August 28, 2019
Author: Pastor Gordon Cook
August 28, 2019
Psalm 46
God is a God of truth. This is important to remind ourselves in this postmodern age, when people tell us that there are no absolutes. It doesn’t matter what you believe. What I believe, I believe. What you believe, you believe. What’s true for me is different than what’s true for you. So, we can understand why the nation is going through a massive identity crisis. Never before in the history of our country have we seen anything like this. People are confused; they don’t know who they are. The world is in chaos.
Even in this psalm there are cataclysmic judgments taking place. What is the ballast for the psalmist to hold on to during these upheavals? Verse 10, “Be still and know that I am God.” For the Christian, there is probably no greater truth to provide ballast in the boat than the doctrine of God. Tozer says, “There is no more important thing to know about a man than what he thinks about God.”
When we come to pray what attributes are vital to keep in mind? Tozer says, “Our God is a God of a thousand attributes.” When we come to the throne of grace, which attributes do we focus on? Mercy, sovereignty, faithfulness, goodness, immutability, and especially grace.
Perhaps the most important attribute when it comes to prayer and the Christian life is grace. Astounding grace! He’s called the God of grace. John 1: 17, “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”. I remember someone saying, “Grace has a face” – in Jesus Christ. No everyone on earth experiences His grace, this special grace, but all experience common grace – the sun that shines, the rain that falls, food on the table.
Where can we go in our Bibles to see God’s special grace, His saving grace? Any conversion story, whether Matthew the tax collector, blind Bartimaeus, or Zacchaeus. The epistles are also a good place to go, for example Ephesians 1; Romans 8. Throughout the Scripture we often hear about the doctrines of grace. Total depravity – we have a dire need of grace, limited atonement, unconditional election – what Scott Meadows calls astounding grace, effectual calling – irresistible grace, and preserving grace. We can’t live the Christian life without grace.
John Owen illustrates keeping, or preserving grace, as a living spark in an ocean of water. What keeps us day after day in temptations, trials and difficulties? God’s grace.
BACK