Day of God, Draw Nigh

In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you.

✙ Isaiah 26:8

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O day of God, draw nigh
in beauty and in power;
come with thy timeless judgment now
to match our present hour.

Bring to our troubled minds,
uncertain and afraid,
the quiet of a steadfast faith,
calm of a call obeyed.

Bring justice to our land,
that all may dwell secure,
and finely build for days to come
foundations that endure.

Bring to our world of strife
thy sovereign word of peace,
that war may haunt the earth no more,
and desolation cease.
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All of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

✙ 2 Corinthians 5:10

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Prayer after thinking about today's devotion:

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O day of God, draw nigh
as at creation's birth;
let there be light again,
and set thy judgments on the earth.

✙ Robert B.Y. Scott (1899)

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After your own thanksgivings & petitions, close with the Lord's Prayer.

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Golden Rule.

You shall not defraud your neighbor.

✙ Leviticus 19:13

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When the Heidelberg Catechism asks what is forbidden in the eighth commandment (Thou shalt not steal), it gives this answer: That I do whatever I can for my neighbor’s good, that I treat others as I would like them to treat me, and that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need.

Defrauding our neighbor, then, is not just taking something from them, but also denying them something that God intends for them to have. If the planet God meant for us to inhabit was created with enough clean air and water for all,

Self-Possession

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.

✙ Psalm 146:5

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Alexander Maclaren wrote:

By persevering persistence in the Christian path, we gain ourselves. Self-surrender is self-possession. We never own ourselves till we have given up owning ourselves, and yielded ourselves to that Lord who gives us back to ourselves. Self-control is self-possession. We do not own ourselves as long as it is possible for any weakness in flesh, sense, or spirit to gain dominion over us and hinder us from doing what we know to be right. We are not our own masters then.

Thy Servant Heareth

Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!”

✙ 1 Samuel 3:4

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Master, speak! thy servant heareth,
waiting for thy gracious word,
longing for thy voice that cheereth,
Master, let it now be heard.
I am listening, Lord, for thee;
what hast thou to say to me?

Speak to me by name, O Master,

Because Christ Is Good

We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies.

✙ Daniel 9:18

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When we need God's help more than ever, when we've gotten ourselves into a mess and cannot find a way out of it—it is then that we are often the most hesitant to come into God's presence. Why? Because we are not good enough. How can we, ungrateful sinners that we are, possibly ask God for anything?

And yet, that is the message of the gospel. We can approach God not because we are so good, but simply because we believe in the One who sits at God's right hand.