Psalm 66:16-20, New Living Standard

“Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer– or withdraw his unfailing love from me.”

Psalm 66:16 (NLT) says, “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. "

What has He done for me? The biggest thing of all - He sacrificed His one and only Son, so that I could be saved. Jesus gave His life for me, because He loved me and saw the future with me in it and He desired that future with me in it. The Holy Spirit came to live in me and lead me into all truth. He did this because He saw my worth and wanted to assure that I made it to heaven. He did this for me, and He did this for you, but it goes deeper than that. When we are in a relationship with someone, it goes two ways. Psalm 66:17-20 (NLT) goes on to say this, " For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.”

A father lovingly corrects his children for their benefit; teaching them what is right and what is wrong. It helps their children to build strong moral values, to be virtuous. When I read the scripture above, I was struck with the verse that said, " If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." We must, as children of God, take on a spirit of humility. We must be willing to look at self and confess our sins. The Bible clearly states, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ^” If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." (1 John 1:9-10, NLT) God is showing us His continuous love by cleansing us from unrighteousness. But we have to be willing to bring Him the ugly so He can bring forth the beauty. Bringing our sins to God our Father is not a shameful act. It is an act of humility towards God. The Bible also tells us that, " And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” (James 4:6, NLT)

The grace of God isn't something that we work for or earn. It is a gift that is freely given to us so that we cannot brag. Why would we not want God's grace? It is by grace that we are saved! Our enemy, the devil, is the father of lies. He will do anything to convince us that we do not deserve God's grace, that we are not forgiven, that we should be ashamed of the things we have said or done and how could God even forgive that? We must recognize and discern the voice we are listening to. Is it God's voice or Satan's voice? Who do we want to have glory? God or Satan?

There is a song that comes to mind that was made famous by Casting Crowns. The lyrics say:

“Oh what I would do to have 

The kind of faith it takes

To climb out of this boat I'm in

Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name

And they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times

I've tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again. ‘Boy, you'll never win!’

‘You'll never win.’

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story

The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"

And the Voice of truth says, ‘This is for My glory’

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth”

The Voice of Truth has always said, "I love you. I want you. I chose you. Don't be afraid."

John 3:16 (NLT), “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Isaiah 41:9-10 (NLT), “I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Remember, Satan was kicked out of heaven because of his pride. God invites us to come to Him boldly before His throne of grace. I urge all of us to accept this gift of grace. Bring the sins in our hearts to God and allow Him to cleanse us from unrighteousness. In doing this, we will be clothed in righteousness, in splendor, in His glory. The whole world will see the difference in us and recognize that we are set apart from the world. They will long for what we have. Many fruits are forgiveness, love, salvation, and hope. We can do our part and point people to the One who makes all things beautiful in His time - Jesus.