Aren't You Glad You're Not Like ...

Aren't You Glad You're Not Like ...

(Read Psalm 51)

This is an "oucher," so please read it all the way through ...

Aren't you glad that you're not like David,
Such blazoned sin, how could he?
Aren't you glad you're not like Saul,
Making up his own rules; what was he thinking?
Aren't you glad that you're not like Cain,
Violence against his own brother?
Aren't you glad you're not like Rebekah,
Such planned deceit?
Aren't you glad you're not like the Israelites,
So easily seduced by idols?
Aren't you glad you're not like Absalom,
How could he be so jealous?
Aren't you glad you're not like Elijah;
How could he forget God, be so depressed?
Aren't you glad that you're not like Nebuchadnezzar;
How could he be so obsessed with power?
Aren't you glad you're not like Samson;
How could he be so easily deceived?
Aren't you glad that you're not like Jonah;
How could he run from the Father's call?
Aren't you glad that you're not like the Pharisee,
So religiously right yet so spiritually wrong.
Aren't you glad your not like Judas,
Selling the Messiah for a little bit of silver.
Aren't you glad you're not like the Corinthians,
So much better at division than serving the Lord?

BUT WAIT!
You are like them, and so am I.
There is simply no denying it.
Their stories are a mirror into which we see ourselves.
We too are jealous and easily deceived.
We too are proud and obsessed with power.
We are better at division while we run from God.
We get too angry and get seduced by idols.
In sorrow we must say,
We stand with David,
And Saul,
And Rebekah,
And Jonah,
And Elijah,
And the rest.
These stories are for us to look into and see us,
so that we are not able,
to buy into,
the lie of our OWN righteousness.
But instead,
Run to HIS mercy,
Hold onto HIS unfailing love,
And finally rest,
In His great compassion.
Aren't you glad you can step out of the darkness of self-deceit, and admit who YOU are?

from WHITER THAN SNOW -- Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Dr. Paul David Tripp and published by our good friends at Crossway

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 3; Psalm 140-142; 1 Corinthians 14:1-20

Great Quote: Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. -- Augustine