The LORD is my strength and song,
WEEK 23
CLINGING TO THE CROSS OF CHRIST
PSALM 118:14-29
The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the
righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. O LORD, do save, we beseech You; O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I give thanks to You. You are my God, I extol You. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
DEAR GOD AND HEAVENLY FATHER,
You are our Deliverer, our shield and our refuge,
the horn of our salvation.1
We praise You and offer our everlasting thankfulness
because You sent Your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to offer His life for our sake on the cross. He is our strength and our song,
and He has become our salvation. Thus the stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone of our salvation2
and the Savior of the world3— for no one in this world will ever find salvation
in any other, nor can anyone come to You, Father, except through Him.4
We add our own personal testimony to what Your Word declares:
In the consummation of all things, those who have trusted in Christ will not be dismayed.5
We acknowledge, gracious Father, that our salvation is all Your work. We are utterly helpless to save ourselves
or contribute any merit of our own toward gaining Your favor. But You took the initiative; You made the overture;
You reconciled us to Yourself through Christ. You made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.6
You, the offended party, acted first on our behalf
while we were still enemies.7
We were willfully rebellious.
Our appetites were evil. Our conduct was contrary to Your law. Our hearts were occupied with unworthy thoughts. Our motives were self-serving. Our attitudes were arrogant and smug. Our minds were hostile to You. We refused to submit to Your authority. We were hopelessly in bondage to sin
and therefore unable to serve You as we ought.8
In all those ways we proved ourselves to be enemies
of everything holy.
But You sent Your Son to redeem us from that bondage. He purchased us from the slave-house of sin
by offering Himself as a Substitute. He took our place and carried our guilt to the cross. He bore for our sakes the just punishment of sin.
Now we are slaves of righteousness,9 and it is our delightful duty
to embrace Christ wholeheartedly as our rightful Master. He is not only our Lord to rule over us. He is also our Messiah and Deliverer;
our Rabbi and Teacher; our Shepherd and Caretaker; our Great High Priest and Intercessor;
and the spotless Lamb of God who made everlasting atonement once for all.10
He thus put away our sins forever by the sacrifice of Himself.11
We embrace Him alone as our Savior,
trusting His work as fully sufficient. We forego any effort to gain our own righteousness,
supplement the work of Christ, earn fresh merit in Your eyes, or fit ourselves for heaven through our own efforts.12
We thus come by faith to the One who
has already done everything for us—and even in that, we know that the only hope we have of abiding in Christ
lies in the grace that made us alive to Him in the first place.13
And so we cling with penitent faith,
asking that You keep us always near the cross. In the name of the One crucified there we pray. Amen.
1. Psalm 18:2 2. Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20 3. 1 John 4:14 4. John 14:6 5. Isaiah 28:16 6. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 7. Romans 5:10 8. Romans 8:7-8 9. Romans 6:18 10. Hebrews 10:10 11. Hebrews 9:26-28 12. Philippians 3:7-11 13. Ephesians 2:8-10