For the last couple of months, the New Testament readings from the Book of Common Prayer Lectionary each week have been from Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Paul has been proclaiming the truth of justification and salvation through faith alone to his readers. He has also been stating in this Epistle that it doesn’t matter what one’s lineage is, if we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are a spiritual descendant of Abraham, and a part of the covenant that God made with him. In our Scripture passage today, it’s as if Paul set down his pen for a moment and broke out into a small but spontaneous brief hymn of praise to God. The truths he had been writing about in the previous chapters have overjoyed him in worship to the Savior.
While we remain here on earth, we do not always totally understand God’s ways (vs. 33). The prophet Isaiah corroborates that in Isaiah 55:8-9. What we can do, even though we don’t understand everything God does in our life and in this world, is to worship Him for His goodness, love, and mercy. God is omniscient, and we are not. He knows everything, the past, the present, and the future. Our knowledge and understanding are limited. God’s purpose and decrees are not for us to always know, nor the methods He uses to achieve them.
Verse 34 is quoted from Isaiah 40:13. Can we tell God anything that He doesn’t already know? Is it possible to go into a problem and work out a better solution than the Lord God can? Certainly not! God doesn’t need counsel or advice from anyone. He doesn’t sit down around a table with a group of the angels, asking their ideas as to what to do about something, and He certainly doesn’t need our help figuring out a problem. His ways are always perfect!
Verse 35 is quoted from Job 41:11. Everything in this universe belongs to God, as He created it all, and He does not need us to provide Him with anything. Nor does God owe us anything, either. This is where the belief of a “works salvation” is refuted. With salvation by works, we live a life of doing good deeds and religious rituals, and then after life present them to God with the assumption that because of them, God owes us a pass into heaven, God “paying” us our reward for our good deeds and rituals. God doesn’t need anything from us, nor owe anything to us.
God is the Source and Sustainer of everything that exists (vs 36). We are all dependent on Him. God, and God alone, is the source of all things. Some people are very proud and independent, thinking that they are the masters of their own life and fate. This verse, and so many throughout the Scriptures, show that isn’t the case. God holds our very breath and life in His Hands, and it is through His mercy that we have our life, health, food, and everything we need.
So what can we take away from these verses that Paul wrote? Though we don’t understand everything, we can rest in the knowledge that He does! He is all-knowing and all-powerful, and because of that, whatever He does, that is the best. He gives us the best that He has, which is salvation through His only Son, Jesus Christ. We can’t give Him anything, but He gives us everything. For that, for everything in our lives, He deserves our praise and glory, now and forever!
AMEN!!!
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