The Bible reading in the Sunday service yesterday was taken from Psalm 18.
Psalm 18:28-36 (NKJV)
28 For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
31 For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.
On the same day, Chambers said in my devotional reading, “Jesus is not just beginning to save us— He has already saved us completely. It is an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.”
“I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. “
I know that Chambers was talking about the saving grace. Jesus’ work in saving us is a complete mission; it’s an insult to Him if we ask Him to do something He has already done.
When my heart grows weary, and I can’t seem to stop crying, I was reminded that I’m actually insulting God to feel this way. His work in Christ is complete – He has already saved us completely. I know it’s the saving grace Chambers talked about. But what about my worries? If God has saved me from eternal death, wouldn’t He save me from other things too? What kind of burden, struggle, fear, that would go beyond having eternal separation with God? And if God has done His work to make sure I’m forever with Him, what other things should worry me? It’s an insult to Him if we ask Him to do something He has already done. It’s an insult to Him when I keep using my self-effort and don’t lower down myself in humbleness, confessing that He alone is my Savior in all my troubles.
The Lord will light my darkness,
By Him alone, I will be able to leap over this wall
His way is perfect, for He alone is God,
His promises are proven – I don’t need to have any doubt
He is my Shield, my Rock, my Strength,
And in Him alone,
I would put my trust.
This road is not easy to tread,
But I trust in Him
And He makes my way perfect.
He has given me the shield of His salvation;
His right hand has held me up,
His gentleness has made me great.
So I will sing the song we sang at the end of service yesterday… when I can’t see anything but darkness and my world seems to falling down, I will keep trusting in God, who will light my darkness, who will make me able to leap over this wall.
O Thou God of all, hear us when we call,
Help us one and all by Thy grace;
When the battle’s done, and the vict’ry’s won,
May we wear the crown before Thy face.
Rouse, then, soldiers, rally round the banner,
Ready, steady, pass the word along;
Onward, forward, shout aloud, “Hosanna!”
Christ is Captain of the mighty throng.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:31-32 (NKJV)
