10 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day. 12 If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. 13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows. 14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. 15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. 16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head. 17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

God, in his righteousness cannot just ignore or overlook sin. When we go against his will, we are sinning. God loves us so much that he has offered each of us the opportunity to have all of our sins forgiven. This offer is based on the sacrificial death of Jesus, his Son. To show us that this sacrifice on our behalf is acceptable, God raised Jesus from the dead and took him in bodily form back into heaven. It is now up to each of us to either accept this offer from God, have our sins totally forgiven and be restored to complete fellowship with him or to reject it and remain as his enemy. James tells us that when we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.

When we reject this offer of pardon from God we are telling him that we can live now and in eternity without his help. This is why the Psalmist on another occasion says boldly that “the fool says in his heart there is no
God”. Paul describes this condition in the latter part of Romans chapter one when he says repeatedly that “God gave them up” to their own desires and the penalties of these desires. In this Psalm we are assured that if we reject God we will face judgment before him but also that this life will be filled with catastrophe as a result of our decision.
We should accept God’s gracious gift of salvation and live for him with a firm commitment to continually grow closer to him. When asked t o rate the laws of God, Jesus said the most important of all is to love the Lord God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. When we do this we have the complete assurance that God will always be with us and in us.

O God, gracious, loving and kind; please open my mind that I may know your will. Give me strength that I may live it. Fill me with your Spirit that I may be transformed into your image. I praise you for the gift of your Son and the pardon you give. Help me to renew my commitment and love to you and to show it in my life by the service I offer to you and those around me. I offer this prayer in the name of Jesus, your Son and my Savior.

May God bless each of us thru his Son as we live for him today.