When you reach God’s throne, you’ll first obtain mercy. You’ll then find grace to help you and your friends in times of need.
SHAUNA: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada Sharing Hope with a beautiful hymn from Joni.
(Joni sings:)
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is Love
Whoever lives and pleas for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart
Of all the modern hymns there are, isn’t this a favorite? I just love the title – “Before the Throne of God Above.” And that title comes from Hebrews 4, where it says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Don’t you just love that idea, that we can approach God's throne with confidence, but not to first find help for all our needs. No, rather we approach the throne of grace so that we might find mercy, mercy, mercy that is always the first order of things.
For instance, my husband Ken usually drives me to work in the morning in the Toyota van and as we drive down the freeway, we usually take that time to pray together. We’ve got a whole list of people that we pray for, besides things going on at Joni and Friends like delivering wheelchairs or doing Family Retreats. It’s a great way to spend the 20 minutes it takes to get from our house to work. Well, the other day, as Ken was driving, he starts out praying, “Thank you, Lord, for the day and we come before you to ask for our friends who are sick and in bed,” and then he started listing off a bunch of names. But as he prayed, I felt this little tinge, this little pinprick in my conscience. I mean, here we are just coming to God as though he were our personal butler, our vending machine, our go-to-guy. You got a need? God will take care of it. Well, I joined in with Ken in naming out loud the various people and the needs that we prayed for.
But afterward, I mentioned to him what was troubling my mind, and we both agreed. We take access to God way too much for granted. So ever since then, as we have approached the throne of grace, as we drive that distance from our house to the Joni and Friends International Disability Center, we pray first to obtain mercy and we do it carefully and respectfully. “God, we do not deserve the privilege of even entering your presence. There’s nothing we’ve done to earn a hearing with you; we are poor sinners. But we come before you because of Jesus and the mercy you’ve shown us through him. So, for his sake, we present to you our requests.” Friend, that is what it means to first obtain mercy. And then get grace to help you in your time of need.
I like the way Matthew Henry describes Hebrews 4. He says, “There is a throne of grace set up, a way of worship instituted, in which God may with honor meet poor sinners. God might have set up a tribunal of strict and inexorable justice, dispensing death, the wages of sin, to all who were convened before it; but no, he has chosen to set up a throne of grace, a grace that speaks encouragement to sinners. There grace reigns, and acts with sovereign freedom, power, and bounty.” And oh friend, as you go before God, that is what happens when you reach his throne. First you obtain mercy and then you find grace to help you and your friends in their time of need.
© Joni and Friends