From: Andrew Truschel
"Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad."
As I reflect on the current state of affairs in our world, the above verse from Psalm 14 seems especially relevant. I can hear the exasperation, feel the longing sigh, that David expresses as he longs for salvation. Like the psalmist, I struggle to remain hopeful when it seems that "there is no one who does good, not even one" (v. 3) among the social and political leaders of our society.
If I read this text honestly, however, I must acknowledge that I am also among those who have turned away and become corrupt (v. 3); "not even one" applies to me just as much as it does to the politicians that continue to frustrate and disappoint. Unexpectedly, this is good news.
In the upside down world of God's kingdom, the humility and despair of fully realizing our own sin is the exact place that God meets us with His overwhelming grace. As we remember during Advent, no one can stand before God and truly say that they have kept His commands or have sought Him with their whole heart; even David, the "man after God's own heart", confesses to God that he was born in sin and has done evil in God's sight (Ps. 51).
The good news of the gospel is that God provided one who perfectly lived the life that no one else could, and died the death that all of us deserve. Jesus is the salvation that came out of Zion; he is the embodiment of God's restoration of Israel (Ps. 14:7)!
Even as we continue to endure hardship and yearn for the coming of God's kingdom, let us remind ourselves of God's faithfulness to us in Christ and embody the hope that will be realized when He returns to make all things new.
I am an e-commerce professional, husband to Larissa, and often pose as a banjo player in the CotC worship team.