Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 1 Samuel 5-6 and Psalm 53

After witnessing how powerfully God’s holy presence (represented by the ark) affected the communities to which the ark was taken, the men of Beth Shemesh asked “‘Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?’” (1 Samuel 6:20). Correctly, they had realised the foundational truth of the saving work that God would later accomplish through Jesus Christ – ALL have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and therefore ALL of us need to be saved from our sins.

The Psalmist saw it too, and wrote: “Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 53:3)

He also correctly saw that salvation needs to come from God. There is no way we can ever save ourselves, and thus he wrote: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” (v.6)

As Christians, we now know that we can be saved from our sins and brought into right standing with God through faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. We CAN stand before this holy God – not because we have made ourselves holy, but because He has saved us and given us His holiness.

Loving God, we give you thanks and praise that, in Your great love for the world, You did not leave us in darkness, but sent Your only Son to be our Saviour. We could never have saved ourselves from sin, but You came to save us IN JESUS, by His sinless life, death and resurrection. Please apply that saving work to us again today, forgiving our sins and empowering our transformation into holiness. Amen.