“Praise Coaching”–Part 5: Crowned
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits… who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy…“
The benefits of this phrase are crucial to our salvation. While they follow after a “negative benefit”–one that is the undoing of a problem, they also begin a string of positive gifts that secure us in our redemption and our empowerment to live.
I’ve never been “crowned” as supreme in any realm. My athletic prowess is legendary in its deficit. No trophies there. I was the proverbial last one picked on the playground (unless I was captain doing the picking). I started every varsity football game–in the band. And even there I was in the middle of the section.
Most people would think that because I’ve had a fairly strong academic background that I would have been valedictorian in high school–but the prevailing culture of my high school years was to dismiss all such trivial distinctions–even before the “everybody gets a ribbon for participating” movement. So we didn’t have a valedictorian (perhaps it was to eliminate yet another graduation speech filled with platitudes and confident assertions about our future success).
Later, while in Southern California, I was encouraged to try out for the TV show, Jeopardy! I did; and I was selected. While I had high hopes, I was not crowned champion when I competed–I finished last. I did get a nice recliner out of it, lots of Tetley Tea, and enough “Lee Press On Nails” for every woman in my life, but no throne or crown.
To be crowned is to be rewarded or empowered with an exalted status. In the psalms it often refers to the king (usually David) and his coronation. But it also has a usage that points to more general exaltation and reward. In the athletic arena there was the “victor’s crown.” And we sometimes refer to a person’s highest accomplishment as their “crowning achievement.” To have our lives “crowned” might make you think we have done something special. However, while our crowning is truly an exaltation, it isn’t anything that we have done.
Instead, it is a reminder that our salvation makes us more than just cleaned up sinners, it makes us royalty. What we were was people whose lives were consigned to the pit–condemnation or destruction. But because we have been “redeemed” from that (read the last post), that is no longer present or our future. What is? Eternal life as a part of the royal household. We are, the Bible says, “heirs of God” and “fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). We will someday “rule” and “reign” with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 20:6). That is certainly “royal status.”
But look at the description of our crowning. We are crowned with “steadfast love” and “mercy.” These two salvation words are priceless and precious.
“Steadfast love” is tough to translate fully into English. It refers to loyal, covenant faithfulness and affection from God that is undeserved. Sometimes it is translated, “love,” or “mercy,” or some combination of those with faithfulness or loyalty. None of the words alone capture its depth or strength. God loves you–and is so committed to you that you will never receive what your sins deserve but will always, without exception, experience only loving acceptance as his child. Imagine seeing that sentence every time this word occurs in the Bible! This is what allows you to be “crowned” and it is the character of the life you have received. You can live fully confident of your position in God’s family.
But the term “mercy” accompanies this first word. Why is it necessary? There could be many reasons, but the fact is, it is easy for people accustomed to living under condemnation and guilt to find themselves doubtful of God’s true kindness to them. That is especially true when we sin by doing or thinking those things that manifest the continuing lack of submission to our heavenly king and father by our sinful flesh. This added mention of mercy tells us that our lives are, from the moment of our salvation onward, characterized by God’s determination never to treat us as we deserve, but only as his love dictates. No wrath comes–it has been borne already by Jesus. No condemnation is ours, for we are in Christ Jesus.
What a life! We are, for all practical purposes, the “crowning achievements” of God’s faithfulness made with all the redeemed through the work of Jesus. My life is the best life I could have–a winning life, if you will. But it is to the credit of the God who decided I should have it–and you should, too, if you have trusted his Son’s sacrifice for your sins.
