“…the time of your visitation…”

And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Luke 19:44b

Immediately upon entering Jerusalem in His triumphal entry, Jesus wept over the state of the city. He knew that in one short week the place that had just enthusiastically welcomed Him would turn against Him. The shouts of “Hosanna!” would twist to become savage calls to “Crucify Him!” The people gathered there would reject the King of Peace (Luke 19:41-42) and set themselves up for a judgment that would come within a generation. Even then His death and resurrection would bear all the wrath of God to restore peace if they would only know Him. Instead, all the Roman power that the Jews despised would eventually rip the city down to rubble.

Jesus said this would happen because they did not know the time of their “visitation”. This is a difficult phrase to understand. It helps to look at the original Greek and to know that the word translated “visitation” is the same word used elsewhere for “oversight”. This is the word used to describe one of the roles of pastor/shepherd. Jerusalem had rejected their Overseer, their Great Shepherd Leader and in that crass rejection of God Himself in Jesus they set themselves up for nothing less than a devastated future of divine judgment because of their unbelief.

We all live under the “visitation”, the oversight, of the Lordship of Jesus Christ right now. The world is answerable to Him. Christians must surrender lives to Him in gratitude for grace. To reject the Lordship of Jesus is to find nothing left but God’s judgment. Either Jesus bears it, or it falls on us. To accept the oversight, the Lordship, and the grace of Christ is to find forgiveness in Jesus Christ Who bore all God’s judgment on the cross for us. Now is the time of our visitation as well.

they do not seek You (Psalm 10)

Faces twisted, painted in pride

their own created humanity denied

they do not seek You

they deny You

(Psalm 10:4)

Thinking of only personal pleasure

sinful displays beyond immoral measure

pour out from hearts steeped in sin

Your voice unheeded amidst evil din

(Psalm 10:7)

Human pride wrapped in degradation

mocking Your holy salvation

thoughts of selfish rule on display

the righteous hurting in dismay

(Psalm 10:3)

Outwardly it is very clear

that although You, O Lord, draw near

the wicked continually push away

mocking, deriding Your future judgment Day

(Psalm 10:11)

The righteous with a question mark

look at You, Lord, in days this dark

“Do You stand far away?”

“Are You hiding while we stay?”

(Psalm 10:1)

You do see their mischief and vexation

You take it all in Your hands and shake the nations

to You the humble helpless commits himself

as You shelter the oppressed and fatherless

(Psalm 10:14)

You, O Lord, King forever more

will shut the wicked outside Your door

justice to the oppressed, truth for error

so that man, who is of earth, strikes no more terror

(Psalm 10:17)

impossible grace

Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Luke 18:26-27

A wealthy, influential leader came to Jesus and asked the most important of all of life’s questions: “What can I do to live forever?” (Luke 18:18-30) The answer Jesus gave him was masterful and came in a two part dialogue. “First: Only God is good, so keep His good commands.” The wealthy man replies like a good Jew of his culture that he has been diligent at God’s Law from his youth. Then Jesus gets to his heart: “The only thing you lack: sell off your wealth, give it away to the poor and needy, live with a new heavenly perspective, and follow me.” Jesus is legitimately asking him to do what all his other disciples did: leave home, family, and livelihood and follow Him. This is a real call to discipleship. Jesus was clearly letting this man know that only Jesus is the way to eternal life.

The rich man walked away from the invitation because he would not leave his wealth. This revealed how little he really valued God’s Law and the desire for eternal life that Jesus offered. The crowd marveled at the difficulty of what Jesus asked. Jesus remarked at how hard it is for a wealthy person to enter into God’s kingdom. Competing kingdoms in conflict will keep us from the eternal kingdom.

