Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
(Job’s) Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.
A Psalm of (Job first?) then David.
28 To you I call, O Lord, My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit (grave). 2 Hear the voice of my supplication (specific requests, humble entreaties) as I cry to You for help, As I lift up my hands and heart toward Your innermost sanctuary (Holy of Holies).
Job was a righteous man before God. Job was a prosperous man, a family man. It was a good life for Job, he was confident in how he was living that life. It seemed that nothing could go wrong that could not be effectively, efficiently, handled. I can see Job, even be jealous of Job for living such an endlessly successful life.
We want to move into Job’s home. We want to live and prosper like Job lived and prospered. It is everybody’s lifelong dream to model their whole lives as Job did. We have control over what happens around us. God is Good and it shows daily.
Until that goodness of God suddenly disappears faster than we can blink an eye.
It does not just disappear at warp speed; it disappears in the most traumatic of ways. The whirlwind of trauma grows ever stronger and its more unstoppable than we could ever have allowed ourselves to imagine possible. Levels of trauma from which there’s no apparent avenue of recovery, can things get even worse?
Suddenly, there seems to be no words which are sufficient to respond with. It suddenly becomes a giant vacuum for which words seem to get stuck within us. Suddenly this “growing zone of silence” is introducing itself, surrounding us.
The inevitable question is “Why Me? Why Now, come on explain yourself God “
What does Job hope to hear?
Job is sure of God’s response because Job is “faith on steroids” and he knows God is always responsive to the max with those who are faithful to God. But all Job hears is complete silence from God and the bleating voices of his friends.
Not exactly what Job desires, wants or needs to hear in this ultra-critical “Faith shaping” time and season. Job’s problem is that he has no way to examine God, to “Call God Out” and that is what he goes on to state in very eloquent terms.
Exasperated, He says that God’s wisdom is beyond man: How can you get hold of a God like that to debate with Him the issues that are causing the pain of life?
What can I do?
How can I get at this whole “God is Silent” problem?
Exasperated, Job makes his case before his friends and before his God.
AND BEFORE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US RIGHT THIS EXACT MOMENT!
Job 9:1-12 Amplified Bible
Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man
9 Then Job answered and said,
2 “Yes, I know it is true. But how can a mortal man be right before God? 3 “If one should want to contend or dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times. 4 “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; Who has [ever] defied or challenged Him and remained unharmed? 5 “It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know it, When He overturns them in His anger; 6 Who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble; 7 Who commands the sun, and it does not shine; Who seals up the stars [from view]; 8 Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the [a]waves of the sea; 9 Who made [the constellations] the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the [vast starry] spaces of the south; 10 Who does great things, [beyond understanding,] unfathomable, Yes, marvelous and wondrous things without number. 11 “Behold, He passes by me, and I do not see Him; He moves past me, but I do not perceive Him. 12 “Behold, He snatches away; who can restrain or turn Him back? Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Job has decisions to he has make in assessing and evaluating and living out his relationship with God and with mankind. Job deeply needs to hear from God.
He asserts his desire to hear from the Lord who has ever been 100% faithful to him, he asserts his desire to let God know he intends to be ever the more faithful in spite of all the absolute mess that is whirling, swirling, going on around him
Out of the deep darkness that surrounds this “patient” suffering saint, comes a ray of light breaking through. It is the first significant break in Job’s gloom.
Job’s realization, acknowledgement, what is needed is a mediator, an arbitrator who can come between man, who understands us both and brings us together,
Job says. For the first time in this book, we begin to see what God is producing in this man, why he is putting him through this protracted trial.
For now, Job begins to feel, deep in his bones, the nature of reality: the terrible gulf between the pleas of man and God that must be bridged by another party.
We who live in the full light of the New Testament know that he is crying out and feeling deep within the need for just such a mediator as Jesus himself.
Job is laying the foundation here in his own understanding for the tremendous revelation that comes in the New Testament when God hears, becomes a man.
When we in our sin believe with all of our heart God has suddenly gone silent,
God Absolutely Listens!
God Absolutely Hears!
God Absolutely Acts!
God Absolutely Intercedes in the affairs of Mankind
God Absolutely Sent His Son at the appropriate time.
God takes our place, God lives as we live, feels as we feel, solves the great problem between us and God, and brings the two—God and man—together.
For the first time in the long suffering words and pleas of Job and his friends, we begin to sense something mighty is taking shape, what God is driving at.
