I Need You

This is a song by Josh Bales... It has been a great encouragement to me lately... I hope it encourages all of you!

My heart is restless in me
My wings are all worn out
I'm walking in the wilderness
And I cannot get out
I need You, Oh, I need You
Blessed Savior come
I need You, Oh, I need You
Fill the every longing of my soul

Oh, how I need You, Lord
I need Your perfect Word
With tearful eyes to see
The sin that I afford
I need to weep and pray
For all the thousand ways
That I have failed You just today

My bed is soaked with sadness
My sadness has no end
A downward spiral of despair
And I keep falling in
I need You, Oh, I need You
To You my soul shall fly
I need You, Oh, I need You
Yaweh, how I love You more than life

Oh, how I need You, Lord
I need Your perfect Word
With tearful eyes to see
The sin that I afford
I need to weep and pray
For all the thousand ways
That I have failed You just today

Your silence is like death to me
So won't You hear my desperate plea

Today my soul is soaring
Way over mountains high
Though I can see the valleys,
They're all just passing by
It's not that I am stronger
Look at my feeble wings
But I've been lifted higher
Yaweh's lifted me in His own strength

Oh, how I love You, Lord
I love Your perfect Word
With tearful eyes to see
The God who always will endure
Now I will celebrate
For all the thousand ways
That You have shown me grace
And made my heart in grace to stay
You've made my heart in grace to stay
You've made my heart in grace to stay

Marvelous Grace

Verse 1

Marvelous grace, oh how sweet, how pure

Flows to a sinner, lost and poor

Once I was lost, but now I’m found

Marvelous grace, oh how sweet the sound

Chorus

Marvelous grace, rescues me

Covers disgrace, flows so free

Lost in amazement, my soul sings

Of marvelous grace abounding to me

Verse 2

Marvelous grace, oh how safe, how sure

Guides this wanderer, pulls me to shore

Once I was dead, but now I’m alive

Marvelous grace, my victory cry

Verse 3

Marvelous grace, oh how rich, how strong

Pulling my heartstrings, calling me home

Once I was blind, but now I see

This marvelous grace you give to me

Bridge

It seems so amazing that you’d love me

So amazing that you’d care

So amazing that you’d call me your own

It seems so amazing that the Son of God

Would choose to take my place

Oh marvelous, marvelous grace…

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:3-5).

So often I have faced trials or tribulations and wondered why I was called to rejoice in them, and glory in the fact that I was facing them.  Why would I embrace something that would make me uncomfortable? Why would I feel gratefulness for something that would bring me pain? My life is so often lived under the assumption that my good is found in my comfort and relaxation that when I face those times when life is not comfortable or relaxing, I can begin to doubt the good it will bring to my soul.  However, as scripture tells me so wonderfully, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you" (Isaiah 26:3).  Now, God's perfect peace might not be what I define as perfect peace.  God's perfect peace is found in the amount of "peace" He has sovereignly ordained my life to contain during a certain period of time, and in the amount my mind is stayed on Him, because I trust in Him and in the good He has promised to work in my life.  My ultimate good is found in His glory, not in my comfort or the assuagement of my griefs.  He is always faithful to work toward that end, and will work to refine me and further glorify Himself through the afflictions He allows.   

Why should I doubt his gracious hand?

Or why should my soul fear?

For all my life is for His gain

My good is founded there.

Be not surprised when trials come

Your Savior said they would

Be agonized when you forget

For He is ever good.

He is indeed good; good in all things, no matter the circumstance.  Yes, it may feel in my heart that all I've done has come to nothing, and that all I think I love has been washed away, but I am still called to sing of His unfailing glory and lift my voice while bowed down from my suffering to proclaim the surpassing greatness of the Lord.  Whether I lose the entire world or a single penny, whether I gain a single penny or the entire world, I am still called to sing of His unfailing love and steadfastness.  His steadfast love will endure forever.  He will be good, and He will be glorified.  Therefore, I will rejoice, knowing that these things of the present time, these cares and loathsome burdens, cannot even be weighed in the balance beside the glory that will be revealed through them.  I will hope in my God, for He is my rock and my fortress, and He will be faithful to work all things according to His purposes.  He is my God, and I place all my trust in Him.  My trust and confidence are not, and will never be, founded in man.  For man is prone to error and is sure to disappoint.  My hope and my soul's verdure are founded upon God's Word and His unfailing steadfastness.  I will trust in the Lord, and will place my trust in no other.  He is my father, my savior, my merciful judge, and my God.  Despite the trial, and despite the pain, I will trust in Him.  He is faithful and His mercies endure.  Though all manner of tribulations come my way, still will I trust Him.  If He should speak, or I should hear nothing, and whether He gives me light or chooses to lead me through the dark, whatever the joy or the sorrow, I'll worship Him because of who He is and who He will continue to be.  When death declares the end of all my labors here on earth, and Christ remains my rest, peace, and reward, may all I've done be an enduring echo that leaves a resounding legacy of His glory and greatness.

Psalm 84

 3Even the sparrow finds a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
   my King and my God.
4Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
   ever singing your praise!
                        