This encounter actually reveals that it is IMPOSSIBLE for ANY person, rich or poor, to enter into the kingdom of God without Jesus. It is impossible without God’s grace providing both the means and the method of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Eternal life is only possible in Jesus Christ. Salvation is solely the work of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the regenerating work of God’s Holy Spirit in those who believe. Jesus has done what is impossible for us to do! 

losing my life

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

Luke 17:33

What does Jesus mean by this compelling statement? It was spoken in the context of Him coming again to judge the world. It is about the essential part of us, our very earthly existence, that each of us values and protects. We are people who live and our lives are where we find purpose, meaning, fulfillment, and satisfaction in their best moments. Our lives are also where we struggle with sin, pain, disillusionment, and sorrow. But even then our instinct is to survive, to go on living even when it is hard.

Jesus reminds us though that a self-centered focus in this present existence will eventually end in death. And without faith in God, trust in the gospel, and salvation through Jesus all that life will just be lost. Forever. It’s gone and lost for eternity. Preserving life by the world’s means is really losing life.

However, those who give up “this” life, who repent of self-centered rebellion and turn from sin to give their lives to the Savior will “save” their lives. They will find life in Jesus. Forever. They will enjoy abundant life, despite the struggles, here and now.Thus, to lose life is to save it… in eternity… forever… with Jesus! Thank God, He has provided life in Christ! I will gladly lose a “lost life” to gain eternal life and truly live!

morning prayer

O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I direct my prayer to you and watch.

Psalm 5:3

My Father,

I come to You as morning light streams in my window and birdsong outside gives glory to the Creator. I have opened Your Word. I have heard Your voice. You have called me now to pray to You.

And now, my God, hear my words. Consider my heartfelt adoration, receive my needed confession, in thankfulness for all that You do in saving and keeping me I leave my requests with You. I know You will pay attention to the sound of my voice as I pour out my heart.

My King, rule in this heart of mine. Keep Your kingdom’s agenda directing me this day. May others know me both as the King’s child and Your ambassador! You have the power to work in me, to use me to expand Your rule, and to show the world Your great reign.

I confess this morning that I must lay my own anxious agenda down and repent of wanting my world my way. You are doing Your work in me in Your way, with Your timing, for Your glory and my good. This is Your world, not mine. This morning You hear my voice! My prayer is to You alone. I will wait, serve, and watch because Jesus keeps my heart and rules beyond it all! 

Amen

convincing truth

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’

Luke 16:31

The last statement of the story of Lazarus and the rich man brings the issue of believing the truth of scripture sharply into focus. In the story the rich man, tormented after death in hell-flame, begs for Lazarus to be raised from the dead to warn his surviving family of this real eternal peril. But the answer that comes in return is quite firm: the witness of the Word of God is more than sufficient to persuade sinners to repent. Those who mock it or dismiss it do so at the loss of their eternal souls.

There is no more fervent believer in the reality of God’s judgment upon sin than a soul in hell. But by then it is too late to make a difference. And if that sounds harsh, remember that it was the gracious and loving Jesus Who taught the most about the dangers and the reality of hell as a place of eternal, conscious punishment for those who reject the truth of God’s salvation. Who was the audience that Jesus warned were in danger of hell?… the highest religious leaders of His day who thought they had everything all together spiritually. But instead, they were in religion for the money and prestige, (Luke 16:14) lovers of money who were represented by the rich man in the story.

Lord Jesus, I am convinced by Your Word and by Your resurrection. I am firmly convinced that eternity awaits my soul. I have witnessed Your saints leave this world for the reward of entering Your rest. I am convinced that heaven and hell are real and that You save and reward those who are convinced by the gospel to turn in faith to You.

Amen

I am the lost one.

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

Luke 15:4

I am the lost one.

I wander far away.

I have a tendency to stray.

With my Shepherd I don’t stay.

I will get lost any given day.

I am the lost one.

Jesus has to look for me.

He leaves ninety-nine to seek me.

He doesn’t stop until He finds me.

He grabs ahold to secure me.

I am the lost one.

Grace centers on my condition.

Healing pours on my affliction.

Never alone in my situation,

mercy finds me for salvation.

I am the lost one.

I have strayed places dire.

I am rescued from the mire.

Valued, cleansed, returned from far.

Healed of my wound and scar.

I am the lost one.

Jesus sought me, brought me home.