Psalm 119:65-72 Authorized (King James) Version
ט Teth
65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. 68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. 69 The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. 70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law. 71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. 72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
You and I can learn theology from a book, and we can study it and get it clear in your mind, but until you go through the hurts and difficulties and trials of life.
We never really understand what God’s truth is. It takes suffering to get a clear vision of what God is saying to us, and that is what the book of Job is all about.
Because we live in a fallen world, there will be times in our life when we will all have to endure trials and difficulty. Job went through such a time; however, he realized that had Someone to stand in his defense. Job called Him his Redeemer.
Job’s suffering helped inform and shape and transform his understanding of the Whole truth of God. The New Testament reveals far more of who God is.
How might Job’s experience, his friends’ experiences, inform, shape and transform our own personal understanding of the “silence” of our God???
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God of truth, sometimes I am not sure if I’m actually hearing your voice, or if it’s just my own sinful thoughts, my friends’ thoughts or even another spirit.
Please God, sharpen my spiritual hearing, Lord, so I can recognize your words when you are speaking to me.
Author of my Life, Shaper of my heart and my soul, help me know it’s really you, with no long shadow of doubt or reason for any of my second-guessing.
When I’m asking for your guidance in important decisions, by your mercy, give me your place of peace that surpasses understanding with your answer. Help me remember that your words to me will never go against your written word in the Bible. Give me a clear mind and push out all my confusion. Alleluia! Amen.
To be strong, to steer straight onward, to dare to praise God, to sit alone and keep silence because He has laid it upon us, to put our mouths into the dust, if so, be there may be hope here is fortitude indeed. – Reverend Dr. F.B. Meyer
Someone posed a question to me yesterday. They asked me how we could help people in our sphere of influence (nearly everyone we see) and church look to the Lord, grow faith, experience joy, peace and hope in the midst of the difficult situations that they are currently facing?
I could really appreciate the question.
I am absolutely certain God appreciates the depth of the question also.
Psalm 28:1-2The Message
28 Don’t turn a deaf ear when I call you, God. If all I get from you is deafening silence, I’d be better off in the Black Hole.
2 I’m letting you know what I need, calling out for help And lifting my arms toward your inner sanctuary.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
I am going begin this devotion by asking everyone who comes to read these words of devotion very deep and very intimate, wildly personal questions.
Have you ever felt that God was giving you the “silent treatment”?
Have you given any serious or hyper-quality time and thought about how might, or indeed, you should respond when God in Heaven seems distant?
Every one of us has dreams and goals in our heart.
There are very definite and very personal promises that we are all standing on.
Maybe you are believing on God for a breakthrough in your job, your career, your ministry, your children, breakthrough in your family, retirement etc.
Deep down you know and believe that God has spoken that to you. But so often because it is taking a long time and you are not seeing any signs from God; you are getting discouraged.
You ask, seek, and knock all the live long day and dream about it throughout the night, except the only response is “the silent treatment.” You are making all the noise, but God is remaining painfully quiet. On the other side, the devil is telling you that you are going to lose, and you are trying your level best to hold on.
The reason many people do not see God’s promises come to pass is because they get discouraged and give up too soon. Just because you do not see anything does not mean that God is not working for you. Just because you cannot see what God is doing, that does not mean that God will not fulfil your promises.
God is faithful to his word. All of his promises are yes and amen.
1. Human response to God’s silence.
Many times, when we do not see anything in the natural, we cry out in despair.
We get too soon disappointed and discouraged. People get confused which will eventually lead to doubt, guilt (Some people feel they have sinned and are being punished), anger and fear. These are all evidentiary signs of giving up in life.
Psalm 28:1-21To you, LORD, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit. 2Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
Habakkuk 1:2How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?
Men and women throughout the Bible have consistently, decisively voiced their measure of disappointment when they have felt heaven was silent.
Here they are crying out to God because God is silent towards them.
They could not see anything happening in their lives, they were getting fearful and losing hope.
I understand some of you are in your silent years in certain areas of your life.
You are yelling at God,
“WHY Lord, I do not understand why I am going through this trouble. I do not know why my life has TO become like this. Lord, I JUST cannot take this any longer.”
You feel God is far away and are ready to give up your faith.
In the natural David and Habakkuk were losing faith but if you really read their books further, they waited by faith and God lifted them.
Psalm 28:6-76Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.
Habakkuk 3:17-1817Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
When God’s fulfillment of your promises is taking unbelievably too long, pray, don’t ever give up, never lose hope, neither your faith. God is right with you.
