“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You resist the proud but You give grace to the humble. You are seeking such, who will be entirely cast upon You. Lord, we have nowhere else to turn. You alone are our sufficiency. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
We see this great repentance and turnaround happening to the Jews. There is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Here, there were about 3000 people who repented. Praise God for this great work of His Holy Spirit that took place on that day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
This is the expression that needs to be in us. We look to God for answers and solutions. Surrender and submission to God are the basis of our relationship with Him. We come to Him, totally cast upon Him. He is our sustenance. Without Him, we can do nothing.
God’s character is that He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
God expects us to be totally cast and dependent on Him. We must find our nourishment only in Him. John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. We are the branches and Jesus is the vine. When the branch is not attached to the vine, then the branch will wither and die, since it has no nourishment. We are rooted and grounded in Jesus.
This life of being cast upon God is an anathema to the human mind. The nature of man says, “I can take care of myself. I don’t need God. I will come to God when I need Him.” The world glorifies the self-made man. We have also invented a spirituality to this worldview by the statement, “God helps those who help themselves”.
This is opposite to how man ought to be, in his relationship with God. We come to Him realising that in our hearts we are rebellious. We want to run our lives. Therefore, we are always repentant before God. *Repentance is the continuous state in which we are before God.
We see a perilous thought being spread these days that we do not need to repent anymore before God. This is devilish because this idea of glorifying ourselves before God originates from the devil.
God is near to those who are of a broken spirit. Psalms 34:18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Our sacrifices and our offerings to God are to acknowledge how, totally, we are cast on Him. We need Him. All that we offer to Him is out of all that He has given us. We are thankful and grateful to Him because we are cast upon Him. Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.
The Lord dwells with those who are of a humble spirit. Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Humility must not be interpreted as weakness. Since we are totally cast upon the Lord, we will stand strong against the ways of the world, against the devil and against the flesh. We know that the Lord is with us and therefore we do not fear. We are bold in the Lord.
Therefore, the Christian life is an enigma. On the one hand, we are totally cast upon the Lord and on the other, we rise up against all that is contrary to God, to pull down the strongholds of the enemy.
The Lord’s eyes are on those who are of a contrite spirit. A broken and contrite heart also implies that we tremble at His word. We walk in obedience to God. Isaiah 66:2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.
Solomon’s prayer was pleasing to the Lord for Solomon saw himself as a little child, who needed God. I Kings 3:7-10 Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. (8) And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. (9) Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (10) The speech pleased the LORD*, that Solomon had asked this thing.
This is the life of His church. When we display this life of repentance and brokenness before God and His word, in our fellowship, people who come to participate with us, will be convicted. They will also repent and return to the Lord.