February 22

Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness. — Mic 7:9 BSB

It is a true view of our sins against God that enables us to endure His indignation against us and our sins. As long as we are filled with pride and self-righteousness, we complain about the Lord’s dealings when His hand is heavy upon us. But once we truly recognize what we deserve, all murmuring is silenced. You may grumble and rebel at your hard circumstances, but if you feel the weight of your guilt, it will soften even the hardest cross with tears of repentance. In grace, if you feel the gravity of your sins and mourn because you have sinned against God, you will sometimes marvel at His patient mercy—that He has endured with you so long, not striking you down or condemning you to hell.

You will also come to see that the heaviest blows were fatherly disciplines, the rod dipped in love, and that they were for your good and His glory. When the sense of deserved judgment enters your soul, meekness and submission follow, allowing you to say with the prophet, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him.” You would not escape the rod if you could, for as Cowper wrote, “Bastards may escape the rod, Sunk in earthly, vain delight; But the true-born child of God Must not, would not if he might.”