God smiles at you seeing your faith, but devil smiles at you seeing your fear.
Do you know God created you in your mother’s womb with his very own hands?
There is absolutely nothing about you that is an accident.
There is absolutely nothing about you that God is not proud of.
There is absolutely nothing about you God does not think is misplaced in life.
Just because you are going through a trouble, just because you are not hearing from God in what you believe is the “appropriate amount of YOUR time,” just because things are not working out does not mean there is something wrong.
God is absolutely at work in your life. He loves you. You are precious to him.
In the Bible we find many examples of God’s silence and whenever man felt God was quiet there were lessons to be learnt.
Lessons we might learn from God’s silence – if we want to and are patient enough.
a. God is always at work. God always works in the background.
The Israelites were in bondage in Egypt.
They cried, they prayed to God, but God was silent for a long time.
They lived in Egypt for 430 years but the time between Joseph’s death and Exodus out of Egypt was the darkest period, almost 150 years.
God was silent, they could not see God doing anything but in the background.
God was actually preparing a deliverer for them in Moses.
God was always working in the background.
Today, maybe you are not able to see anything you want to see or believe you are entitled, but God is absolutely working in your behalf unbeknownst to you.
Colossians 3:1-4 The Message
He Is Your Life
3 1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
If you can set your mind on the things of God, open your spiritual eyes, Christ will “show up” and you will see God absolutely moving things in your favour.
“Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.”
In the book of 2 Kings 6, the prophet Elisha and his servant were surrounded by King Aram’s army for doing the work of God. When the servant of Elisha got up and went out early in the morning an army had surrounded the city.
The servant was terrified and thought they were surely doomed.
2 Kings 6:15-17The servant asked, “Oh, my Lord, what shall we do?” “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
When you go through those dark periods, you need to ask God to open your spiritual eyes; you will be able to see God’s work in the background.
You are absolutely never alone.
God and his mighty army are with you.
The “horses and chariots of fire” have your negativity absolutely surrounded.
They are waiting for you to pray to God, so God can then command the horses and chariots of fire to strike blind all your prevailing thoughts of negativity.
God is always and absolutely at work in your life. He will never abandon you.
God’s Silence reveals God’s glory.
We know the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus had been with them many times.
He spent considerable time with them, he ate with them but when they needed Jesus the most, they felt he was away.
John 11:5-65Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
Lazarus was sick, he died, they buried him, dark days came across their family.
Jesus was nowhere around but he knew what was happening back home because he is God. Meditate on those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany!
We know the story, Jesus came after 4 days, he wept with the sisters, walked to the grave and brought back Lazarus to life.
The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ was revealed after the silent hour. Silence reveals God’s glory.
It did not happen as they expected.
The miracle did not happen when they wanted it, but it surely did happen.
God does not abandon anyone who puts their trusts in him.
Our breakthrough may not happen on our timetable, but God is a faithful God. It will happen; he will not let you down.
That is exactly what God said in Hebrews 13:5-6Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So, we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what can mere mortals do to me?”
You need spend some quality time with God to let that sink down on the inside.
Within the immeasurable depths of the silence, you are receiving God is saying,
“I will not fail you. Everything is going to work out. I am in complete control. I know what the medical report says. I know your financial situation. I see the people that are against you. I know how big your dreams are but hear me clearly. I will not fail you. I will not let you down. I will not let that problem overtake you. I will cause you to be the over comer.”
If you keep your trust in God in days of your silence, he will always make a way even though there is no way.
I can see some of your wilderness blooming in my spiritual eyes by faith – so I write this devotion in the sure and certain expectation of the Holy Spirit of God already being in the depths of your desires, dreams for more noise from God.
Romans 8:26-28 Authorized (King James) Version
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Silence follows human rebellion
Sometimes God chooses to be silent to reveal us our sins. Saul was selected the first king of Israel. He was good initially, but he sinned in the battle against the Amalekites. Instead of destroying the enemy he took their best cattle.
God confronted him through Prophet Samuel. Saul instead of repenting of his sins lied to the prophet and God rejected him as king. Later when the Philistines came to battle Israel, Saul started praying to God.
1 Samuel 28:6 He enquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
Saul was so desperate to hear from God that he consulted a spirit medium which eventually lead to Saul’s and his children’s death.
Sometimes sin and rebellion is followed by silence from God.
Maybe God is silent to make us aware of our unconfessed sins.
