work of Christ IN us that we must covet. “LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.” The favor of God is always greater than His anger. His anger is temporary, but His favor is forever. God cannot look upon a proud look, or a sinful heart. He turns His face away, and we are troubled. “I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.” Sin has separated us from our Fountainhead of Life. But we repent in earnest, seek His face, and He will hear us and restore us to His precious favor.
“What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?” No, our blood also becomes dust in the grave. Our blood cannot avail. But there is a saving blood that endures eternally – the Blood of Jesus Christ shed for us!
“Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.” The moment this prayer is uttered, mercy begins to flow down to us. When I was a little child, I remember telling my father not to help me when I undertook some project which was clearly beyond my ability to complete. I wanted to prove that I was grown up enough to perform it without his assistance. When I came near to ruining the whole affair, I meekly went to my father and asked, “Dad, could you help me complete this?” My father never once said “No,” but smiled and rolled up his sleeves to help me. God has a better Father Heart than any earthly father is able to have.
“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” He does all things well including reverses our sorrows, our mourning, and sad countenance into joyful dancing and gladness.
“To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.” God will loan us glory in our dark despair. He will gladden our hearts to the point that they cannot be silent. They will burst out in praise and singing to the Lord who made us. How long does David say he will give thanks? FOREVER! Not for the simple years of a man’s life, but FOREVER – both on earth, and in Heaven! We can merit no mercy from God, but He grants us ‘unmerited’ Grace and Mercy which makes us to know that we may always flee to Him in all our struggles. Can you do this today, my friend? Perhaps you need to draw nearer to Him today!