“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
~Psalm 51:5

I’ve been reading Paul David Tripp’s little book “Whiter than Snow” off and on in the mornings for that moment of getting my eyes on God each day.  It’s a slim volume with meditations on Psalm 51, David’s confession song to God after he imploded his life bedding Bathsheba. Paul focuses on a verse from the psalm each chapter and uses it to look at some aspect of sin, mercy, or grace.

Today’s felt especially pertinent for some reason, if only because in his comments, Paul underlines some basics about Christian living and sin nature and grace that I overlook too easily.

The chapter today was titled “If Only…”, and in it Paul writes a free verse list of reasons we use to excuse the unhappiness and disappointments in our lives.  “If only I had had more schooling.”   “If only I had gotten married.”  “If only I married a better mate.”

Well, after writing a long list, Paul returns us to thinking about the point of the chapter’s verse.

Our lives’ problems aren’t a result of what happened to us from the outside.  They aren’t a result of what we weren’t given, of what we didn’t learn, of who we didn’t know.

Our lives’ problems are a result of what has happened to us on the inside.  We all have a selfish nature that drives us to disarray, depression, and destruction.

That is the point of the Gospel, and the push of the Bible- we all need to be saved from ourselves.

My biggest problem in life is me.

Thankfully, Paul reminds us, like David does in this Psalm, that God is a deliverer.  He saves us from ourselves when we look to Him and let His truth wash over our lives.  His grace is the lightning bolt that blasts the grip of sin from our hearts, and that frees us to find victory in living.  His favor suspends our need to make excuses and to justify ourselves and to find reasons on the outside for our problems.

In His grace, our problems- our struggles due to sin- become opportunities for celebration because in our surrender to Him, our struggles with sin become opportunities for His strength to fill us anew, and for us to be reminded again that our relationship with Him is solely a product of His love, which saves us from ourselves.

In Him, I am no longer the problem, or a problem.  Instead, He daily delivers us from ourselves, and because of His grace, I am allowed to think about life differently.

I can accept my life where it is and not make excuses for what I don’t have or what I think I am missing..

I can trust that God, having made me and loving me completely, knows what is best for my life, and He will come through for me with what I need to have a great life.

I can forget myself, and focus on loving others more fully and freely.