Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  

Psalm 32:1  

David had a sophisticated understanding of evangelical truth. Our text is a reflection of that understanding. If he understood imputation of iniquity, conversely he also understood imputed righteousness. The Scripture refers to imputed righteousness as early as Genesis 15, where it says of Abraham, ‘and he believed in the LORD and He accounted it to him for righteousness.’ Thus the ancients understood imputed righteousness from early days. David says that a person is blessed whose transgression is forgiven. What do we know about this? We know that Christ has borne our iniquities. They were imputed to him. God has imputed His righteousness to us. Thus we are blessed because our transgression is forgiven and our sin is covered. Christ is the reason for this grand transaction. It is because of Him that God no longer imputes sin to us. David looked to Christ as the One Who resolved his sin issue. He looked forward to Christ by faith. We also look to Christ. David had never seen Christ, nor have we. Chronologically, He looked forward to Him. We look backward to Him. David believed by faith as do we. He enjoyed forgiveness of sins upon the merits of Christ , we stand upon the merits of Christ. In this, both the ancient saints and we are one in Christ. The gospel message is for any who will receive it that Christ is the answer to our sin problem. We desire this forgiveness for all who will have it. 

Our Gracious and Loving God, 
we rejoice that You forgive. 
We praise You that Your forgiveness rests 
upon the righteousness of Christ.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!  

Psalm 27:14  

Few things try us as much as waiting. Often we cry,  ‘How long, O Lord, how long?’ We have sought the Lord’s face. We have prayed with fervency and at times with tears. We have faith and have exercised it. Yet, at times, the skies have been as brass and the earth as iron. We have come to the end of ourselves and to the limit of our ability to believe. How shall we go on? Our text gives us the answer. It sets forth the twofold encouragement to wait on Jehovah. The second carries with it an intensifier, ‘Wait, I say.’ In between are two other remarks. The first is an encouragement to us to, ‘Be of good courage.’ The second tells us what God will do. It promises, ‘He shall strengthen your heart.’ It does not promise we shall wait less. It makes no promise that God will intervene sooner. It rather bolsters us to endure the waiting in faith and in confidence that God will do well for us. What is the foundation for this confidence? Christ is. Believers have always looked to Christ. The ancient saints had greater evangelical knowledge than we give them credit for having. They looked to the coming Promised One. God strengthened their hearts with sights of Christ and the promise of Christ. We have not seen Him, yet we also believe. We wait for Him and He will come.   

Our Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You are as good as Your Word. 
We praise You that You will do for us, 
all that we need. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! 

Psalm 27:13-14 

Waiting is wearisome. At times while we are waiting we are inclined to lose heart. Often that for which we are waiting seems distant, unlikely, and perhaps impossible.  David understood this. He had personal experience with waiting. It was a long time between what God promised him and the fulfillment of those promises. In between there were many adversities. Some of the circumstances he encountered were so dire, it appeared they might end his life before the promises could reach fulfillment. What David experienced over time was that God would indeed be as good as His word. His goodness and mercy did follow David. He did fulfill all His promises. Thus David could say with the authority of personal experience, ‘Wait on the LORD; be of good courage.’ This is his practical advice to all of us who also wait on Jehovah. How does God strengthen our heart? He does so by showing us Christ. He shows us the One in Whom we can believe. He is the One Who does good to us in the land of the living. We walk this pilgrim pathway behind Him, the Good Shepherd. We have reason to be of good courage. Christ will strengthen our heart by showing Himself faithful to us again and again. We can take David’s advice to heart and see what God will do.    

Our Glorious, Living God, 
we rejoice that You encourage us when we are most downcast. 
We praise You that everything that You have promised, 
You will fulfill.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen you heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! 

Psalm 27:14 

We spend much of our life waiting. We may be actively engaged in various worthwhile pursuits while we are waiting, but they serve to profitably fill the time until what we are waiting for comes to pass. A bride and groom are waiting for the day of their wedding. They are working, making plans, and preparing while they wait. An expectant woman is waiting for the birth of her child. She engages in many activities, some of which are directly preparatory and others which are part of her regular routine. The people of God have waited for Him in various ways for centuries. From the first utterance of the gospel in Genesis the people of faith waited for Christ to appear. The whole of the Old Testament is anticipatory of the coming of Christ. David had personal relationship with God that meant he was waiting for God for various things. He was waiting for God to deliver him from his enemies. He was waiting for God to fulfill His promises to him. He was, waiting for God to strengthen his heart and the heart of anyone who reads this Psalm. This was not an inactive waiting. He engaged in all the things that were required of him. In the midst of those activities he was waiting on God to strengthen his heart as He had done before. We wait on God to strengthen our hearts as well. We hope in the same Christ David did. We work while we wait. We look to Christ to intervene and give us strength of heart to follow Him.  

Great God of Wonders, 
we rejoice that You will fulfill all Your promises to us. 
We praise You that they shall not be ashamed, 
who wait for You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning