Scripture:
Romans 4:3, 6-8, 23-25
3“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,and whose sins are covered;8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
… 23 “But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Observation:
Paul is using two prominent figures in the history of God’s people to prove to the church in Rome that it never was the law that justified and it never will be the law. David is speaking as an adulterer and murderer, but an adulterer & murderer that can stand in full confidence, knowing that the work of the Lord covers his failures. Paul finishes the chapter by reminding the Roman church that this hope that was “counted to him as righteousness” is the same hope that is available to them by believing in the finished work of the Jesus Christ: “delivered up (cross) for our trespasses (sin) and raised (empty tomb) for our justification (made right with God)
Application:
David words should reverberate into our innermost being, they should be the anthem of our days. “Blessed is the man whom the Lord will not count his sin” God’s most gracious act in David’s life was not his pretty face, his musical talents or his brilliant battle record, no, God’s most gracious act in David’s life was allowing his hard heart to shatter into a million pieces because of the weight of his sin. David’s greatest gift from the Lord was his brokenness.
David’s brokenness was a blessing because it brought him to a place of desperation and thanksgiving. A place where God counts people as righteous apart from their works.
How often do we pray for brokenness? David understood his brokenness. He said to the Lord , “Against you, you only, have I sinned..” (Psalm 51:4) I think often times we forget this simple truth: We can’t be healed unless we first know we’re broken.
Paul is reminding his audience in Rome, and to you and I today, that just as Abraham “believed God and it was counted to him as righteous”, we too are counted righteous when we believe in the finished work of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Prayer:
God just as you graciously gave David brokenness, I plead you would break my heart for what breaks yours. Against you, and you only do I sin and do what is evil in your sight. Don’t let my heart grow hard, replace any hardness at whatever cost. Lord thank you for the death and resurrection of your son, let that be the hope I cling to this week. Amen.