on dwelling on His glory and grace

one of my resolutions for this year is to go through 2 psalms a day. Today came upon Psalm 24 in my reading; and it ties in with the theme of stewardship that our local office is meditating upon this month.

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Psalm 24 (NIV)

Of David. A psalm.

 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
       the world, and all who live in it;

 2 for he founded it upon the seas
       and established it upon the waters.

 3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
       Who may stand in his holy place?

 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
       who does not lift up his soul to an idol
       or swear by what is false. 

 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
       and vindication from God his Savior.

 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
       who seek your face, O God of Jacob.  
       Selah

 7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
       be lifted up, you ancient doors,
       that the King of glory may come in.

 8 Who is this King of glory?
       The LORD strong and mighty,
       the LORD mighty in battle.

 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
       lift them up, you ancient doors,
       that the King of glory may come in.

 10 Who is he, this King of glory?
       The LORD Almighty—
       he is the King of glory.
       Selah

Taken from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=24&version=31

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Again, the apt reminder that everything belongs to the LORD, and He is in control. Even Satan belongs to God; and whatever evil that is plotted by the devil, is allowed by the permission of God.

Does that mean that God is evil, in allowing evil to perpetuate on this earth? No, rather, I see it as God being gracious and good in containing whatever evil the devil has wrecked upon this earth. If God has given the devil free reign, I guess the whole earth has descended into chaos by now. That is not the case, as we can see in the book of Job, Satan has to even seek God's permission to do what he wants to do upon Jacob first. And God protected Job, by limiting what Satan can do to Job's life.

Another piece of info that has been jogged in my memory by this psalm is that our Lord is the king of a thousand hills with oxen on them. He doesn't need our "sacrifices of oxen" to sustain Himself; indeed He Himself provide us with our daily bread. Nonetheless, He has given us the system of sacrifices for our own needs to respond to His grace and to draw nearer to His holiness. In simpler terms, the sacrificial system is for not only for atonement of sin, but for restoration and fellowship with the Holy of Holies.  

Thus, if we had made a covenant of bringing something to God, we ought to fulfil it unto the Lord. For once we made that promise with our hearts, the Lord will seal it and see that it is accountable on our end. He doesn't need anything from us, but once we promise something, He will see it as something we need to be reminded of.