Psalm 86:10 "For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone." This verse proclaims God's sovereign majesty—the One Who alone does wondrous things. It is a declaration of His absolute authority, His mighty works, and His exclusive role in the salvation of sinners. In light of sovereign grace, we see here the Gospel of Christ, the Word made flesh, Who bore the weight of our sins upon the cross. These words reflect the very heart of Christ’s suffering, as He gave glory to His Father, just as He did in John 17:1-2, knowing that the Father would bless His completed work on behalf of those for whom He died. As the Lord Jesus hung in agony, forsaken by the Father to suffer and die, He bore the wrath due to the sinners whom the Father had given Him to save. Yet, amid His suffering, His trust in the Father never wavered. Even in His deepest affliction, He proclaimed the Father’s faithfulness in His redemptive work on the cross. Christ’s suffering was not in vain—it was the fulfillment of God’s sovereign purpose, the accomplishment of the wondrous work of redemption for His people. The cross itself was the greatest "wondrous thing" ever accomplished—the perfect redemption and justification of the elect, obtaining their salvation through sovereign grace alone, as affirmed in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 . When Jesus cried, "It is finished" (John 19:30), He echoed the truth of Psalm 86:10 : God alone is great, and He alone accomplishes salvation. In Christ, the sovereign God did what no man could do—He redeemed His people with His blood, (Acts 20:28). The depravity of our flesh leads us to wrongly believe that we must contribute something to our salvation—whether by earning it, achieving it, or maintaining it. Our sinful nature always seeks a share in the glory, rather than submitting to the clear testimony of Scripture that salvation is in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Hebrews 1:3 declares, "When he had by himself purged our sins..." Christ Jesus is the LORD, the Word of God, the Gospel, and the very manifestation of the grace of God. He alone earned and established the perfect righteousness necessary to satisfy the Father's law and justice. Then, laying down His life, He shed His righteous blood unto death, so that God the Father might justify His elect fully and finally at the cross (Romans 5:9-11). Many blindly misread the Word of God, believing that something more is required for salvation beyond what the Lord Jesus Christ has already accomplished. Some claim that a sinner must first experience an inner work of grace that enables him to perceive Christ and call upon Him before he can be saved. Others insist that faith must be exercised first, even asserting that faith is a gift from God, yet holding that until a sinner exercises it, they are not saved. This view subtly shifts the focus from the wondrous work of God to some supposed work of the sinner. But the truth of Scripture is clear: everything necessary for the salvation of a sinner has already been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Faith and coming to Christ are not conditions for salvation but the effects of His finished work. The Lord Jesus Christ alone has done wondrous things in His righteous life and redeeming death, and therefore, all glory belongs to Him. This is why He is called "Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Psalm 86:10 declares the unrivaled greatness of God: "For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone." This truth is the foundation of True Faith—God alone is sovereign, and His works are mighty and marvelous, accomplished through the Lord Jesus Christ alone. In Christ, we see the greatest of these wondrous works: the redemption of sinners through His effectual and finished sacrifice on the cross. No one else could accomplish salvation; no other name can save (Acts 4:12) . From beginning to end, salvation is the work of a sovereign and gracious God Who alone is worthy of our trust, worship, and devotion. Let us, then, rest in His greatness, rejoice in His wondrous grace, and proclaim that He alone is God. May we ever acknowledge that His sovereign hand rules over all in creation, providence, salvation, and condemnation. Therefore, to Him alone belongs all glory, now and forever.