For some of us it is time to introspect and give careful thought to our ways.
For some it may be a time of deep introspection – to enter into God’s silence.
Approaching the Throne of Grace……
Approaching the Throne of Grace – How to respond when God is silent?
That is a devotion for tomorrow ….
I pray you will join with the Word of God for His Children then.
In the meantime, …. SHALOM! SHALOM! SHALOM!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us pray,
Savior Jesus, Giver of peace, I so easily get distracted when I’m trying to focus and hear your Holy Spirit. Help me quiet my mind in the middle of my busy life. Help me to pause and to make space to listen to the most important voice of all. Empower me to be a good listener to the gentle whispers of your Spirit. Help me follow the example of Jesus, who would slip away in the evening or the early morning to be alone with you. Teach me to abide in you. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.
Is God just taking that long delayed “spring break” or
Long awaited “summer vacation on HIS mountain top away from everybody else’s sin ‘nails on a chalkboard scratching’ noise?”
How can he allow evil and suffering in the world?
Have “miracles” ceased or have we ceased looking for “miracles?”
Have we ceased looking for God or are we listening to all the latest social media talk God has given up on mankind?
What are some of those soul-chilling statements I have read on social media?
“I would believe in God if he was not so d***ed inconsistent for my tastes.”
“Believe in God? Why? He never helped me or anyone else I ever knew!”
“It is easier for me to believe in what those bullets will do to me if they hit me!”
“Believe in God? That’s a laugher! Look at my neighborhood and tell me why?”
“I would believe in God if I was not so busy ducking all the bombs going off!”
“I would believe in God if He had not stolen my Mom and Dad in that accident!”
“I would probably believe in God if He would just leave me the h**l alone.”
“I would believe in God if He would just let me be a Mom just this one time.”
“I would believe in God if He would just shut His mouth and close His Bible!”
“I would believe in God more if my life would just stop going around in circles.”
“I would believe in God more if I did not get so frustrated in trying to believe!”
There are more. And each one I remember brings greater and greater sadness.
Some days are just days when it is all I can do is to try and stifle my own tears.
“I would believe in God a little bit more If I were not trying so hard not to cry!”
“I would believe in God more If I were not constantly crying out: “Why Me?!”
So, what do I end up doing anyway?
YEP!
I am touched by the Holy Spirit, and I am returning to the Word of God.
YEP!
When I am tired of the silence, then I am reminded of the Grace of God.
God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have again latched themselves to my soul.
Today, I and my spirit are reminded of the vast treasure house of God’s Truth.
Psalm 28 Complete Jewish Bible
28 (0) By David:
(1) Adonai, I am calling to you; my Rock, don’t be deaf to my cry. For if you answer me with silence, I will be like those who fall in a pit. 2 Hear the sound of my prayers when I cry to you, when I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.
3 Don’t drag me off with the wicked, with those whose deeds are evil; they speak words of peace to their fellowmen, but evil is in their hearts. 4 Pay them back for their deeds, as befits their evil acts; repay them for what they have done, give them what they deserve. 5 For they don’t understand the deeds of Adonai or what he has done. He will break them down; he will not build them up.
6 Blessed be Adonai, for he heard my voice as I prayed for mercy. 7 Adonai is my strength and shield; in him my heart trusted, and I have been helped. Therefore my heart is filled with joy, and I will sing praises to him.
8 Adonai is strength for [his people], a stronghold of salvation to his anointed. 9 Save your people! Bless your heritage! Shepherd them, and carry them forever!
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The Silence of God
When God is silent is He still working?
You either have to answer “yes”, or “no,” “maybe,” “don’t know,” “I don’t have the slightest idea,” or “I’ve never even thought about it.” “I do not care.”
On the surface, you might immediately answer—”Oh yes, God is always working when He is silent, but I won’t ever believe this is always the case.”
Why would anyone ever say this?
When God is silent don’t get unduly alarmed by His silence but don’t ignore it either. The silence of God is unsettling to us and it tests our faith.
James 1:3-4 tells us
“Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
Let patience work—let patience do its job to complete the work that needs to be completed.
We are often too quick to say, “Oh, it must not be God’s will” and give up way too soon. or I will hear preached and taught and counselled that “Don’t worry about it, the answer will come soon. God is still working on it in His silence.“
This one royally irritates me:
“It often takes time for things to work out. Hold fast to your faith during the silent times. God’s answers are often just around the corner.”