 5Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
   in whose heart are the highways to Zion.^[b]
6As they go through the Valley of Baca
   they make it a place of springs;
   the early rain also covers it with pools.
7They go from strength to strength;
   each one appears before God in Zion.

 8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
   give ear, O God of Jacob!
                    

9Behold our shield, O God;
   look on the face of your anointed!

 10For a day in your courts is better
   than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
   the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
   from those who walk uprightly.
12O LORD of hosts,
   blessed is the one who trusts in you!

One day in His courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  Oh, how I pray my soul would feel that more deeply.  I have been granted far more than one day, though.  I have been granted eternity to spend in His courts! The courts of the Lord are where my heart desires to dwell.  I long to worship in spirit and in truth, in freedom and an unashamed manner.  My heart yearns for the truth and glorious beauty of His courts, for the justice and mercy that are paired together, flowing from the throne of Grace.  Even the sparrow finds rest at the altars of the Lord, a place she can call home; she finds a place of shelter and refuge for herself and her young.  May the nest of my heart be found at the sovereignly sheltering altar of the Lord, where His faithful hand of deliverance and protection guides and strengthens me in whatever may come.  No matter the storm, no matter the trial, no matter how great the hurt, may my heart find its peace at the altar of the Lord and no where else.  May I rest in Him, singing an endless song of praise from lips that have been touched by His endless love and grace. 

Those who walk through the valley, who shed a river of tears, and who seem to find no rest for their weary emotions  are strengthened by the almighty hand of the Lord.  How blessed are His people to know the way of righteousness and to know that no matter where that way takes them, their sovereign guide is the Lord.  The dry places become rivers and the barren land bears fruit, they dance and sing for joy, exulting in what God has done for them.  However, the exultation of God's people is not simply because He blesses them with gifts and showers them with blessing, it is because of who He is and why His people were created.  Truly, it is better to be a doorkeeper in the Lord's house than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.  Temporal pleasure may be quite easily found in the way of folly, but eternal torment and destruction await once the immediate enjoyment is consumed.  Oh, how marvelous a task it truly is to hold the door for and take the coats of those who have come to walk on the highway to Zion.  Those who enter the gates of the Lord enter with thanksgiving and praise, with gladness and exultation.  What better vantage point could there be to the exuberance of His people than among them? Where else would heir joy be so overwhelming? What better place to join in the salvation song of the saints?

The Lord God has bestowed favor and honor upon His people, He has saved them from the punishments they justly deserved and delivered them to a safe harbor.  While all might not be smooth sailing, and while not all waves will bring good news, still His people can say "Great is the Lord!" because they trust in Him.  They trust in His sovereign plan to bring about their ultimate good and His superseding glory.   They trust in him, for He is good and His faithfulness endures through all generations, they trust in Him because He has called them to trust in Him.  They trust in him because their hope is not in the things of this world but in the King seated on the ultimate throne of the universe.  They trust in him because He is their God, their sun and their shield, their rock and their provider.

Psalm 103

6The LORD works righteousness
   and justice for all who are oppressed.
7He made known his ways to Moses,
   his acts to the people of Israel.
8The LORD is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9He will not always chide,
   nor will he keep his anger forever.
10He does not deal with us according to our sins,
   nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
   so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west,
   so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13As a father shows compassion to his children,
   so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14For he knows our frame;^[a]
   he remembers that we are dust. 

15As for man, his days are like grass;
   he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
   and its place knows it no more.
17But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
   and his righteousness to children's children,
18to those who keep his covenant
   and remember to do his commandments.
19The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
   and his kingdom rules over all.

20Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his word,
   obeying the voice of his word!
21Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
   his ministers, who do his will!
22Bless the LORD, all his works,
   in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

-- Psalm 103

The mercy of God poured out upon my soul, should cause me to praise Him with an all-consuming passion.  My lips should not be the only portion of me making a motion of honor and worship, but every part of my very being.  This is what it means to be a "living sacrifice" - as Romans 12 discusses - a life where every action, every thought, every breath is for the complete and perfect praise of God.  My lips, my voice, my voice, my feet and my hands should be included in this act, but mainly it should be my heart that is seeking the supreme glory of my God.  At the altar of worship, my God desires no offering besides that of my very self.  "...this people draw near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men...'" (Isaiah 29:13).  I have been created to worship, and my very being exists for His glory and pleasure.  He has established His throne in the heavens and He has granted grace to those who justly deserve wrath.  He knows my frame and He remembers that I am dust.  However, "he does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10).  My just payment should be bearing the eternal wrath of God for my sins, but instead He gives me grace.  O my soul, do you know WHO paid for that grace?! The perfect, holy, innocent, righteous Son of God.  Not you, not your works, not your astonishing good looks, but CHRIST.  So therefore, lay yourself down at His feet, upon the altar of grace.  Your sacrifice will be a pleasant one when compared to His.  For, "... He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26).  The sacrifice of Christ on the cross has taken on all of your shame and the eternal weight of your sin.  "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).  What have you to lose if you lay youself down? Nothing but your sin and this vile world.  What do you have to gain, though? Christ and the glory of God! So lay yourself down upon the altar.  Offer yourself to the One who has made you for His own good pleasure.  Offer yourself as a living sacrifice and glorify the Lord, O my soul!