He would not let me continue to roam.

Gathered safely in my Savior’s fold.

My future now the Shepherd will hold.

shield

My shield is with God,

who saves the upright in heart.

Psalm 7:10

God is my shield from the worst dangers of my life. He protects my life and like a shielded warrior I will stand as God fights off the attacks against me and absorbs the blows of this world. God is my…

S - Salvation. Because Jesus has saved me, nothing can destroy my soul! My faith in the gospel is my eternal protection and always my shield.

H- Hope. I am shielded from sin’s judgment with a firm future forgiven in Christ. I am protected in my life right now, sealed by His Holy Spirit moving forward, and bound for an eternity with Jesus who will rule a new heavens and new earth.

I - Inheritance. I know the riches of Christ’s glorious inheritance of the saints. This secures me in the wealth of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:18).

E - Eternity. My vision has expanded to glimpse eternity. My life is forever with Jesus and His people! Nothing will take that away.

L - Love. I am held in the love of my Lord. I love others with that same love that loves me. This protects my heart from loneliness and my life from uselessness.

D - Deliverance. Death cannot stop my hope or my protection. I am delivered from sin, from judgment, and from the worst that death could bring. It is now just a doorway to a brighter future. It is just a valley to pass through to a higher mountain. Forever protected and secured, my shield is indeed with God.

humility and greatness

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 14:11

This world has its own plan for success that looks nothing like what Jesus advocates. It is on full display right now in America as political parties hold their conventions and nominate their candidates. The world prides itself on self-promotion. Those who want to lead us and gain mass approval via election must brag on perceived successes in order to get elected. Each candidate in a political party will taunt the failures of opponents and speak exaltedly about themselves. It grossly disobeys what Jesus taught and did. The world however buys it… laps it up… cheers it on. Christians should see it for the evil that it is and look to Jesus instead. According to Jesus, humility is the path to true greatness.

And so we should pause and listen well now to Jesus. Take in the political speeches. Study the issues. But listen to Jesus! We do not want to disobey Him or ignore the truth that self-exaltation is self-defeating. Only One must be pre-eminent: Jesus the King! One must be exalted: The worthy Jesus… Our Lord! One deserves to be praised: Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We humbly bow before Him and lift our eyes to Him. He humbled Himself, took the form of a servant, and gave His life for us. Now exalted as Lord over the universe, we worship Him.

Humility remains in very short supply. It is often eclipsed in my own heart by my own selfish desire for recognition. How this truth from Jesus needs to rule His people! Let us humble ourselves. Let us lift up Jesus to a confused and proud world. May our humble servant Savior be exalted as we humble ourselves before Him!

narrow door and future feast

Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Luke 13:24

Jesus did not speculate when asked how many would eventually be saved in His kingdom. Instead, He made it clear the focus was on knowing Him, on being His follower, on trusting and believing Him not just with a popular attraction, but in true relationship. There would be many attracted to Jesus. But it would take much more than “wanting” Him or mere crowd appeal to save souls. His own generation ate and drank and walked Judean roads with Him (Luke 13:26) and yet they did not all turn from sin to trust Jesus (Luke 13:27).

Yet, Jesus spoke of a future kingdom feast. And on that day people would come from all corners of the globe to recline at table with Jesus (Luke 13:29). Jesus’ own generation and His own people would eventually reject Him. But a bigger response than anyone could have ever anticipated would ripple around the world, across multiple generations and thousands of years, and even now is the only hope to last into eternity!

Jesus, it is clear in how You present Yourself that You are Savior and Judge. Not all who are interested in You will truly believe You. And there are those who follow You that this world absolutely despises. May the narrow door stay open as Your people proclaim Your gospel. May that future feast be filled with faithful followers, friends You know, lives You have saved, hearts You have made new! Amen

limping into a new day

And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

Genesis 32:24

When Jacob was at his most vulnerable, in fear that his own brother Esau would make good on his threat to kill him, he had an encounter with God. And that night, wrestling with the very God of the universe in his fear and uncertainty, Jacob’s life was set in a new and better direction. He was humbled. The night left him with a permanent limp… a reminder that God prevailed even as God also blessed him. It left Jacob with a new name: Israel - Striver with God.

