Properly, according to Psalm 86, our posture before the Lord should always be to call on Him to hear us and to recognize that we are “poor and needy,” asking Him to “guard our lives” (verses 1-2). We need His salvation and mercy. If we ever are to experience real joy, it will come from Him – other forms of joy are essentially temporary - cheap substitutes - that cannot satisfy. Why? Because our God abounds in “forgiveness, goodness, and mercy,” and “in the day of our trouble, He answers our call for mercy” (verses 5-6). What is it – if not a joy – to know and experience God’s mercy and forgiveness? David tells us that no one is like God, Who is great and does marvelous deeds; “no deeds can compare with His” (verse 8). “He alone is God” (verse 10), thus He alone is worthy of our worship and our praise. Prophetically, David points ahead to the messianic kingdom of Christ when he says that “all the nations He has made will come and worship before Him – bringing glory to His name” (verse 9). No one under the sun has ever been – or will ever be - able to achieve that, which demonstrates the absolute power and majesty of our God.
Now in Amos 5, we see the prophet’s lament for the fallen state of “virgin Israel – never to rise again” (verses 1-3). Amos warns that, apart from her Messiah, Israel will never again attain the glory that once was hers. Three times in the next section, the prophet Amos equated life with “seeking after God” and “seeking good” (i.e., by trusting in Him; 5:4-14). Here in his message, he judged Israel for “turning justice into bitterness and trampling on the poor” (verses 7-11). In verses 18-20, Amos states, “Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD” (verse 18). The Israelites falsely believed that God would bring in the day of the LORD as a judgment against Israel’s enemies, but they hadn’t reckoned on the possibility that they would be judged along with their enemies. “It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear” (verse 19). Where is the advantage in that? Finally, in verses 21-27, God tells Israel – point-blank – “I hate – I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies; even though you bring me burnt offerings, I will not accept them” (verses 21-22). God says – through Amos – if Israel is to avoid certain judgment, they will have to repent: “Let justice roll on like a river; righteousness like a never-failing stream” (verse 24). For their idolatry, God promises to “send them into exile” (verse 27).
In Romans 4:1-15, Paul argues that justification before God is dependent exclusively on faith in Christ and has nothing to do with works or wages. We cannot earn it. It is God’s gift and must be accepted (i.e., received) as such; it can never be merited. Paul cites the example of Abraham, whose credit before God was based on his earlier belief in God – not on the work of his circumcision – which came later. Paul says that “faith means nothing” to those who are relying on their works of obedience to the law because no one can keep the law which only brings wrath (verse 15). We often see this today among people who think they are “good,” but they repudiate the “faith” that God requires (i.e., they refuse to believe what God says and fail to trust Him alone). But God has the power to do what He promised, and righteousness is credited to those who believe in Him (verses 21-24). What’s not to understand about God’s point-blank method?
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