I wake this morning with the song “Blessed be Your Name” on my heart. This is probably one of my top favorites songs to play and sing. The joy in the lyrics always permeates my heart and soul when I hear it and when I do hear the song, I can’t help but sing along.
I rejoice in the joy of the Holy Name of a Jesus this morning with the waking realization that God has put upon my heart from Jeremiah 1:5. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you: and before you were born I consecrated you.”
God added to my awe and joy by placing His Son’s deep love upon my heart. I am the worst of sinners. I have sinned, and sin, without count and depth. The extent of my sins, past and present, threaten to darken my soul beyond comprehension.
And, it is precisely in this place that the Father says to me, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you: and before you were born I consecrated you.” And, Jesus Christ reminds me, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned” John 3:16-18
God will not allow your sin, or mine, to overcome or overwhelm His tremendous Divine Mercy and love for you. He knew all the sins committed against His Sacred Heart, from day 1 until His second coming.
God sent the prophet Nathan to King David to draw him from his sin. David was a man after God’s own heart, based on God’s own words. Yet, he fell and committed sins that cried out to God. Murder, adultery, deceptions. As grievous as these sins of David were in God’s eyes, none made God turn His back on David. God made efforts to turn David around.
Look at Israel’s story through all of Biblical history. They turned from God time and time again, and every time, God sent prophets to open their eyes and turn the people around again. Then, He sent His only Son.
God’s love is so great that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
All of this wakes me this morning with a renewal of my joy in the Lord. This doesn’t release me from responsibility but does set me free of guilt that I may live in the joy of Jesus’ Divine Mercy.
Today read Psalm 51. This is David’s psalm of contrition and mercy, the words that flowed from David’s heart after he spoke to Nathan and recognized his sin. This is one of my favorite psalms for precisely the same reason as David.
The darkness and weight of all my sin lies before me. Every sin I’ve committed that cried out and hurt God. But, with joy, I wake this day and everyday knowing that Jesus came in His “abundant mercy” to “blot out my transgressions” and “restore the joy of my salvation.”
“Restore to me the joy of thy salvation” Psalm 51:12
“Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternityy.”
Let Jesus in His Divine Mercy wash away your sins and restore the joy of your salvation.