Somehow, that last response invalidates or minimizes my “right now needs.”
Please do not invalidate or minimize me any more than I’m already invalidating and minimizing myself. I guarantee it will only make things significantly worse.
On the other hand, there are often times when God cannot work because He has given people free will to either choose to follow Him or not.
We can make the choice to believe Him or to go our own way. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own ways…” (Isaiah 53:6).
There are often periods of silence when God lets people go their own way and take the consequences of their wrong choices before they turn things around.
Mark 6:5-6“5Jesus was not able to do any miracles there except the healing of some sick people by laying his hands on them. 6 He was surprised that the people there had no faith. Then he went to other villages in that area and taught…”
He couldn’t do what he had the power to do because the people didn’t believe.
That day a lot of people experienced the silence of God when they could have been healed. It doesn’t say WHY they didn’t believe.
There is another scripture text which reads, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
If you talk to people today, you will find out that a lot of people do not believe that healing is for us today and will say that ended with the apostles.
We have some friends that would say they do not believe in prayer for the sick.
“What is the point of praying for them anyway God does not do that today.”
If people lack knowledge on God’s provisions, they will not receive what they need. We need to see what promises there for us are and apply them to our situation whether it is for healing, or finances, or whatever else we need today.
Another reason for God’s silence is deliberate sin.
“If I regard iniquity (cherished sin) in my heart, the Lord will not hear me”(Psalm 66:18).
A barrier will go up and we don’t hear from God. He is silent for a reason.
We used to sing a song—Nothing between my soul and my savior.
If we identify the silence as sin, we can get that taken care of.
“If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanses us from all unrighteousness(1 John 1:9).
When it seems that God is doing nothing, we may be too busy to notice.
Day in and day out rushing here and there, we are not aware of what is happening.
Do not ignore the silence—watch to see if He is working or not.
Habakkuk 2:3 tells us what to do. “I will stand upon my watch to see what he will say to me.”
Slow down in the rush of the day and listen and watch closely.
You may be rushing right on by something important.
Get ready to receive by clearing the way.
Go back to the basics.
If you get off track, the Holy Spirit will get you back on track.
He will “guide you into all truth”(John 16:13).
God works throughout our lives silently.
Sometimes we are just in the planting and growing season, and nothing is wrong with the silence of God. The timing is not yet right for the harvest.
The Wife and I looked at a vehicle one time and were going to buy it that day but for some reason they would not make the deal with us that day. We went home frustrated and shrugging our collective shoulders and we did not buy it.
Soon after we found a nicer vehicle – a smaller SUV and we leased it.
In the case of the first vehicle, it was not the right one. The second was brand new and we got a lot of good miles out of it, and we traveled all over the place.
Sometimes God just doesn’t have anything to say to us at the moment because things are unfolding at their own pace or something better is going to emerge in due time.
God’s silence does not mean that He is not present.
He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
And Matthew 28:20, “Lo I am with you even to the end of the world.”
Scripture makes it clear that our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer.
Yet we all experience times when, though we pray for God to act right away, He does not.
What are some reasons for the delay?
At times the Lord sees that our attention is misdirected. Our relationship with Him should have priority over any earthly matter (Mark 12:30).
Yet minds and prayers can become so fixed upon a need that our gaze shifts away from Him.
The Father may delay His answer until we refocus on Him.
In other situations, God waits because the timing is not right for granting our request.
Perhaps certain events must happen first, or people’s thinking needs to be changed.
There are also seasons when the Lord wants to stretch and grow our faith.
One of the ways He accomplishes that is by having us watch for His response.
The Holy Spirit will work in these times of waiting to mature us and bring forth righteous fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Other reasons are a wrong motive for our request (James 4:3) and the practice of habitual sin.
We all fall short when it comes to God’s standard of holiness, but some of us persist in a lifestyle of disobedience.
The Lord may delay His answer so He can prompt us to confess our sin and turn back to Him.
Waiting on the Lord isn’t easy—faith and trust are needed (Hebrews 11:1).
In some cases, God is still working when He is silent but that he is working behind the scenes.
Or you can say sometimes we cause the silence by our unbelief.
We may say I just don’t know about his silence because I lack knowledge and need to learn what is in the Word for me.
God, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, never works in a straight path from A to Z.
He brings a lot of people across our pathway to fit into the total pattern.
When it looks like things are never going to work out, His times and seasons of “palpable” silence plays the proper part at the right time in the total picture.