Psalm 51:7 "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Here is a Spirit-inspired prayer of repentance from King David, expressing his deep longing for forgiveness and gracious renewal after his sin with Bathsheba. The imagery of being cleansed with hyssop, a plant used in ancient purification rituals, reflects both the severity of sin and the profound grace of God’s cleansing power through the shed blood unto death of the accepted Sacrifice before the LORD. Pause and consider the significance of true purification before God, and the restoration that comes through His forgiveness, and the hope that even the deepest stains of sin are washed away, leaving the justified sinner pure before Him. David, a man after God's own heart (God having set His heart on him in saving grace- 1 Samuel 13:14 ), was, nonetheless, a miserable sinner who had grievously sinned before the LORD. This prayer was recorded after he had taken Bathsheba, the wife of one of his generals, and then aggravated that sin with murder. To cover up his sin, David put his general in a position where his troops were ordered to withdraw, resulting in the general's death. David believed he had gotten away with the perfect murder and cover-up. Yet, even as dark and sinister as this plot was, we find David, after the LORD pointed him out as THE SINNER , looking nowhere else but to the blood of the Lamb, pleading for mercy and grace. In 2 Samuel 12:9-12, we find the story behind Psalm 51 , where the Lord did not leave David alone. He sent one of His prophets, Nathan, to speak to him about what he had done to Uriah. "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" (2 Samuel 12:13). Before David was aware of the forgiveness of the LORD on his behalf, the prophet assured him that the LORD had put away his sin. Since we know that no sin could be put away until Christ had come and paid the debt, the way David's sin was put away, just like all the Old Testament believers, was by God not charging them with the sin (the non-imputation of their sin- Romans 4:8 ) and having purposed to lay it on the LORD Jesus Christ, the TRUE LAMB SLAIN, when He would come and pay the sin debt of all the elect together at one time, Hebrews 9:15. Why hyssop? Hyssop is a small plant, about 12 to 15 inches tall at its largest point. Some believe it is of the mint family, though it was a bush used in the sacrifices that God required of Israel in the Old Testament. It is mentioned in the Passover feast in Exodus 12, where it was part of the ritual: the blood of the lamb was to be placed on the doorposts and lintels, and God, seeing the blood, would pass over the children of Israel. Could it be that David was thinking of this when he said, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean?” More importantly, it likely pointed forward to the cross of the Lord Jesus. In John 19:29, when our LORD Jesus hung on the cross and was about to lay down His life, it says they filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on hyssop, and offered it to His mouth. After receiving the vinegar, Jesus declared, "It is finished," and then He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Literally, He pillowed His head in submission to the death on the cross that the Father had required of Him as the Substitute of His people. How we need the Spirit of God to turn our hearts and minds away from ourselves to the remedy, as with David, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." Two Key Thoughts There are two thoughts to underscore in this portion of scripture: one negative, and the other positive. David says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." First , note that though sin is put away by the Lord in the court of heaven, the poor sinner may not enjoy the comfort of this in his conscience. This is the negative aspect. We may not always know in our hearts and minds whether the Lord Jesus Christ ever died for us, but we can know that if He did, in God's time, He will cause His Spirit to teach us of our sinfulness. In the meantime we may labor under the weight of our sin until He is pleased to turn our eyes to the Only Remedy, and cause us to cry out for mercy and grace, looking to the LORD Jesus Christ and His shed blood for our only Hope. Second , the positive aspect is the utmost efficacy of the blood sacrifice. "Efficacy" means the power to get the job done. Faith ascribes this power to One Person—the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood that was shed unto death. David did not try to purge himself; he prayed that God would be pleased to purge him, and he was confident that if God did so, "I shall be clean." "I shall" is an expression of certainty because of Whose Blood it is. David looked forward to the time when the LORD Jesus would come to put away his sin once and for all. He says, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Faith’s object—Christ and Him crucified—is the only remedy for the condemned sinner, cleansing him from all iniquity. Yet, even after this cleansing, the soul is left to cry out under the weight of sin, "Wash me..." It is not our tears of repentance that cleanse us, but the precious blood of the Lamb of God that alone can wash the guilty sinner. What a precious word! "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Here is the only cleansing by the blood of Jesus Christ that is whiter than anything our minds or hearts can imagine. Pure because His blood and righteousness make the sinner, for whom Christ died, as Holy and Righteous as God Himself. He is saying, "I shall be whiter than snow." I shall be as free and as pure from the least stain of sin in God's sight as if I had always obeyed. "That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:27).

