How I’ve desperately needed to sing daily of our Redeemer’s propitiating work on the cross as I suffer. When I’m under attack, I need to remember that He became sin in my place and completely took all the punishment for sin that I deserve.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
(“Jesus Paid It All,” Hall, E. M., 1865)
The destructive emotions and thoughts that arise from ongoing suffering can become severe attacks on our redeemed souls. I have to sing the gospel at these times, thanking God for Jesus…precisely when the accuser is attacking.
Thanking God for Jesus who paid it ALL in my place
This quote from Jerry Bridges echoes this reality.
“In times of adversity Satan will seek to plant the thought in our mind that God is angry with us and is disciplining us out of wrath. Here is another instance when we need to preach the gospel to ourselves. It is the gospel that will reassure us that the penalty for our sins has been paid, that God’s justice has been fully satisfied.”1
Alas! and did my Saviour bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, thine,
And bathed in its own blood;
While all exposed to wrath divine
The glorious Sufferer stood.
(“Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed,” Watts, I., 1707)
Thanking God for Jesus who IS my salvation
Oh Father, it’s as common now as it was in the time of Job. When others proudly judge us as sufferers, You know we must speak the gospel truth to our souls. We must remember that Jesus took our place on the cross, the Suffering Servant (Is. 52-53).
When we fear we aren’t saved, producing horrendous loss, grief, and turmoil, we can look to the cross of Jesus and sing His words to us:
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree.
Abba Father, thank You for Your affectionate love, amazing love, faithful love, covenant love for us in Christ
Abba Father, it’s too amazing to even think that You would do this for me, to see me as righteous as Jesus is before You. Right now. To know, along with Job, that You have “redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light” (Job 33:28 ESV).
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When God, the mighty Maker, died
For man, the creature’s sin.
Yes, it might seem like You’re hiding, like all is nothing but darkness, like Your glory is shut in. But, with a redeemed, rescued, “sealed by Your Spirit” saved soul, I can look upon the cross of Christ and sing gospel truth to my soul, thanking You for Jesus. It’s the truth about Your perfect love for me in Christ!
By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world (1 Jn. 4:17 ESV).
Father, thank You for Jesus who paid it all, when the enemy attacks our souls as we suffer
Thus might I hide my blushing face,
While his dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes in tears.
Father, precisely when I’m spiraling in doom and gloom, when I’m tempted to live with an unthankful heart, when I’m afraid of You instead of coming to You, dissolve my heart in thankfulness…
by thanking You for Jesus, whose propitiatory work on the cross in my place means…I now live as Your beloved child who is suffering…
but no longer bears any punishment for sin.
Not now and not ever.
Faithful God of peace, melt my eyes in tears of gratitude beneath the cross once again…when my heart hurts…
so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints (1 Thess. 3:13 ESV).
In the name of my Lord Jesus who paid it all, in my place, amen.
A playlist gift to thank God for Jesus who paid it all in our place
Sister in Christ, if you’re suffering in this season of thanksgiving too, if your heart is hurting and you’re searching for authentic thankfulness, would thanking our God for Jesus and His gospel gift to us be helpful?
It sure is for me. It’s His gracious gift to sing of His love for me, in and through what Jesus has done for me. It’s His gospel gift that becomes His victorious and powerful spiritual warfare against the enemy of our souls, the enemy of Jesus Himself.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16 ESV)!
I’ve made a playlist for the moments I’m under attack as I suffer (pretty much daily) and therefore, need to sing my thanksgiving to Jesus, who paid it all! If this would bless you, sign up here and it will come to your email with my love and prayers.
To read more of Lauri’s writing, you can use her devotional Bible study lament prayer journals: Praying God’s Promises Into Suffering, or Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character as We Suffer, or Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering. In the Valleys of God’s Love is written for children aged 3-8, a perfect read for grandparents, parents, and children to share together, preparing them for suffering to come.
Or perhaps you’d like podcasts of Scripture and song to encourage you as you suffer? For the times when it’s difficult to read? Click pictures.