Matthew 13:10-17 Easy-to-Read Version
Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach
10 The followers came to Jesus and asked, “Why do you use these stories to teach the people?”
11 Jesus answered, “Only you can know the secret truths about God’s kingdom. Those other people cannot know these secret truths. 12 The people who have some understanding will be given more. And they will have even more than they need. But those who do not have much understanding will lose even the little understanding that they have. 13 This is why I use these stories to teach the people: They see, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really hear or understand. 14 So they show that what Isaiah said about them is true:
‘You people will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not really see. 15 Yes, the minds of these people are now closed. They have ears, but they don’t listen. They have eyes, but they refuse to see. If their minds were not closed, they might see with their eyes; they might hear with their ears; they might understand with their minds. Then they might turn back to me and be healed.’
16 But God has blessed you. You understand what you see with your eyes. And you understand what you hear with your ears. 17 I can assure you, many prophets and godly people wanted to see what you now see. But they did not see it. And many prophets and godly people wanted to hear what you now hear. But they did not hear it.
If His answer is delayed, check that
1) your focus is on Him, 2) your motive for asking is both God-glorifying and God-honoring, and 3) you aren’t hiding in and behind the facade of practicing habitual sin. Then you will believe that His response will be for your good and His glory.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
let us Pray,
God, my Refuge and Strength …
I run to you when things get tough. I desperately need help. Hear me, and don’t be silent. Don’t turn me away. I am crying unto you from an earnest and honest heart. I am struggling with your silence in the midst of my unbelief and in pain.
My trust is fractured, and my feelings are hanging by a badly frayed thread. I want with all of my being to trust that You are my Lord and my Rock of safety. Tune my soul and open my ears to your silent voice that I may hear and believe. I pray this in the name of my Savior, Jesus the Christ. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.
Happy Birthday to Me! Today, I am Celebrating a Wonder of God!
Birthdays are, or at least they should be, a deeply personal and meaningful “holiday,” so to speak. We feel that it is a special day, and even people who are complete strangers, don’t know you very well will wish you a “Happy Birthday” and sometimes they will even go out of their way to do something nice for you.
Why are birthdays special? As we get older, we can sometimes feel as if our birthdays aren’t as special or as important to celebrate. They just aren’t as exciting as those younger days when we were kids. While the Bible doesn’t command a celebration of birthdays, there are good reasons to go out of our way continue to celebrate the birth of any person—and a birthday is a perfect time to do it.
It is good to affirm the value of a person.
In Genesis 1-3, God goes about creating a beautiful and good creation. His most celebrated creation is man. God forms humanity in a very personal way:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Man is given a special status as God’s image bearers. What does that mean? God is king over his creation, is holy and good (moral attributes), and a creator.
In a similar way, man was made a steward over creation, was supposed to rule over creation well (Gen. 1:28), be holy and good, follow God’s word (Gen. 2:17).
God has created every single human being with intrinsic value because they are made in his image. Whether someone is an infant, a teenager, young adult or an octogenarian, every human life is absolutely special and precious in God’s sight.
The life of man was so utterly precious that the unjust taking of that life carried a severe punishment (Genesis 9:6). The psalmist, when faced with the marvels of creation, is amazed that God has created man in such a special way, with an elevated status (Psalm 8:4-6). To God, People hold a special place in this world.
Human beings of all ages are wonders of God. Just as we are amazed by and can look upon, recognize the glory and blessing of a stately mountain range or the awesomeness of a crashing ocean, we should join with the psalmist in praising God for human life. Birthdays are great opportunities to remind a person of the blessing he or she is and how absolutely, completely, they are a wonder of God.
Philippians 4:12-20English Standard Version
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
14 Yet it was kind of you to share[a] my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. [b]18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Birthdays are a time for thankfulness.
Today is my Birthday!
Happy Birthday to you readers too – even if today is not your actual birthday.
Truth be told, everyone who comes to read this has a Birthday to Celebrate!
One day, God loved you so much He chose a special day to give you a life to live!
Wonder of Wonders! Miracles of Miracles! God chose to give you and me life!
Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!
Regardless of your personal circumstance right in this exact moment,
Celebrate God as He is certainly celebrating you EXACTLY RIGHT NOW!
Birthdays are a fantastic time to contemplate more positive things.
There is so much complaining, strife, and conflict that swirls around us.
It is easy to be pulled down into focusing on troubles and trials and take people and things for granted.