Psalm 90:12 "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom." Even unconverted sinners know that their days are numbered. Whether they profess to know God or claim to believe His Word, they feel the effects of the fall in their bodies and minds and can see these effects as they age, battle illness, and ultimately face the prospect of death—all consequences of being fallen creatures in Adam. From the moment we are conceived in the womb and born into this world, we are dying and will ultimately die physically at the time appointed by God, the Judge of all. "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee; Thou hast appointed his bounds, that he cannot pass" (Job 14:5). There is no difference regarding the ultimate end of all sinners—whether those whom God, by His electing grace, has redeemed in Christ or those whom God has justly left to condemnation. Both will die physically unless the LORD Jesus comes beforehand at the end of time. "All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked..." (Ecclesiastes 9:2). Sooner or later, we all face the same end in this life. Still, the difference in living forever is WHOLLY and unconditionally by HIM who came, lived, and died for sinners that the Father chose and for whom HE paid the debt, and those in whom the Spirit reveals HIM—Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, Substitute, Advocate, and Representative of HIS people. HE is that sinner's Only and Blessed HOPE. Herein lies the Wisdom of God to whom those chosen, redeemed, and called out sinners apply their hearts. Many apply their hearts to their own wisdom to navigate the seas of their lives, thinking that they are the captains of their fate. But all such application to natural wisdom is futile and of no avail. To apply one's heart to Wisdom is to live one's life through the Spirit of Christ, looking to the LORD Jesus Christ as the Only Hope in the face of sin and death as fallen creatures. "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24). In 1 Corinthians 1:30 , Paul specifies three distinct ways in which the LORD Jesus is the Wisdom of God for those He came to save: He became “their righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” Jesus Christ took their sins upon Himself on the cross so that they might, in return, receive a righteous status or right standing before God (Galatians 3:24). A second way Jesus is the Wisdom of God for His people is by not only justifying them but sanctifying them forever in the holiness of Christ before God. The writer to the Hebrews affirms, "By the which will we are sanctified [set apart to Holiness[ through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). The LORD Jesus is the Wisdom of God for declaring sinners holy in a manner that conforms to God's holiness and justice. Given an eternity, man, in his best wisdom, could never satisfy a Holy God as the LORD Jesus did by His Wisdom and Sacrifice unto death. "By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities" (Isaiah 53:11). Third, Jesus is the Wisdom of God by redeeming each of His elect with His blood and setting them entirely free from sin (Romans 3:23–26) . Only the blood of Jesus Christ could pay, and did pay, the price for the redemption of God's elect, whereby they stand justified forever before God by Christ's work imputed to them when He died (1 Peter 1:18–19) . It's not when they believe that they are justified, but when Christ died. They believe because God justified them at the cross. Wisdom from God through Jesus Christ humbly accepts and embraces that we cannot become righteous, holy, or redeemed by any human means. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on personal obedience. It is by the obedience of Christ unto death, revealed in the heart by Faith. So we are made right with God through Christ, embraced by God-given Faith alone (Romans 3:27-30). “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The word "lost" here means "That which has been marked out for condemnation and death.” This is our lot as a result of Adam’s fall, and all of us must certainly be condemned were it not for Jesus Christ coming and paying the sin debt for His own. Only after His death was the debt paid and sinners justified before God. Until Christ came and paid their debt, even the elect were under sin’s condemnation. "But before Faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the Faith which should afterwards be revealed" (Galatians 3:23). But since the cross, there is therefore now NO condemnation (Romans 8:1). Those who have learned to number their days spend them in pursuit of Christ, God's Wisdom and Goodness in the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). They don’t have to fear the wrath of God when their earthly lives are over because the LORD Jesus has borne it all away. Rather, they live in the Hope of Glory that when He died to pay their debt, though they die physically, they cannot die eternally (John 11:25, 26).

Psalm 109:1-3 "Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; And fought against me without a cause." Looking at this from the perspective of our LORD and His suffering—being hated without cause—we read in verse 1: “ Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise." Some might ask, "If these are Christ's words, why does He refer to God as His God?" The answer lies in Scripture, which shows that Christ, as a man, came to satisfy the law and justice of God the Father. He came to fulfill them so that God might be both Just and Justifier. a Just God and Savior. Thus, these words reflect Christ speaking in His humanity. In Hebrews, 5:8, our LORD is described as having learned obedience: "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." Righteousness, to be imputed, had to be worked out, which is why Christ had to earn it as a man. The law required that righteousness be established through perfect obedience. God could not just look the other way. As our Substitute, Christ had to satisfy His Father as God, though He Himself is God. While He never ceased being Divine, He had to fulfill the requirements of the law as a man, "A body hast thou prepared me" (Hebrews 10:5). In verse 2, it says: "The mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me." This has accurately been interpreted as referring to Christ. The Pharisees spoke many things against Him: they called Him Beelzebub; evil, the son of the devil, a blasphemer, and a Samaritan. These accusations are well documented throughout the God-inspired Scriptures. However, Paul writes in Romans 3:9 : "What then? are we better than they?" This calls for reflection whenever we read about the Pharisees. Jesus Himself declared, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). He was not speaking about outward actions—like tithing down to the last detail of parsley and herbs—but rather having a Righteousness that equals that of God Himself, which could only be through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Substitute for His people. Mere outward acts of religion hold no value before a Holy God. As Isaiah wrote long before their time: “ All of our righteousnesses, are as filthy rags” [Isaiah 64:6]. The psalm continues: "They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause." Many might say, “That’s not me—I don’t hate God.” Yet, Scripture reveals that our very nature is one of enmity toward God. Unless the LORD, by His Spirit, shows us the truth of our lost condition—that I am that sinner—we remain in darkness and blindness. And yet, there is hope. The Scriptures also tell us that when Christ died, He died for sinners. When He reconciled, He reconciled enemies—not friends.

