Three Star Night

This is the season of Lent.
Of groaning and mourning.
Of death.
"But God"
Oh, the joy that those two words bring!
But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Made us alive and saved us by grace.
Christ did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but took the form of a servant and dying on the cross.
He was forsaken so that we can be accepted.
Rejected so that we can be taken in.
Denied by the Father so we can become sons of God.

And so we mourn.
We mourn the human death of the God-man,
We mourn the wretchedness of our sin that required such a sacrifice.

We mourn, and yet we rejoice
For Immanuel is not far off
And we worship in the congregation.
We worship because he proclaimed righteousness to those yet unborn,
to we who were chosen before the creation of the world.

Psalm 21 is interesting because David is speaking from his own experience.  Sure, he has a crown of gold.  But where's mine?  Some of us are never going to be rich.  Some of us won't live that long.  Some of us won't be healthy.  So how does this translate to our lives?

Verses 1 and 7 are particularly telling.  "In your strength the king rejoices."  David is on a throne, the king of a nation, but he doesn't rejoice in his own strength and power, he rejoices in God's.  Where does your strength lie? 

That's the beauty of the Gospel.  It's for everyone.  Those who are successful will be tempted to boast in their own strength, but it is God who enables their success.  Those who are down on their luck will be tempted to despair in their lack of success, but it is God's strength that will uphold them in tough times.  Both will be able to glory in their salvation, and both will be united as one int he Church by their salvation.  They will be blessed forever in the joy of God's presence and the strength of his might.

And God's strength means an end to injustice.  An end to suffering and those who cause others to suffer.  It means righting wrongs and eradicating evil.  This is something to be thankful for as well.  So we exalt God by thanking him for what he is doing and looking forward to his promised work to come.  We will sing and praise his power forever.