Tue Feb 24

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the word judge.

Reading

1 Corinthians 4:1–5—Lord, If I Have Done This …

Optional Reading

Psalm 7:3-5

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

We should ask God to be our judge.
And be willing to submit to His corrective judgment if needed.
Even if our conscience is clear, we want God to examine us.

Questions

(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)

What does David ask God to do if he is actually guilty?
Why is our own conscience not a good enough judge?
How might God reveal to us that we have guilt in a matter?

Notes

(See Saturday for authors.)

We saw yesterday that there is a time to merely not respond to an unjust accusation. Both in Psalm 7 and in our reading today we find another principal in trusting God while wrongly accused. That principal is seeking the Lord’s evaluation of us in the matter. David, in Psalm 7:3-5, asks God to judge him if he is guilty in the matter.

Paul, in our reading today, notes that although he believes he has a clear conscience, that alone doesn’t clear him. Only God, the perfect and righteous judge can make the final determination. So, we seek God and ask Him to seek us (Ps 139:23-24). Now, Paul sought always to have a clear conscience before God and men (Ac 24:16). But he left the final judgment up to God Himself.

And so should we. The fact that our conscience is clear doesn’t guarantee that we are without fault in any particular matter. So, we pray—asking God to reveal if we have fault. Calvin comments that we need to do this because we are dim-sighted, but God is preeminently discerning. We think of ourselves too indulgently, but God is a judge of the utmost strictness.

Like our readings today, we are reminded in Prov. 21:2 that God weighs our hearts. Examine yourself. And ask God to examine you. Submit yourself to the Bible and even God’s people to help reveal if you have guilt in a matter. And remember that your ultimate justification is in Jesus alone.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 7b, 65c

Prayer

Ask God to search you and know if you have done wrong.
Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.