Birthdays provide an opportunity to thank God for the life of a person who is made in the image of the God of the universe and is an amazing creation.
It is 100% important to remember God is the one who should be the focus of a birthday. When we celebrate someone’s birth, any one’s birth, even the one’s now being born somewhere, we can each remember that our Creator’s image is stamped upon this unique person, and we can thank God for his gift of their life.
Consider this Illustration;
In Tony Campolo’s book, “The Kingdom of God Is a Party,” he tells of an event that took place when he visited Hawaii on a speaking tour.
If you’ve ever flown to the Hawaiian Islands, you know that the first couple of days are tough because you are trying to adjust to the time change. You auto-matically wake up about 1 or 2 a.m. their time because it’s about 6 or 7 a.m. back here. And that’s exactly what happened to him.
He woke up very early his first morning there and ended up going out on the downtown streets of Honolulu, looking for a restaurant that was open where he could get a cup of coffee that early in the morning.
He finally found what he called a “greasy spoon” restaurant, went in and saw that he was the only customer there. As he sat down at the counter, a rather large fellow came out of the kitchen and asked what he wanted.
Tony ordered a cup of coffee and a donut. So, the guy went back into the kitchen and came out with a sad looking donut & a cup of very hot coffee. Tony slowly sipped his coffee & ate his donut.
As he was doing so, in walked 9 prostitutes off the streets of Honolulu. And one of them sat down next to him. As she was sitting there, talking to the girl next to her, she said, “Well, tomorrow is my birthday.”
The other girl said, “So what, Agnes? What do you expect from me, a party or something? What do you think I’m going to do, bake you a cake?”
Agnes said, “I don’t expect anything. No one has ever thrown me a birthday party, and I’ve never ever had a birthday cake. I was just telling you, that’s all. Tomorrow is my birthday.”
The conversation soon ended, and all the girls left. Tony sat there for a moment, and he recalls, “Every once in a while, you get a good idea.”
He turned to the guy behind the counter, whose name was Harry, and asked, “Harry, do those girls come in every night about this time?” “Every night,” Harry answered. “Well, will Agnes be back tomorrow night?” “Yeah, she’ll be back.”
He said, “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we throw a birthday party for Agnes?” Harry answered, “That’s a great idea. Let’s do it!” Tony said, “I’ll buy the streamers and get a sign that says, ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes,’ and we’ll buy her a cake.”
“No,” Harry said. “I’ll bake the cake.” And they got busy making their plans. Finally, Tony said, “I’ll be back at 2:30 tomorrow morning.”
When 2:30 came, Tony was back with all the streamers, balloons, and the sign. Meanwhile, Harry had baked the cake and spread the word, and there were 30 prostitutes there, ready to have a birthday party for Agnes.
Tony writes, “We were all there in this restaurant, 30 prostitutes, Harry and me.” We had just gotten the streamers up, balloons inflated, and everything ready, when in walked Agnes and her friends. And as she did, the whole group burst into a chorus of “Happy Birthday, Happy birthday to you.”
Agnes was so overwhelmed that she could hardly move. Then here came Harry with the birthday cake with all the candles lit. “Come on, Agnes,” he said, “blow them out before they melt.” But she didn’t do a thing.
Finally, Harry said, “If you don’t blow them out, I’ll do it,” and he did. Then he handed her a knife and said, “Here, for crying out loud, cut it so we can all have a piece of cake.” But Agnes just stood there looking at the cake.
Finally, she said, “Do you suppose it would be all right if we didn’t cut the cake tonight? Do you think I could just take it home and look at it for a while? I promise I’ll bring it back tomorrow night and we can all have a piece then. But tonight, I’d just like to keep it if it’s all right.”
Everyone agreed that it would be okay. So Agnes left, carrying her cake as though it was a priceless treasure.
Tony said that after she left there was total silence in the room. “Here were all these prostitutes, Harry & me,” he said, “and since I had been acting as the M.C. the next move seemed to be mine.”
So, I said, “Let’s pray. Then I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would get straightened out. I prayed that she would really have a happy birthday.”
“After I finished, Harry grabbed me by the shoulder and said, ‘You didn’t tell me you was a preacher.’ I said, ‘I’m not, Harry. I’m just a Christian and I just go to church.’”
Harry said, “What kind of a church do you go to?” Tony said, “I go to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:00 in the morning.” “No you don’t,” said Harry. “There ain’t no church like that. If there was, I’d go to it, too.”
That’s quite an inspiring story, isn’t it?
