Submit to Sovereign God

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Monday, March 30, 2009
Devotions: Ps 31, 35; Jer 24:1-10; Rom 9:19-33; Jn 9:1-17

Lord, my Refuge, lead me out of the snares laid before me, and into Your goodness. Into Your hand I commit my spirit, my faithful Redeemer. Be gracious to me, Lord; I am wasted and grieving. I am the scorn of my adversaries and an object of dread to my acquaintances. Let Your face shine on Your servant; save me in Your steadfast love. God has heard and answered my call for help. I will be strong and take courage, and wait upon YHWH! God will contend for me; He will put my enemies to shame. Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness, and I will sing Your praises all the day long.

Lord, my Refuge, lead me out of the snares laid before me, and into Your goodness. Into Your hand I commit my spirit, my faithful Redeemer. Be gracious to me, Lord; I am wasted and grieving. I am the scorn of my adversaries and an object of dread to my acquaintances. Let Your face shine on Your servant; save me in Your steadfast love. God has heard and answered my call for help. I will be strong and take courage, and wait upon YHWH! God will contend for me; He will put my enemies to shame. Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness, and I will sing Your praises all the day long.

When Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, had taken Judah’s king, princes and craftsmen into exile, Jeremiah had a vision: two bowls of figs, one very good and one very bad. The good figs represented those who went into exile among the Chaldeans—whom God would care for and restore in His time. The bad figs represented those who remained in Judea and Jerusalem, and those who fled to Egypt. Against these, God would send sword, famine and pestilence, until they would be utterly destroyed from the land YHWH had given them and their fathers.

Paul expressed his sorrow on behalf of the Jews, God’s elect, to whom belonged sonship, glory, Torah, the covenants, worship, and divine promises—and they are the kin of the patriarchs and of Jesus Himself! It is the children of God’s promise, not of Abraham’s physical lineage, who are truly God’s people. Election is God’s sovereign choice. And He has chosen from among both Jews and Gentiles—and they are saved by faith, not by law or by works.

Jesus and His disciples came upon a man born blind. Jesus undertook to heal the man, saying, ‘We must work while we can; I Am the Light of the world.’ He made mud with His saliva and anointed the man’s eyes, and sent him to wash away the mud in the pool of Siloam. The man complied, and received his sight! Others who knew the man as a blind beggar questioned the man, who told them what had happened, but didn’t know where his Healer was. Next, the man was questioned by the Pharisees—they were divided about Jesus, since He had healed a man born blind—but had done so on the Sabbath, to which they objected. The man answered their questions about Jesus’ identity: ‘He is a prophet.’