WHO IS WORTHY?
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Ezekiel 11:1-4
Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city. They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.’ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man.”
Ezekiel 11:13-17
Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?”
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, “They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession. Therefore say: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.”
Revelation 5:2b & 5b & 8-10
“Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
“Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying.
“You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
The lectionary text for this week includes Psalm 23, a beautiful picture of God’s shepherding His people and verses from Ezekiel 11 and Revelation 5. The Ezekiel passage begins with God’s judgement on Israel, and I wondered how this fit with the care of God in Psalm 23. Ezekiel isn’t an easy book to understand therefore I’m thankful for my NIV study bible. It explains that the Jewish remnant left behind by the Babylonians were not as special as they thought. They assumed their greatness and goodness saved them. They thought this because they were still in Jerusalem while the rest of the people who were alive were taken captive to other places in Babylon. Instead God through Ezekiel proved these leaders wrong by killing (bringing judgement) on a head leader. Ezekiel falls facedown and prays for his people! God answers Ezekiel with promises for the scattered exiles and those left in Jerusalem who trust in Him. God is pointing out that His promises never fail even when His people are weak. Revelation 5, our next passage, is another great promise given by God! It’s a beautiful passage about the Lamb who was slain and worthy to purchase people for himself!
How does all this apply to us today?
What saves us now to be able to serve God the way His Word teaches and one day go to Heaven??
Do we realize it’s Jesus alone? The Lamb of God who was slain? Or are we allured to think we have been pretty good at following the laws of God? After all we haven’t done any huge wrong – and we live in this wonderful free country in our world like the remnant of Israel? They weren’t taken away from Jerusalem, so they thought God honored them for their good deeds of obeying the law of God. Are we ever tempted to think we have followed and obeyed God because we hold strongly to our heritage of reformed doctrine or God’s Word? We might even be tempted to think we are better because we have been blessed materially or spiritually. We live in this great country that the world often envies so it can be enticing to think we must be doing something right and good. Another problem that can arise is to get so involved in our own lives and the lives of our families that we miss the needs of others around us. Last Sunday Pastor Austin challenged us to share our faith with others that we know are lost because they don’t have a clue what it means to be saved!
The most important thing to realize is we are ALL sinners in need of God’s faithfulness not ours. I appreciated Paul Tripp’s statement in the devotion I read from him this morning saying, “God’s care for you is secure because it does not depend on your faithfulness, but on His.”
The fact is we are NOT good enough and we can NEVER save ourselves. Personally I believe when we truly embrace this thought we are much more willing to share the truth of the gospel with others – scary as it is at times!!
But thanks be to God, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelation 5:12
So when you feel unworthy or maybe think you are somewhat worthy, put both thoughts in the trash can and instead put all your hope in the Lamb of God who has fully paid the price of sin, especially your sin and pray for the righteousness of Jesus to cover you so you can share Jesus’ truth with others!