Lent Day 21
by Renee Chastain
Psalm 19:7-14
The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold;
Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, Your servant is warned by them;
In keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be innocent,
And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
Romans 7:12-25
So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
Deliberation by Mario Sanchez Nevado
“Acquit me of hidden faults. . . keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me.”
“. . . I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. . . . . Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
Two men cry out to God for relief, both shortly after reveling and praising in the goodness of His law and commandments. Two men, centuries and worlds a part.
The first— King David. The second— Paul, the Apostle.
The first, having no knowledge of God’s specific path to redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the second, a witness to this miracle that set us free.
Together, these testimonies speak to the importance of the law as a vehicle of blessing, when kept, and a revelation of God’s mercy and our need, when broken.
They echo the pleas of our own hearts as we collectively turn inward, examining our own sin and need of a Savior in this penitential season.
When reading and reflecting on these passages, I am struck by the continuity of the thread of redemptive history. How David, years before Christ, could see that he, left to his own devices, was powerless to attain perfection under the law. He cries to God, using the imperative as he begs God to, “Let them not rule over me,” which would result in his attaining innocence. An innocence possible only through the work of God. A God David calls his “Redeemer.”
As David looks forward to this hope, Paul looks back. He looks at Christ’s perfect sacrifice that began a new order, that birthed in him a new nature, one still at war with his old nature of sin and death. And he too cries out for the ultimate redemption of our souls, when all is made right and new and beautiful again. Because while the perfect sacrifice has come, the fullness of restoration has not.
As we reflect on the law, on our sin, on our need for Calvary, we, like Paul and David, don’t have to groan without hope. We can see our true natures without shame, knowing we have been given a gift in Christ. The law provides us this ability to reflect and to wrestle, not so that we beat our breasts in despair, but so that we may be truly, humbly grateful, rejoicing with Paul, who in the next chapter boldly proclaims that, “There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”
Together, we remind each other of this hope. We cling to it on our darkest days, knowing that soon our redemption will be full, complete, and manifested in our resurrected bodies. Easter is coming. He is Risen! As we too, shall be. “Come,” we fervently pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Hi, I’m Renee, an entrepreneur in the real estate and hospitality industry here in Greenville. I enjoy creating safe, relaxing places for people to gather from all over as they visit our city. When not working, I spend time on my “farm” (a rental on 30 acres of horse pasture) out in Dacusville with my animals—2 dogs, 6 cats, and 6 birds. In my free time I enjoy reading, learning about anything and everything, and dipping my toes back into the creative writing world.