“I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” – Psalm 34:1-3
What is justification by faith? It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself. When men see their own nothingness, they are prepared to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. When they begin to praise and exalt God all the day long, then by beholding, they are becoming changed into the same image. (1)
Oh! how much we have lost as a people by our lack of faith. We have suffered loss to our own souls and have failed to reveal to others, by our words and our character, what Christ is and will be to every one who comes to Him believing. He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own and thus make Him known. And in what ever way we make known the Father and the Son, we glorify God. (2)
Says the prophet: “Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” [Malachi 3:2, 3.] Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above, are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort, they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative Judgment is going forward in Heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14. (3)
Charge for the Day: Are you praising God all the day long, in spite of trials and difficulties? Consider why learning to praise God during hard times is essential to being refined and being transformed into His image.
1. Letter 73, 1896
2. Manuscript 16, 1890
3. The Great Controversy, p. 425