Psalm 40:2,3 "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: Many shall see it, and fear, And shall trust in the LORD." Whatever pit David was speaking of here, we can see how the LORD heard him, brought him out of the miry clay, set him upon a rock, and established his goings. In David's experience, that Rock was Christ. In Christ's experience, that Rock was His Father. He is the one that He came to satisfy. The fact that God was pleased to bring Christ out of that miry clay—that His sufferings were but for a season and a time—reveals the greatness of His work. Once He had laid down His life, God raised Him up from the grave, setting His feet upon a Rock. That Rock was the very Promise of God to receive His Son, and He did! God received Him into glory, where He now lives to intercede on the behalf of those for whom He died. Therefore, His goings have been established. Just like David, that the Lord delivered out of a particular crisis and had his steps established, we see this fulfilled ultimately in the LORD Jesus Christ. Because of the satisfaction of His work, He, too, was delivered. Then we see the rejoicing. We see how this Bondservant patiently waited upon God, how He was brought through His sufferings to glory, and then how rejoicing followed. In verse three, we read, "He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord." Yes, a new song. As we read the Psalms, we recognize that these songs were all written out of David's experience, bringing glory and honor to Christ alone. With regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, what is the new song that He sings, and sings with His people? The new song is the proclamation of His finished work. “Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It”—-redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb. The new song sung throughout eternity as described in the book of Revelation is, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain." Why is it called a new song? Because all these things had to be fulfilled in order for this song to be sung. In Scripture, you have the Old Testament and the New. The Old Testament provides the picture, type, and pattern. The New Testament is the fulfillment. Even here, though in the Old Testament, we see how this was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. For David, it was a new song, written after having suffered and being delivered. Perhaps it even reflects his own testimony—-how he was lost and then found. Through Christ and the Spirit of Christ being in him, David was directed in the writing of these songs that we now read. The book of Psalms is the hymn book of the church— H-I-M book. It's all about Him! This new song that God put in David's mouth describes how Christ Himself rejoices in singing over the very people that the Father has given Him. Having suffered, this new song is one of deliverance. That's why it says that many shall see it. It was not intended for everyone, but many shall see it and will trust in the LORD. Many shall witness Christ’s deliverance and the work that He accomplished as the Faithful Suffering Servant of God. The only way anyone trusts in the Lord is through the work of Grace given to those that Christ came to save. Therefore, they trust in Him.

Psalm 62:8 "Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him:" To trust Him is to confide in, depend upon, and rest wholly in Who Christ is and in His promises. When you think of trust, you think about a person keeping their word. We know Him to be trustworthy, whatever the situation may be. Proverbs 14:26 says, "...fear of the LORD is strong confidence:" This is not a fear of torment but an awe in the knowledge that, if we are His children, nothing can come against us except what He ordains for His Glory, which is for our good in Christ. Whether it be an emergency or a peaceful day, we are to trust Him. So much religion is formality—going through the motions, "Wherefore the LORD said, Forasmuch as this people drew near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men" (Isaiah 29:13). This legalistic fear is taught by false religion. But the LORD calls us to, "pour out your heart before Him." There is a trust that causes us to pour out all we are before Him without pretense. We continually confess who we are as sinners before Him because we know Him as a Merciful God for Christ's sake. "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto Thy Name give glory, for Thy Mercy, and for Thy Truth's sake” (Psalm 115:1). The term, "pour out your heart," is significant because in the Old Testament, drink offerings were poured out before the LORD upon the alter. This prayer is identified as a “pouring out of the heart,” just like the drink offering. It is always connected to the offering—the Sacrifice. God cannot hear a sinner apart from The Sacrifice of His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ. This prayer and confession before the LORD, is a pouring out of the heart before God, laying it open before Him, because of Him and the Sacrifice unto death of His Son, having born the sin away at Calvary. Therefore, we are heard by the Holy God , sinful though we are, because of the Son’s redeeming, justifying death. Additionally, the Spirit of Christ is given to each elect, redeemed sinner to continue making intercession for each one: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).

