Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Lord is Our Judge, Our Lawgiver, and Our King

by Pastor James Ryle
http://jamesryle.blogspot.com/


"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us." (Isaiah 33:22)

The human heart hungers for three things always --
Justice, Security, and Peace.
Look to your own soul and you will know this to be true.

No one likes to be cheated, or threatened, or harmed in any way. We all want to know that our pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness is unmolested by scoundrels and thieves. We want to know that if there are those who interfere with our God-given rights to these things -- there is somebody who will intervene and bring us justice, security, and peace.

We are so dedicated to these ideas that we formed our Government into three branches to insure that we would see these things come to pass in real and practical ways. Our Judicial Branch serves to bring us justice. Our Legislative Branch serves to gives us laws. And our Executive Branch serves to insure that we live in peace.

Yet, we are never to place our faith in MAN, but in God.

The Prophet Isaiah is reminding us where our focus must always be fixed -- upon the Lord. For it is He who is our Judge, our Lawgiver, and our King. And it is He, and He alone, who will save us.

Therefore, our hope is not in the Government, nor in the elected officials who serve in the various branches of our Government. We pray for them, and trust that they will govern wisely, with humility and honor; but we are not naive. We know that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Our faith is in the Lord, who alone is incorruptible. "The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." (Numbers 6:24-26).

The Lord bless and keep thee -- that's our Judge at work. The Lord make His face shine upon you -- that's our Lawgiver at work. The Lord lift up His countenance and give thee peace -- that's our King at work.

It is He, and He alone, who will save us.

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