{"id":1278,"date":"2008-05-07T20:22:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-07T20:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worshipunrated.com\/?p=1278"},"modified":"2008-05-07T20:22:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-07T20:22:00","slug":"a-portrait-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/2008\/05\/07\/a-portrait-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"A Portrait of Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the neatest Psalms I’ve read is Psalm 36. For some reason there was this urging need to read this particular Psalm yesterday. Check this out:<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
“Transgression speaks to the ungodly in his heart;<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>There is no fear of God before his eyes.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
For it flatters him in his own eyes<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
He plans wickedness upon his bed;<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>He sets himself on a path that is not good;
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>He does not despise evil.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>Your judgments are like the great deep
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O GOD!<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>Your wings.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
For with You is the fountain of life;<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>In Your light we see light.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Let not the foot of pride come upon me,<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
There the doers of iniquity have fallen;<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span>They have been thrust down and cannot rise.”<\/span>
<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Isn’t this neat? You can see a picture of grace in the making, the need for salvation because of our sin.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
In the first verse I read how desire strikes… within my heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Sin… I fall because for that moment I no longer fear God. I don’t think of Him. I think of myself, my pleasure. The sin looks good, flatters me and tempts me to do it more… it speaks to me. But even though it brings pleasure it brings pain. I like it, I hate it. Every time I do it I know it’s wrong but it’s just so pleasing. I can’t let anyone know. I’ll lie to cover it up. My wisdom begins to fail me because all I can think about it that sin, that one moment of pleasure that bites me at the end. When I go to bed, I lay down and think of how tomorrow I can do it again without getting caught. I can only think about it and nothing else. I’m headed down a destructive path. I know I will get caught, but it’s too late… it has caught me. SAVE ME!!! Please save me…<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
God’s love doesn’t end. We can’t see the end of His love just like we can’t see the end of the universe. His faithfulness never stops! It keeps going! God’s goodness, His righteousness cannot be moved like a mountain stands majestically and unwavering against any storm. God’s judgments look deep into my heart… He knows my heart… He sees where this all started within me. And yet, He doesn’t destroy me because of my evil. He is good! His love and the kindness He shows me because of His love for me is precious, something to be held dear in my heart. I can take refuge in Him! I need to be saved. God can save me!! The more of Him I know the more my heart begins to change, the more His delights fill my heart, the more His delights become mine. There is LIFE with God!!! Because of His light I can see… I can see…<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
God please don’t let me fall! Continue to show yourself to me! Show me your grace and love! Show me the WAY!! My pride can ruin me. May I always fear You.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the neatest Psalms I’ve read is Psalm 36. For some reason there was this urging need to read this particular Psalm yesterday. Check this out: “Transgression speaks to the ungodly in his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes Concerning the discovery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natestephan.com\/worshipunrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}