Comprehending commonly involves seeing beyond the immediate. When we assume that present hardships have no meaning beyond immediate experiences, we are blind. Often quick impressions hide astounding realities!
This unnamed psalmist wanted to tell the world about the God of Israel. He saw something that staggered his imagination. Long before the Israelites began life in their homeland, they endured severe hardship. Their slavery in Egypt was horrible. Their escape through the sea by foot was unthinkable. Their wilderness wandering was filled with challenges, death, and undesirable hardship. Their initial battles in Canaan entailed hardships and grief.
Yet, in all this the psalmist saw incredible divine blessing. He saw divine purposes that could not be thwarted by human weaknesses. He saw a divine protection, a testing, a controlling, and hardships that brought the unimaginable blessings.
He was motivated to keep his vows made on distressed occasions. God deserved those vows! His best was not good enough for God!
“In my sinfulness I begged for God’s help! I knew what I was—I did not try to hide it from God! God knew what I was! God responded to me beyond my imagination because I was honest with Him—not because I pretended to be faultless! What a God!”
We begin to see how incredible God is when we begin to see and admit how filled with flaws we are. Our salvation is not found in a pretended goodness, but in an honest acknowledgement of our inexcusable flaws. Do we truly think we can hide our flaws with a veneer of goodness?
Salvation is in honesty about self with self.
Link to other Writings of David Chadwell