Psalm 70:4 "Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: and let such as love Thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified." There are two precious states of being, in the mind and in the heart through which the LORD will bring every one of His children. The first is to be lost. You may say, "How is that a blessing?" Well, when you are going through it, it is not easy to be lost, to be exposed, to see your utter helplessness before a Holy God, as a dead body in a grave. When the Holy Spirit opens your blind eyes, you see your own sinfulness and depravity and darkness. Oh, but then comes the second state which is to be found! "I will make darkness Light before them," (Isaiah 42:16) "To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isaiah 42:7) Your dead eyes are opened to see the Light. Christ is revealed by the Holy Spirit and we see, by contrast, our darkness which magnifies the Light, and we know it is Good! "For Thou art my Lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will Lighten my darkness." (2 Samuel 22:29) Lost and found are the two states which every one of the LORD's children will be brought through in their lifetime and in both cases do you know what such a one will declare? "Let God be magnified." I thank God He did not leave me to myself to continue in the darkness of self-righteousness, in the way of death that I was going. The LORD showed me who I was. He showed me that I was lost and caused me to be found by the Only Savior, to be found by the Great Shepherd of the sheep: "Now the God of Peace, that brought again from the dead our LORD Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant," (Hebrews 13:20)

Psalm 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Some say, "You know, I am not a thief!" But, oh, yes you are! We all are. You have robbed God of His glory from the time you came forth from the womb because you came forth speaking lies. We all have. But, if you are the LORD's, He bought you with His precious blood, with His obedient suffering unto death, and He will cause you to see that. He will cause you to see that just going your own way is enough for Him to send you to hell but, "...He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him." (Isaiah 53:5) Now, this peace spoken of is not some subjective peace where people run around trying to feel at peace with God. No, the chastisement is what was required by God that would secure a legal peace by a legal justice before Him. What it would take for God to be just and declare us righteous before Him, what it would take for the price owed for sin to be paid: "And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven." (Colossians 1:20) In Heaven is God the Father and on earth are His elect in the flesh. We were reconciled to God by Christ, by the blood of His cross, which means His death. The chastisement that the children of God deserve, fell upon Him. And, notice: "...with His stripes we are healed." By Christ's obedient suffering unto death we were healed! If someone asked me when I was saved, do you know what I would tell them? I would say, "Some 2,000 years ago, when it pleased God to take my sin and put it to the account of the Savior and take His Righteousness and impute it to this poor sinner's account." I was not even there, I was not even born yet. That shows that Salvation is completely outside of myself, in Christ alone. Outside of anything I do, or did, or didn't do. Outside of anything I think, outside of anything I feel or anything I don't feel. But in time I was brought by His Spirit to see that I was a sinner for whom He died, to see the imputation of Christ's earned Righteousness applied to my account by the Father at the moment of Christ's death on the cross at Calvary. He is my Peace and Rest. We do not have to deal with a God that has to be satisfied again every day by what we do or don't do, it was finished at the cross and in Christ we rest!

Psalm 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the Way Everlasting." When the LORD hides Himself from one of His own it causes great searching of the heart and how we need that heart exercised! Many times we are looking for a reason outside of ourselves as to why God does what He does. How we need these heart searchings that the LORD causes in hiding Himself. Some nights you lay there awake, your mind spinning and turning and there is a fretfulness; there may be fear; there might even be a sense of guilt, and dreadful unbelief. It's like someone taking a stick and churning a pot, and all of the filth coming to the surface. The LORD purposes these things that we might know our heart, but more so to know our need, that apart from the righteousness of the LORD Jesus Christ ALONE, we have no hope. That leads then to expose the sinfulness of sin, lest we ever think that somehow we have outgrown sin, as some preach 'progressive sanctification,' that somehow the heart becomes less and less sinful. Well, for the LORD's children, such is not their thought, and if they ever begin to think that way, God in mercy hides Himself to expose the sinfulness of their sin. The LORD hiding Himself also brings about an earnest longing for Him, and even restless seeking and fervent prayer after Him. We would not even pray were it not that He withholds for a season His presence, hides Himself. Just as water is vital to our survival in the flesh, so is the Water of the Word to the soul. Go for awhile without and pretty soon there develops a thirst. That is what the LORD is pleased to do, as we see in Psalm 42 verse 1, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the Living God:" What it brings us to, dear friend, is that we cannot live without Him. As one writer said of Christ, "His presence is heaven but His absence is hell!" Amen!

