So, its been awhile and I could list numerous excuses but considering I never made a statement to post at a certain interval I will just get to the post. I hope the Lord uses this revelation to renew your mind as much as He did mine.
While upon a cemetary hill in Coosa County, Alabama I was reading the Word while sitting in my grandfather's golf cart and the Sovereign Lord directed me to Psalm 116. And the verses that stuck out to me were the following:
12 What shall I render to the LORD
for all His benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all His people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of His saints.
Psalm 116:12-15
If you ask the question of verse 12 to yourself and acknowledge that when you speak of what you can give the Lord as a wicked and depraved chief of sinners you should only have one immediate response. NOTHING! And if you dont believe you are a wicked and depraved chief of sinners then you should go read 1 Timothy 1:15 and Isaiah 6:5 and check to see if your life lines up with either Paul the Apostle of Isaiah the Prophet when it comes to "righteous acts". So, back to the question of what you can, as a sinner, render to the Lord for His blessing upon you. Although "nothing" seems a holy and true response, in the sense that you or I cannot repay God for His lovingkindness or mercy or grace or faithfulness or justice or love. But the Psalmist says in the next verse:
"I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD,
I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people."
The act of lifting up "the cup of salvation", calling "on the Name of the LORD" and paying vows "in the presence of His people" is the act of giving glory to God through offering thanksgiving for His redemptive gift (the cup), unashamed proclamation of His all-powerful Name, and to keep the commitments of the everlasting covenant in reverence to God and in view of His Church!
Also, when we truly experience the Gospel it breaks us free from any bond of action or works and allows us to proclaim the only action and work that can save: Jesus' Atoning Death, Burial and Resurrection!
But the next part really transformed my thinking of the previous verses because I saw an ambigious meaning a rather significant word in the Christian faith. The Psalmist says:
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." Psalm 116:15
This verse is probably most commonly known as the 'martyrdom promise' and I know has been the theme verse for Voice of the Martyrs. But although actual physical martyrdom is "precious in the sight of the LORD" (Rev. 6:9-10) I realized that the call to die for the LORD is universal to all "His saints". So, this verse isn't exclusive of those who do not die a martyr's death, or even those whose time hasn't come but are still upon the earth; but for those who do as Jesus says:
"And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to
them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will
save it." Mark 9:34-35
them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will
save it." Mark 9:34-35
It is the daily "taking up our cross" and losing our life for His sake and the gospel's that is "precious in the sight of the LORD"! For this is truly rendering God what He deserves because by His grace, we are "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6:11) and "it is no longer (we) who live, but Christ who lives in (us)." (Gal. 2:20b) For how can we as sinners give glory to God? Only to allow the all-perfect Christ shine through us, by rich grace!
Therefore, go and be "precious in the sight of the LORD" and render unto him "a living sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1) by crucifying your flesh and losing your life for the sake of Christ and His Gospel!
By Grace Alone,
A fellow martyr
