Surely righteous people are praising your name; the godly will live in your presence. [Psalm 140.13]
Relative to my post yesterday, this verse comes as no surprise today.
What are "righteous people" if they are not repentant?
There is not enough said for the importance of repentance. Righteousness will not bypass repentance.
Praise is where God dwells. If praise is laced with unrighteousness, God will leave the house.
What's more is that I fear that unrighteous praise may even work against us. Unrighteous, un-repentant praise could, in fact, be no different than Uzzah steadying the cart carrying the Ark of the Covenant and dying because he touched it.
Praise should be reserved for God. But also, praise should only be delivered from the lips of one with a repentant heart.
We are fortunate today that Jesus dealt with all the details of the Law on our behalf. What a relief that is! HOWEVER, there is one thing left remaining for us to deal with - unbelief. We are under no less obligation to repent for unbelief as Old Testament folks were under obligation to repent for disobedience to the Law. While Jesus removed the obligation to the Law, He did not remove the obligation to repent! Remember, Jesus started off His ministry with this word, "Repent..."
Father, help me to take more seriously than ever the need for my life to one of repentance. Every day my faith is attacked by faithless, Godless, worldly, self-centered garbage. Every day I need to repent for allowing unbelief to be borne of that garbage.
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