DAY 6.
The promise of salvation comes to the fore today and what a salvation we have come into by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament 'salvation' was promised through obedience in sacrifice of a lamb, at first for the family 'a lamb' Exodus 12 v 3 as the institution of the Passover.
Then it became sacrificial 'the Lamb' that covered the sin of the nation in Leviticus when atonement was made to cover national sin before God.
In the New Testament there is only 'One Lamb' and He is the Lord Jesus Christ who came to deal with the sin of the world John 3 v 16.
David knew the pattern of sin being dealt with through the animal sacrifice of the 'lamb' that brought Gods forgiveness for sin committed.
The problem David knew was that the sacrifice did not help him stop sinning, he returned back to his old ways very quickly but here he longs for the breaking of sins yoke on him.
He was looking forward to Messiah coming when sin would be deal with in a positive practical manner once and for all.
We are living in the 'days of Grace' that period of time that David and the Old Testament folk were looking forward to but did not see but they prayed and God received them through sacrifice.
Now we are living under Gods grace and favour, we know the Lord Jesus has come to break the power of sin when we come in repentance of it before the Living God.
We have come to claim forgiveness of sin and through our beloved Saviour He has paid the penalty that sets us free to 'go and sin no more'.
The truth is that we are still capable of sinning and sadly do because of the flesh life that seeks to still govern us but the Holy Spirit has come to take up residence in us to enable us to overcome sin.
The promise of salvation is guaranteed in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Acts 4 v 12 and Romans 10 v 10, the gospel then is alive Ephesians 1 v 13 with the Holy Spirit of promise given to those who believe.
David looked forward to this period and longed for it to come in his own days on earth now we look back to Calvary and rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ our salvation.
The word of God from Genesis to Revelation is a living word that we can all rely on, that is the meaning of the word 'trust' to confide in and have complete confidence in.
The Old Testament characters trusted God's word implicitly and knew the dangers of abandoning it from practical experience.
The New Testament characters knew the reality of the word of God on a deeper level because the saw the Old Testament fulfilled by the New Testament.
The depth of obedience to the word is mirrored in how they lived as a result of the salvation given to them and that is where we come into the picture today.
If 'obedience' to Gods word is mirrored in the depth of our commitment to Christ as a result of the sacrifice He offers to us how real is it shown to the world?
Are we still grovelling around as paupers on the earth oblivious to the promises available to us: when we should be living as princes and princesses before the Lord and the world at large?
This comes as a deliberate challenge in this age of spiritual declension on a large scale, the church has become a club or institution as against the Living Body of Gods people that we were called into.
Salvation is followed by 'liberty' or release from sin's enslavement, we no longer have to give into its whims and fancies, we have the Holy Spirit within us to gives us victory over temptation.
No that is a fact but equally the fact s we are still prone to answer to the calls of the flesh than to walk in the Spirit of truth.
This is where Christian discipline comes in and the teaching of Christ takes hold in our life
so that sin does not have dominion over us because there is freedom in Christ Jesus to enable us to conquer.
This is where the promises of God become vital in our life, they lead us to mastery over temptation and sin but they come with conditions to be applied.
Conditions that lead us away from the wrong pathway, they guide us into the right way and they will cause us to want to go on the right way.
'I will walk' v 45 points to progress being made as we tread the heavenly pathway that brings us nearer to the Lord and produces Christ likeness in us.
'I will walk' also reveals dedication to keep on the path of holy living, the application of the word to our life will produce a life that brings pleasure to the Lord.
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word we can expect the unexpected to happen and there is a delight in receiving those unexpected blessings that come our way.
'Delights' that are only known by those who launch out into the deep things of God, those not satisfied with the status quo but willing to go where our Father leads.
The closing thought for today reaches out those around us asking their questions, we find that the word of God provides the answers, whether they accept the answer is their problem.
It is easy to recall that the Lord Jesus answered Satan's questions in the wilderness with the use of scripture as He did: the reason that we do not is because we do not have the insight or knowledge that we should have.
David prays in v 44 that the power to always testify to the Living God truthfulness and faithfulness will never be taken from him.
So there is the challenge for today, gaining the knowledge of scripture that will enable us to overcome ourselves and to have the answers for those who come inquiring to us.
