'No Condemnation Now I Dread'

The Sacrifice Has Been Accepted
"If the LORD were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would He have showed us all these thing" (Judges 13:23).

This is a sort of promise deduced by logic. It is an inference fairly drawn from ascertained facts. It was not likely that the LORD had revealed to Manoah and his wife that a son would be born to them and yet had it in His heart to destroy them. The wife reasoned well, and we shall do well if we follow her line of argument. The Father has accepted the great sacrifice of Calvary and has declared Himself well pleased therewith; how can He now be pleased to kill us! Why a substitute if the sinner must still perish? The accepted sacrifice of Jesus puts an end to fear. The LORD has shown us our election, our adoption, our union to Christ, our marriage to the Well-beloved: how can He now destroy us? The promises are loaded with blessings, which necessitate our being preserved unto eternal life. It is not possible for the LORD to cast us away and yet fulfill His covenant. The past assures us, and the future reassures us. We shall not die but live, for we have seen Jesus, and in Him we have seen the Father by the illumination of the Holy Ghost. Because of this life-giving sight we must live forever.


Faith's Checkbook/Spurgeon

The Means of Grace are in 'our' hands...

The means of grace are in my hand
The blessing is at God’s command
Who must the work fulfill;
And though I read, and watch and pray,
Yet here the Lord directs my way
And worketh all things still.

I cannot speak a proper word,
Nor think aright, but from the Lord
Preparing heart and tongue;
In Nature I can see no good,
But all my good proceeds from God,
And does to grace belong.

I see it now, and do confess
My utter need of Jesus’ grace,
And of His Spirit’s light;
I beg his kind and daily care;
O Lord, my heart and tongue prepare
To think and speak aright.

Prepare my heart to love thee well,
And love Thy truth which doth excel,
And love thy children dear;
Instruct me how to live by faith,
And feel the virtue of Thy death,
And find Thy presence near.

Prepare my tongue to pray and praise,
To speak of providential ways,
And heavenly truth unfold;
To strengthen well a feeble soul,
Correct the Wanton, rouse the dull,
And silence sinners bold.

by John Berridge, 1716—1793

David prays for two things -- (A devotion in one of CRBC's Prayer Meetings

Psalm 19:14 -- 'May the words of my mouth & the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock, & my Redeemer'

This Psalm teaches us wisdom in two divisions. On the one hand it helps us to see the non-verbal design of nature in telling the glory of God and on the other, the written words of the Bible in revealing the Lord's will to His people. The verse that may help us understand the unity of Ps.19 is found in v.6c, where it is said of the sun that 'there is nothing hidden from its heat.’ And in gazing & hearing these two great voices as they speak, David realizes and senses his own inadequacy before God. Because not only that there's no skin hidden from the sun's heat, there is also no heart that is not weighed by the word of God. Whether it is from hidden faults, presumptuous sins, or great transgression, the Psalmist sense his unworthiness, his failings; brethren, our hearts are layed open before the Lord's scrutiny. Moreover, He uses the word of God to convince us that we are not righteous enough and that we are not righteous thoroughly. That's why he prays for two things:

First, that the Lord may accept his sacrifice, ‘May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight.' The word 'accept' is closely connected in the daily sacrifices of the temple like the lambs, goats & turtledoves commanded in the book of Leviticus. While Hosea in chapter 14 and verse 2 links it to the acceptable, repentant hearts: '...we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips', David prays here that his whole person be accepted by God even though he is unworthy.

Secondly, that the Lord may help and deliver him. The phrase 'My Rock’ is often used with warfare and military defenses, take for example the first lines of Psalm 18: ‘I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.’ It means that God shall fight for us, and He will give us the strength & grace to continue fighting sin. As for ‘My Redeemer' it is that the Lord as Deliverer shall pay for the ransom price against David's enemies. From the background of Old Testament motif of God’s redemption of Israel from Egyptian bondage, so it is now being appealed by David and Christians that they have the Lord as their Deliverer from sin & guilt.