DAILY DEVOTIONS
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"Honoring God in the Morning"
The great turning point
Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; and for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies. Psalms 106:44-45 (NKJV)
Psalm 106 begins as a record of Israel's wrongs. In verse after verse, we read how God's chosen people sinned and strayed from Him. It's a humbling history of how they failed at every twist and turn on the path the Lord put them on. From provoking Him to anger in Egypt to complaining in the wilderness, they always seemed to do the wrong thing.
Fortunately, the Psalm doesn't end on that note. There's a turn that takes place in verses 44 and 45. Focus shifts from the multitude of Israel's sins to the multitude of God's mercies. And it's here, in the midst of God's mercies, that hope erupts. At this point, the Psalm's tone changes from a lament to a celebration of praise.
Notice that God's Word doesn't deny the reality of Israel's sin but fully acknowledges it. However, it doesn't end there, it declares there is something far greater and bigger that trumps it…God's mercy, and at the end of the day this is what ultimately matters.
We need to remember that the great turning point in life, whether it's Israel's sin or our own, is the mercy of the Lord. No matter how humbling the history of wrongs, no matter how deep the dive into depravity, the mercy of God is able to turn the most heart-wrenching lament into a heartfelt celebration of praise.
Freedom from our sin can't come from covering it up or pretending it doesn't exist. It has to happen through acknowledging and confessing it and trusting that the multitude of our wrongs finds a complete covering in the multitude of God's mercies.
Father, may we always seek forgiveness and refuge in the multitude of Your mercies...and remember that your mercy is the great turning point in our lives.
Think about it…
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
