The Joy of Glory

2 Samuel 22:26-28 (click here)
With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. (2 Samuel 22:26-28)

Reflection
Confession… I love true crime documentaries. Probably a little bit too much.

I’ve actually worried about myself before… wondering, “What horrible part of me does this kind of thing appeal to?” But, after much reflection I actually think I know what it is deep down in my soul that is attracted to this particular genre… and what is it?

A desire for justice.

I truly believe that deep down we all have a desire for justice to be done, even though that desire often gets so twisted can scarcely be considered decent judges of what justice actually looks like.

Still… we all want to see things made right… especially things that concern us! We want justice done for us! Well… I have good news! Our God is a God of perfect justice!

In 2 Samuel 22, David sings of the perfect justice of our God and how he always does what is right… what is fair… what is just! “With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.”

Because of this good news, we never have to seek revenge, we never have to settle the score, and we don’t have to worry that people will get away with the evil they have done to us! This world is not a true crime documentary that ends with the villain still at large or with the innocent still suffering. No. This world ends with perfect justice!

What good news!

Except… concerning us! What happens when justice is done, not for us, but to us?! All of a sudden it is bad news that our God is a God of perfect justice.

I’m totally ok with him executing justice on everyone else… but not on me. Because, at the end of the day I know I have not always been merciful, I am by no means blameless, nor have I been perfectly pure and humble. But, I have been crooked and haughty. The just judgment of God that I wish upon the rest of the world should rightly fall on me.

And it will… unless someone takes my place. Who could take my place? Is there anyone who has no sin of their own so that they do not deserve the judgment of God? Is there anyone like that who can stand in the place of sinners?

God himself took on flesh that he might maintain his justice and pour out his righteous wrath upon my sin, but he took my sin on himself and served as my substitute so that I might be justified and go free! At the cross, through Jesus Christ, God was both just and the justifier (Romans 3:23-26)!

The cross makes the justice of God nothing but good news! Because, not only does his justice mean he will deal with all the evil in the world, but it also means that he has dealt with all the evil in me and now I am free!

My desire for justice doesn’t hold a candle to God’s! And that is Gospel good news!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

1 Samuel 2:2-10 (click here)
There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)

Reflection
I was a diamond expert. At least for a few months of my life.

In 2003, I was on the hunt for the perfect diamond so that I might propose to Holly. I found myself in need of one of those little rocks that cost so stinking much… and why the high price?

To be certain, some of the expense can be credited to the economical law of supply and demand. Diamonds are rare and lots of people want them, thus they’re more expensive. But, I soon discovered there was more to it than that, for, not all diamonds are created equal. The price depends on various attributes:  carat, cut, color and clarity.

The greater, the more beautiful the attributes… the higher the value, because there is no other rock like that one.

Greater still, here is the foundational reality of the universe… “There is no rock like our God.”

Compared with God… all diamonds are but dust. He is in a category unto himself above all other created things. There is nothing like him and none beside him. He is above all, the supreme treasure of the universe! The Bible has a word for this as we clearly see in 1 Samuel 2:2… holy.

God is holy.

In economic terms… he is the rarest of gems… for there is only one of him. he is holy.

In existential terms… he is the highest of beings… all created things were made by him and derive their value from his value. There is none above or beside him… he is holy.

In aesthetic terms… he is the definition of perfection… if the greatness and beauty of his attributes cannot be measured because they go on forever… he is holy.

Rarer, greater, and more beautiful than any diamond is our God… there is no rock like him! I want to be an expert in his greatness, his goodness, his beauty… his glory! I want to know all of his attributes… see every facet… be awed by the one and only, holy God!

And I am in luck… for the glory of his holiness has been put on display everywhere for me to see! All of the creation displays the greatness of his power, the goodness of love, and the beauty of his creativity.

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory (Isaiah 6:3)!” May we see it today! In his world… and his Word… may we see and believe that there is no rock like our God.

He alone is holy.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Judges 2:11-15 (click here)
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. (Judges 2:11-12)

Reflection
There I was. Caught red-handed.

Well ok… I don’t know if the paint on my hand was actually red, but there was no denying I was responsible for every ounce of paint splattered all over myself and the back porch. It basically looked like I had decided to try and juggle the paint can. How did I end up in such a colossal mess? Well, it didn’t happen all at once.

My mother was painting the back porch… I was watching, or playing, or doing whatever I did when I was roughly three-years-old.

She needed to go inside for something and left me alone with strict instructions not to touch anything. Her mistake. It wasn’t long before I was pawing at a screwdriver she’d left lying on the floor. I was just poking at it… no big deal.

Then I was picking it up. Then I was pretending it was a sword. Then I was dropping it… right into the paint can.

No problem… I can fix this… I’ll just reach right into the paint can and pull out the screwdriver. But what’s this? A new problem has developed because now my hand is covered in paint! Well, I’ll just shake it off! When all of a sudden…

Enter the mother!

And one small step of disobedience at a time turned into a slippery slide of rebellion that got all over everything.

This is what happened to Israel at the beginning of the book of Judges. When we read that they “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals,” we mustn’t imagine that happened overnight.

No one wakes up and thinks… today I’ll try idolatry!

No… the slippery slide into that rebellion happens one small step of disobedience at a time. For the people of Israel, it began by not completely clearing the promised land of its former pagan inhabitants as God had told them to do. As a result, they lived surrounded by the gods of other peoples.

These gods became normal to them… and then enticing… and before they knew it… the “paint” of idolatry was splattered all over everything.

This is how it happened to them… and this is how it happens to us… one small step of disobedience at a time. And so we pray today, “God guard our steps! Keep us by your power! Light our way with your word and establish our steps! Bring us all the way home so that you get all the glory!”

“Now to HIM who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,  to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.