{ Day 279 }

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. —Psalm 103:8-10

David opened his heart again in Psalm 103 to express what he knew about the way God’s heart worked. He was saying, “When I deserve to be punished, He forgives me and restores me in love.” David knew that God had removed his sins as far as the east is from the west. This was David’s revelation of God’s heart. He learned to relate to God on the basis of God’s passion for him rather than his own performance. Beloved, only a student of God’s emotions can recover so quickly after grievous compromise. God forgives us today so we will grow in the fear of God tomorrow. If He wiped us out today, we would never become mature, God-fearing people. This is God’s strategy toward us. He wants to deal gently with us even though it requires burning our Ziklags. He does not want to mark our iniquities but to forgive them so we can go on to be great in love. He wants our confidence to be based in the revelation of His desire for us and His work on the cross.

{ PRAYER STARTER }

Lord, if You treated me as I deserve, You would banish me from Your presence. Yet it is my sins that You remove, taking them as far away as the east is from the west. Thank You so much for raising me up to walk with You again in holiness. Complete Your work in me.

Do you need to overcome a spirit of fear that
gets in the way of your intimacy with God?