It might be really easy to overly personalize this story. I hope I am being careful here. I have had my own long nights of wrestling in fear, sleepless tossings filled with struggles over what God was doing or seemingly not doing in my life. Nights of apprehension over what might be my future tomorrow felt to me like tiring spiritual wrestling matches. And although I have never felt like I have held God down, I have begged for His blessing when I felt everything was imploding. I know that God hears in desperation! I too have seen Him settle my fears after much travail with Him. I’ve had God move me from troubled tossings to triumphant trust as God has prevailed and my fear has failed.

God with Whom I have wrestled,

Even as I have felt like I have struggled to accept Your work, You have always won my heart back to following a beautiful and gracious God! I am Yours and You may do with me and in me as You please. May I, like Jacob/Israel, limp forward in faith in You, humbled that You have ended my wrestling and confident You are leading me on.

Amen

dressed for action

Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

Luke 12:35-36

Lord how can You delay

Your return any longer?

It seems that evil

can grow no stronger.

It could happen any day

You could part heaven’s clouds

and end this rebellious din

then be marveled by watching crowds.

May I be dressed and ready

waiting patiently for Your reign;

keeping lamps brightly lit

and not asleep in vain.

Dressed for action I await

Your presence to appear.

Trusting gospel, telling others

until You judge in place here.

Jesus is coming soon

to rule and judge this place!

I long to see His kingdom

welcomed by His approving face.

He will come with kindled fire

ready to judge all evil men.

May I keep telling of His salvation

until this world is judged by Him.

the magnitude of this message

The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Luke 11:32

There is a principle here that Jesus alone is qualified to teach us. It seems that the greater the light of revelation that God gives, the greater the responsibility for those to whom He gives it. This implies a much sterner judgment for those who reject the greater light. Jesus is confident that the Ninevites who repented at the lackluster preaching of Jonah would condemn those who rejected God Himself in Jesus. Those who rejected the very words of Jesus were liable for a greater light and a greater judgment.

And so it is when we carry the gospel to our world. Do we realize that those who reject a clear teaching of the gospel will bear much stricter judgment? Do we treat the gospel with the respect that such a message is due? Do we accept that by believing the gospel ourselves we are saved from such a severe judgment? The gospel is a message with high impact and a depth of magnitude we miss if we aren’t careful.

We are a generation entrusted with the only way to salvation. We preach a gospel that holds us all accountable with THE TRUTH that holds heaven and hell in the balance as the outcome of proclaiming it. This is no light responsibility. We have something greater than anything else the world says. We have something greater than any other message the world needs to hear right now. It is greater than a political process, a cultural conflict, or an environmental edict! Jesus compels us to seriously accept the magnitude of this message.

Let them fall.

Make them bear their guilt, O God;

let them fall by their own counsels;

because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,

for they have rebelled against you.

Psalm 5:10

There is no need for me to get so worked up about this wicked world around me as if it were up to me to punish evil. That is God’s job and He does it perfectly. I love how David prays in this psalm. He simply believes God will handle the wicked. God is the judge. God is in control. Evil people will answer to Him. It is an awful outcome to consider, but their guilt will fall upon their own hands in the presence of a holy God.

And their own counsel… their own plans… there own sinful choices of disobedience, unbelief, and selfish shame will be their undoing. We need not try to point out what God will indeed punish. God often chooses to let their choices and actions run full course so that the wicked fall by their own counsels. They are undone by their own rebellion and moral stupidity. They fall in their own orchestrated downward slide. They will answer to the King of Kings for their own rebellion. Jesus offers full pardon and new life. When that is rejected, there is no where else to go. They will fall. They choose it in their rejection. Let them fall.

