Luke 17

Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” ESV

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

You have given me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!        ESV

Psalms

The psalmist, herein, celebrates the theological truth that fundamentally divides Christianity and naturalism. When people get the origins of life wrong, then man the master will wield his usurped power in tyrannical destruction of human life. When people get those origins correct, then they must eventually fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But not only are we His by His right as our Creator, “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Ps 100: 3). Unmerited by will or work, in direct defiance of our deserving, we have been chosen by God to be the objects of His unwearying affection. God pitching His sovereign grace on such undeserving rabble as we are is the root of all worship, the bedrock of all praise, the unwavering foundation of all gratitude. As we ponder, with the ancient psalmist, this great truth about salvation, we too should clamber to “enter his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise” (v. 4). We will feel that there is nothing we would rather do than use up every hour of our days on this planet and every ounce of energy in our frame, every drop of blood in our veins giving glory to Him and blessing His most glorious of all names.

Neste, Ray Van; C. Richard Wells (2012-09-19). Forgotten Songs (Kindle Locations 1494-1499). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.