Psalm 143:8 "Cause me to hear Thy Lovingkindness in the morning...." How beautiful the sound of Lovingkindness is! But how do we 'hear' Lovingkindness? Only from the lips of God, with His ears, by His Spirit. David's crying out in this Scripture, by the Holy Spirit, to hear the WORD, Christ Jesus our LORD; God's Lovingkindness made manifest on this earth for His sinners, for His glory. He is the WORD Who walked on this earth in the flesh at the precise time ordained in eternity. The WORD incarnate Who lived a life of perfect obedience because not one of His chosen children could. The WORD Who suffered and died on a cross meant for each of us, the Sinless One Who paid the price for our sin, the Just for the unjust. Christ Jesus is the WORD Who shed His blood unto an obedient death, in our place, the ultimate act of love from a Just and Holy God, tender toward His sheep. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy Lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions." (Psalm 51:1) According to God's lovingkindness: His Son, our Dayspring of Life, "Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on High hath visited us..." (Luke 1:78) Thanks be to our God Who sent us His Son, His Lovingkindness!

Job 10 "My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days, That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee. If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me. Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness." In these words the Spirit teaches us that all Scripture speaks of Christ, and here Job stands as a shadow of the Suffering Savior (Luke 24:27) . The anguish of Job typifies the anguish of Christ. The bitterness of Job’s soul foreshadows the bitterness of the sin-Bearer Who entered into the full darkness of sorrow, as the God/Man, the "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3), on behalf of those sinners chosen by His Father that He should come and bear their sin debt. Job’s cry opens the mystery of redemption: the innocent suffering in the place of the guilty. Job’s weary soul mirrors the hour of Gethsemane, where Jesus said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38). The bitterness of soul is the bitterness of the Passover herbs—symbols of affliction fulfilled in Christ. In the garden He drank the cup that none but He could drink, the cup of God's just wrath, and in that cup was all the wormwood and gall of sin. Job’s despair shows the depth of what Christ would bear when He became the Offering for sin. He was without sin, yet made sin for us—not personally sinful, but made a sin offering  (2 Corinthians 5:21). When Job pleads, “Show me wherefore thou contendest with me,” (Job 10:2), it echoes the cry of the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46). Job’s bewilderment foreshadows the holy forsakenness of the Redeemer, but not abandoned by the Father. Job felt condemned, but Christ was truly condemned that His people might never be condemned again (Romans 8:1). The eye of the Father was ever on His Son, even as it was ever on Job, and therefore was not abandoned, but rather ordained to remain on the cross to fully accomplish God the Father's law and justice before laying down His life, because He had to answer the exacting holiness of God the Father for those for whom He hung on the cursed tree and died. Therefore, Job, the sufferer of Uz, points forward to the Sufferer of Calvary, where the Righteous was delivered into the hands of the wicked by the determinate counsel of God (Acts 2:23). “Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together… yet thou dost destroy me” (Job 10:8). Here we behold the mystery of God's absolute sovereignty. Job cannot understand how the same God Who formed him now breaks him. This is but a shadow, however, of how in Christ the wonder grows deeper: the Creator Himself became the creature, fashioned in the womb to be broken on the cross (Philippians 2:9-11). The Hands that shaped the universe were stretched upon the tree. The wounds of those Hands remain the only scars in heaven, eternal witnesses of His redeeming everlasting love. “These things hast thou hid in thine heart” (Job 10:13).  Job perceives the secret purpose of God’s unfolding decree is hidden, but never unjust. Christ “foreordained before the foundation of the world” to be the Lamb without blemish and without spot, (1 Peter 1:19). The suffering of the Son was not an accident of history but the revelation of God's eternal purpose: the holiness of God satisfied, the horror of sin unveiled, and the Grace of Salvation revealed in the saving of sinners of God's choosing by His suffering unto death. When Job speaks of descending into “the land of darkness" (Job 10:22), he contrasts his uncertainty with the sure triumph of Christ. Before the cross, the Old Testament believers went down into the land of darkness, or 'sheol,' the place of the dead, waiting for their redemption when Christ would come and pay their sin debt (Job 19:27-29) . But when Christ entered death, He went into