So when I see a lot of things wrong in my world I will do this: I will cling to the gospel personally and trust God will handle rebellion in this world completely. I will let God let things go as He wills so that He can be both merciful deliverer for those who trust Him, and avenging Judge for those who oppose Him. Let them fall. God is still very much in control.

those God chose

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

Luke 10:21

Those God chose

were not the wise

not those brilliant

in their own eyes

instead, those who

did not understand

were blessed by God’s

sovereign, choosing hand

with Jesus revealed

in a kingdom unconcealed

Those God chose

have known the Son

seeing, walking with Jesus

saved to follow the One

Who died for them

and like children believe

that Jesus is the Way

a Savior they receive

by living faith

in Jesus they are healed

by the Spirit they are sealed

Those God chose

kingdom citizens

heaven’s denizens

rewarded as those God chose

confounding the world’s ways

forever will be their days

rejoicing to be

with their Lord

Obeying His Word

we are: those God chose

He is grace and healing.

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;

heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

Psalm 6:2

David wrote this psalm, this prayer for healing and plea for grace, as he lived in a situation of spiritual, emotional, and physical sorrow and pain. There was a spiritual need as David asked God to withhold His rebuke and anger (Psalm 6:1). There was a deeply emotional component as David’s condition was “languishing”, a word that describes a feeling of weakness, even powerlessness. And physically, David described his troubles as extending to his very bones.

In this kind of extensive suffering, David cried out to his only hope. He knew he could only find relief by the healing work of God. And so he begs for God’s grace and requests God’s healing touch. And in that simple yet deeply personal prayer, we find a reminder in how to handle life’s roughest moments today. We too need a God of grace Who heals us daily. And that is exactly what we have every day in Jesus! And so we can confidently come to Him.

O Lord Jesus!

You are grace to me when I am weak and powerless. And many times under my own delusion I refuse to see how weak and hurting I truly am. Forgive me and heal me! You are mercy and You are forgiveness when my sins deserve rebuke and discipline. You are healing for my deepest sickness when I am troubled to my very bones. Thank You for being all that I need in answer to my cries of distress.

Amen

Under command of the King

…and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Luke 9:2

Disciples center on the call to make the healing kingdom of Christ known. This was what Jesus equipped the twelve apostles to do in His name, by His authority, for His glory! And for a season during His earthly ministry they went out in teams of two and saturated the towns and villages in the Judean countryside with the good news of the rule of King Jesus.

We are called to do the same. In fact, the ninth chapter of Luke is bookended with this call to proclaim the good news of the kingdom. In Luke 9:57-62 Jesus uses the occasion of several discipleship conversations with unnamed followers to make this call to proclaim Him as King and to preach His kingdom quite clear as the expectation for all disciples. He calls disciples who wish to follow Him to “go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60). 

This is the highest priority in a disciple’s life, alongside our need for shelter, our obligation to care for family and loved ones, and our maintenance of loving relationships. Disciples live in Christ’s kingdom, for His Kingdom, by His kingly rule, to make the rule and authority of Jesus over all and in all known to a world captured in the control of sin, shame, and Satan. Jesus heals from all the damage the insidious, inferior kingdom does to us. And it is precisely the rule of Jesus in us and made known by us that puts us at odds with a world under this evil and inferior rule! But Christ’s kingdom crushes all others. In that we can be confident! And so we follow, proclaiming the rule of Jesus in what we say and we do, under command of our King.

blessed and still believing

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

Genesis 24:1

Abraham had reached the point in his walk with God where God, through His covenant blessings, had brought to Abraham riches, prestige, honor, and a claim to the Promised Land. And in his advanced years — despite being a nomad — despite waiting decades by faith — despite struggling with unbelief and resorting to his own wrong strategies — despite the long wait of faith for even one son of God’s promise — despite the loss of his wife and the pain of aloneness —- the old man looked at a lifetime filled with God’s covenant care and blessing.

At this point Abraham’s faith must be passed on generationally. It is the next part of God’s covenant commitment coming true. So Abraham sent his servant on a quest to find a wife for his son Isaac. And in this way the old man would see even more of God’s blessing and promises fulfilled. In Isaac the next generation of covenant children would be born as God decreed. Abraham would trust God to help provide the right woman to pass on this heritage of faith. And Abraham, in faith, devised a way to trust what God would do.

