Yesterday, the Lord greatly encouraged me through his Word in the passages that were part of my scheduled Bible reading for the day. It was so encouraging to me that I thought I needed to share it.
First, I was reading in Psalm 86, and it was easy to identify with David’s heart in the Psalm. I’m not facing personal enemies like David was, but I do find my heart tending to be fearful of the challenges that lay before us in starting a church. David said, “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours” (vv. 8-9), and I believe that too. I also believe that because God is merciful and gracious and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness that he will turn to me, be gracious to me, and give me strength as his servant (vv. 15-16). Still, like David, I find myself asking God, “show me a sign of your favor” (v.17), even though he has done this in the past, time and time again. Whether it’s getting word on the house we made an offer on or finding some people that would want to be part of the church we’re working to start, I have to admit that I desire to see continuing evidences of God’s favor on us.
Then I went to the other part of my reading, Exodus 30-34. Again, the challenges we face are minimal compared to the challenge Moses faced in leading the stubborn, unbelieving, and rebellious children of Israel to the Promised Land, but I can relate to Moses’ prayers to God in the face of these struggles. Moses reminded himself that God had told him that he had found favor in his sight (33:12), but he still asked God to continue to grant him favor (v. 13). He grounded this request in a desire to see God’s ways and to know God. That’s a good word for me. My conviction of God’s favor in my life doesn’t depend on circumstances but on my knowledge of God’s faithful and gracious character.
In particular, it has been my prayer for a long time that God would not send us to any place where his presence would not go with us, just like Moses asked of the Lord (v. 15). I’m sure, like Moses, that the only way it can be known that we have God’s favor is by his obvious presence with us (v. 16). I truly believe that this is a prayer that God answers in the positive just as he answered Moses, assuring him of his presence, his favor, and his personal knowledge of Moses (v. 17). My response to this assurance echoes Moses’ response—a desire to see God’s glory.
I don’t expect to receive the kind of vision of God’s glory that Moses experienced, but I’m blessed to be able to read what Moses saw and heard. Moses watched a magnificent display of God’s glory passing before him, but the heart of God’s display of his glory to Moses was in his declaration of his character (34:6-7). The Lord is the covenant-keeping God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (vv. 6-7). I can receive the truth of this declaration just as much as Moses did, and frankly I see its expression even more clearly than Moses as I read about Jesus Christ and his work in the New Testament.
In my self-righteousness, I want to assure myself of God’s favor and presence by being perfect, and that will never be possible in this life. I can truly have confidence in God’s favor and presence, however, because I know he is gracious and merciful, and he is faithful to keep his word in the new covenant through Jesus Christ that assures me of his favor and presence (v. 10). What more do I need than this knowledge of God’s glorious and gracious character? Worship and expression of dependence on him is the appropriate response (vv. 8-9). I know God has set his grace and favor on me because I’m united to Jesus Christ, and I know his presence is with me because the Holy Spirit indwells me. I know God will continue to be gracious, merciful, and faithful because I know what he is like through what I read in his Word. I will rest in this and expect to see demonstrations of God’s glorious character and blessing in our lives and in this effort to start a church, not because of our own worthiness but because of the worth of Jesus our Redeemer. I am convinced through Jesus Christ that the Lord is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Psa. 86:15 & Exo. 33:6). He’s certainly with us, and his favor is certainly on us through Christ our Savior.