the depths of greatest darkness to bring His people out into the light. “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” said the prophecy (Psalm 16; Acts 2). Death’s land is now conquered ground for the elect of God. Now, to die is to be with Christ, which is far better (Philippians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 5:8). By way of contrast, Job’s lament ends in silence, but Christ’s anguish ends in victory. Job asks, “Why?” Christ answers, “It is finished.” Job sits in the ashes; Christ sits at the Right Hand of God, (Hebrews 1:3) . The bitterness of Job becomes the sweetness of redemption. The darkness of one man’s complaint becomes the dawn of everlasting life for all who are His. Therefore, we are exhorted to behold the Man of Sorrows. In every weary soul, in every night of affliction, He has gone before us, as the Forerunner, (Hebrews 6:20). All our chastening is without wrath, because He bore it all. Job’s cry rises into the voice of our Redeemer: weary, wounded, forsaken—yet victorious. Out of the bitterness of His soul has come Eternal Peace for each elect sinner for whom He paid the debt.

Job 2:10 "But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." Job’s world had collapsed in a matter of moments. His wealth was gone, his children taken, his body covered with sores, and even his wife urged him to curse God and die. Yet in the midst of all this darkness, Job’s response was not bitterness or rebellion but a steady confession of trust in God and His sovereignty in every detail. His words cut against the natural thoughts of the flesh. Only by the God-given Faith in Christ can one see the sovereign Hand of God directing all things and do so with joy, no matter how difficult the hardship. Job’s suffering was beyond what most of us can imagine. He acknowledged that all things—both comfort and trial—come from the sovereign Hand of God. This echoes what we hear later in Scripture: “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6). Even in affliction, Job teaches us that God’s purposes are never shaken. In  this, Job becomes a faint shadow of Christ Himself. Though a man, Job in his suffering points us to the One Who was more than a man. Jesus Christ, Who came in the flesh, and though He is God, He endured every kind of suffering. In His humanity, He hungered. He thirsted and grew weary. He was tempted by Satan, and He was afflicted not only in body but also in soul, as He bore the sins of His people. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). Like Job, Christ did not sin with His lips. In His greatest trial—the cross—He did not curse His Father but entrusted Himself to Him. Isaiah 53 tells us, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7) . Even when mocked, betrayed, and crucified, He held fast His integrity and remained the faithful Substitute for His people. Job’s words remind us that affliction is not outside of God’s hand . Satan can only go as far as God ordains. The boils on Job’s skin, the insults of his wife, the schemes of his adversary—none of these were outside the sovereign purpose and will of God. And so it was with Christ. The cross was no accident, no victory of Satan. It was the will of the Father: “It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10). So where do we draw strength when trials come? The same place Job did, and the same place Christ did— in the fellowship of the Father, by the Spirit, and in the assurance that God’s purpose cannot fail. Jesus declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). That cry is all our Hope of salvation. Because He held fast till the end, we who are in Him will never be forsaken. As Paul reminds us, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). When we feel the weight of affliction, when our body is weak or our heart is weary, we remember this: Christ has already endured the greater suffering for us. Job could say, “Shall we not receive evil from the hand of God?” but Christ went further—He received the wrath of God that we deserved, so that we might receive grace upon grace. “ For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Let us then look to Him. In trials, He is the One Who holds us and keeps us, even when we are too weak to hold to Him. In suffering, we do not despair but by His grace draw near to Him. And in all things, let us confess with Job—and even more with Christ—that our God is faithful. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15). That was the confidence that the LORD had in His Father in the crucible of God's wrath. And when He was completely tried to the satisfaction of the Father, He came forth as gold (Job 23:10) , and that for the salvation of His people. He Who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will surely work all things—whether in affliction or in abundance—for the everlasting good of His redeemed (Romans 8:32-35). May we then, like Job, rest our souls in the sovereign Hand of our Redeemer, knowing that His purpose is perfect, His mercy unfailing, and His glory certain.