Joy

It can be said that today, I am literally at the edge of everything. Exams are starting tomorrow, I am feeling so tired, I slept so much and forgo-ed my studies for the day, I skipped meals and took friendships for granted, I stumbled in my walk, and in the process caused others to stumble as well. Most of the time, I chose myself, over God. Even when things are going well, I manage to mess it up.

But I woke up, not feeling the weight of all these upon my shoulders, I woke up, with a sense of peace and a Psalm in my head. It is not my own strength that lifted these things off me. It is by grace that I,with all my imperfections am still secure. He said that He will change me for His glory, and that for change to happen, repentance must come. I share with you now the Psalm that I have never seen before this.

Psalm 7

¹ 

LORD my God, I take refuge in you; 

   save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
² or they will tear me apart like a lion
   and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

 ³ LORD my God, if I have done this
   and there is guilt on my hands—
⁴ if I have repaid my ally with evil
   or without cause have robbed my foe—
⁵ then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
   let him trample my life to the ground
   and make me sleep in the dust.^[c]

 ⁶ Arise, LORD, in your anger;
   rise up against the rage of my enemies.
   Awake, my God; decree justice.
⁷ Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
   while you sit enthroned over them on high.
 ⁸ Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
   according to my integrity, O Most High.
⁹ Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
   and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
   who probes minds and hearts.

 ¹⁰ My shield^[d] is God Most High,
   who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
   a God who displays his wrath every day.
¹² If he does not relent,
   he^[e] will sharpen his sword;
   he will bend and string his bow.
¹³ He has prepared his deadly weapons;
   he makes ready his flaming arrows.

 ¹⁴ Whoever is pregnant with evil
   conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
¹⁵ Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
   falls into the pit they have made.
¹⁶ The trouble they cause recoils on them;
   their violence comes down on their own heads.

 ¹⁷ I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
   I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.

The message I take from this is threefold. v12-v16 Firstly, nothing wrong can be justified in God's eye, and nothing evil will go unpunished. IF you have done wrong, God knows and will display His wrath. Keep in mind that this is from a position where one KNOWS better, and yet does not repent (v12).

But at the same time, God loves righteous people and will bring an end to wickedness and make them secure (v9). God saves the upright in heart (v10). So here it is, its not a matter of whether we can earn our love from God, that is already given, but the message here is that God is not a PASSIVE God that stands by idly, but a RIGHTEOUS and HOLY God that transforms and changes us so that we might do greater things.

Lastly, I take refuge in the Lord my God (v1). There are always situations we find ourselves in and realise that we cannot depend on ourselves any more, because we end up failing some point down the road. Stubborn as I am in always doing that, I hope to bring this verse into my life as I keep on learning to listen to Him. v10 - My Shield is God Most High. No others above Him.

May the joy of the Lord be my strength, because that is the only joy I need, not any other.