I find then in Abraham a couple of comforting challenges: First, even in blessings we must still trust God. Secondly, even in blessings we must step out in faith with plans to please God and trust Him. And at this stage of my life, where I am closer to where Abraham is in this text than I care to admit, may I not just sit and look back. I seek to move forward still with amazing ways to see God work! I want to keep taking new steps forward, in faith in Jesus Christ, in trust in the blessings of the New Covenant written in His blood for me. I will trust His promises and hope. 

Lord, in faith and thankfulness for the life I have in Christ, with each new day, may I take a new step! Amen

Bring it!

Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him…

Luke 8:1

The way the ministry of Jesus was done as described here by Luke intrigues me as I read it. Here is Jesus at the height of His Galilean ministry. He is itinerate, traveling with His band of disciples and a ragtag collection of followers from place to place. And He is both preaching the kingdom of God and bringing it. That is interesting. It isn’t just that the gospel is preached. It is more than words. It is more than a message. The gospel brings change to lives in visible ways. It orients those who believe Jesus to a new life… a new purpose… a new direction… a new meaning. The gospel brings healing, help, comfort, and peace.

That is what Jesus did with the good news. And those twelve who traveled with Him? They were commissioned by Him with that same gospel… a gospel we still preach and bring into our societies when we teach and model Jesus’ transforming truth to our own towns and villages around the world.

The gospel isn’t just taught… it is brought. It isn’t just preached but it is also lived. It is more than speaking… IT IS DOING! Jesus brings change as we faithfully proclaim the gospel AND live as Jesus shows us. That is the call of discipleship… to tell all about Jesus and live as He shows us. May we both preach and bring it!

Don’t stumble over Jesus.

And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Luke 7:22-23

Jesus is controversial. He always has been. Early in His public ministry even John the Baptist had questions about the nature of Jesus’ ministry. John had prepared the way for a Messiah and a deliverer of Israel. Yet Jesus was doing things at a very different pace and in very different ways than John did. And so Jesus gave John and his disciples this answer.

Jesus lets His work speak for itself. There was no miracle of healing that Jesus would not do for someone in need. There was no disease too dirty for Jesus not to cleanse. And there was a beautiful gospel… a kingdom message of good news in a world of bad news… and it was taking root among the neediest people. Jesus was doing the true work of deliverance: He delivered from darkness, paralysis, silence, uncleanness, and even death itself. 

The final word Jesus gave was to remind John not to see what Jesus did as something to stumble over. The meaning of “offense” is to trip or stumble over a stone in the path. Jesus was NOT in the way, but rather He IS the way. “Offense” is related to our work “scandal”. We can be scandalized by Jesus, especially in the later work of His death and resurrection, or we can be saved by Him. But we cannot ignore Him. We have to deal with the divine disruption He has made in our world! Even today, as Jesus still saves and heals lives, He disrupts and transforms. We have to deal with the disruption and answer for ourselves: “Who is Jesus?”

sustained through the night

I lay down and slept;

I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

Psalm 3:5

I often take for granted the common sustaining mercies of God. Every night that I shut my eyes for sleep I am entrusting myself to God’s care for another day. I’ve slept all over the world in all sorts of places and ways and God brought me a new morning every time! That daily kind of faith should not be overlooked. 

I have crawled into a sleeping bag under mosquito nets in an African village. I’ve slept in a high rise hotel room in some of the most expensive real estate in the world in bustling Hong Kong. I’ve laid down under the stars on a mat in the New Mexico desert sand. Each time I awoke again the next day sustained by God for another day of living kept by His care for His glory. This is a mercy meant to be remembered as David wrote in this psalm.

Lord,

I’ve never slept under threat of my life like David did. Yet He could sleep entrusting himself to You. I begin this new day thankful for Your care and Your mercies. Even sleep is evidence of Your providence. I woke up to a new day from You… for You… dedicated to You. May I never take that for granted.

Amen