Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord,
Through which the righteous shall enter.
I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
God is the Lord,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Psalm 118:19–29 (NKJV)
"His mercy endures forever."
Our sin does not. Our shame does not. Our failures do not.
"His mercy endures forever."
Our self-righteousness does not. Our plans do not. Our good works do not.
"I will praise You, For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation."
This week is Holy Week, the last mile of our annual remembrance of Christ's march to the Cross and to victory.
We remember an event happened over two thousand years ago, but which has eternal significance. It was the last strike in a battle plan laid out before we existed, and it forever changed the way we looked at sin and death. It was an event that would forever change the way we looked at God, and the way He looked at us.
It is a reassuring thought to know that, regardless of how badly we make a mistake or get it wrong, God's love and mercy will outlast all memory of it. There's no sin that can match the power of Christ's blood, shed for us.
"The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone."
But as we celebrate today the coming of our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, I challenge you to put yourself in the shoes of the Israelites. Jesus wasn't the king they expected. The king they wanted. The king who would free them from the shameful existence under the oppression of Rome.
But He was the King they needed. He was the only king who could free them from the bondage of sin.
He was the King we needed. Who we still desperately need.
When you first asked Him into your heart, what did you think Christ would save you from? Who was the King you wanted?
The wonderful thing for us who believe is that He is always the King we need. He is all things for us. Our Advocate. Our Deliverer. Our Friend. The Great I Am.
May He show Himself anew to be your untiring sustainer and everlasting hope this Easter, and may God bless you and your family daily as you serve Him faithfully.
Miss a week? Catch up here:
Week 1: https://www.care-net.org/get-involved-blog/never-too-insignificant
Week 2: https://www.care-net.org/get-involved-blog/unneccessary-faith
Week 3: https://www.care-net.org/get-involved-blog/about-hope
Week 4: https://www.care-net.org/get-involved-blog/seeing-the-heart
Week 5: https://www.care-net.org/get-involved-blog/his-redemption