But let me ask you, “Is it right for any Christian to throw any party for a prostitute? Is it appropriate to pray for her to have a “happy birthday”?
Some might wonder about that. But it certainly is appropriate to pray for her salvation and for her life to be straightened out. When people are “lost” we must be diligent in praying for them and their relationship with their God.
But when it comes right down to it, we ought to ask this question too:
Is it right for any Christian to throw any party for a complete stranger? Is it appropriate to pray to God for that stranger to have a “happy birthday?”
Is it right for any Christian to throw any party to simply “Celebrate God?
Why do we “celebrate God?”
How do we pray for people we both know and do not know who are going through difficulties in life and who are probably not too inclined to be “celebrating God who is daily celebrating them?”
The natural response when we see someone who is sick, or going through tough times, or family difficulties is to say, “We are praying for you.”
But have you ever found yourself wondering, “What is the best thing to pray for in this situation?” Sometimes it is hard to know just what to pray. And doubts can arise when we pray earnestly, and we don’t get the answers that we want.
Sometimes we pray for people who are sick, and they don’t get better.
Or we pray for a marriage to be healed, and the couple gets a messy divorce.
Or we pray for a couple to have a healthy child, and a handicapped child is born.
Why “celebrate God?”
I cannot sit here and give you any easy answers as to why this ought to happen.
But what I don’t know about prayer doesn’t discourage me.
Because the way I have seen prayers answered, and the way lives have been changed as a result of prayer, gives me so much encouragement that I am so absolutely convinced the most important thing we can do in times of difficulty and ease and abundance is to “absolutely celebrate God” through our prayers.
Prayer puts us in touch with God. And it’s important for us to come to God and express our gratitude for our life, needs and the deepest longings of our hearts.
Psalm 8 Names of God Bible
Psalm 8
For the choir director; on the gittith;[a] a psalm by David.
1 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
Your glory is sung above the heavens. [b] 2 From the mouths of little children and infants, you have built a fortress against your opponents to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the creation of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set in place— 4 what is a mortal that you remember him or the Son of Man that you take care of him? 5 You have made him a little lower than yourself. You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him rule what your hands created. You have put everything under his control: 7 all the sheep and cattle, the wild animals, 8 the birds, the fish, whatever swims in the currents of the seas.
9 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
It bears repeating as many times as it can be, ought to be, repeated;
Birthdays are a time for thankfulness.
Birthdays are a fantastic time to contemplate more positive things.
There is so much complaining, strife, and conflict that swirls around us.
It is easy to be pulled down into focusing on troubles and trials and take people and things for granted.
Birthdays provide an opportunity to thank God for the life of a person who is made in the image of the God of the universe and is an amazing creation.
How important is it for us to “celebrate God celebrating us” to remember God is the one who should be the focus of a birthday?
When we celebrate God celebrating someone else’s life, what are we in actuality doing?
We are remembering that our Creator’s image is permanently stamped upon this singularly unique person, and we can thank God for his gift of their life.
Consider this illustration;
Tony Campolo tells about another time that he drove to Valley Forge, PA, where he was to be the featured speaker at the college there.
A few minutes before he was to speak several men took him into a back room and began to pray for him, that God would bless him and use his speech to accomplish His will.
While they were praying, one man also prayed, “And Lord, about Burt Harris.
Lord, Burt Harris needs you badly. He lives in that trailer down the street & he is considering leaving his wife & family. Lord, if you could just get through to Burt Harris…that would be great. Please, Lord.” And then he went on with his prayer.
Listening as the man prayed, Tony thought, “It’s strange that he should pray that here.” Soon the prayers were finished & Tony went out & made his speech to what proved to be a very appreciative audience.
After finishing, Tony got into his car & started toward home. But just at the edge of town he came upon a hitchhiker. He said that he doesn’t usually pick up hitchhikers, but for some reason he decided to pull over & pick the man up.
The man got into the car, & as they headed toward the highway Tony asked his name. The man said, “Burt Harris”.
Immediately, Tony stopped the car, turned it around & headed the opposite direction. The man stared at him & said, “What are you doing?” Tony said, “I am taking you back to your wife and family whom you are trying to leave.”
The man turned white! He never said another word – just sat speechless as Tony drove him straight back to his trailer. At that, the man asked, “How do you know where I live?” Tony answered, “God told me.” (In a way He really had.)
Tony ended the story, saying, “I took this guy inside his home and God did the rest. The family and the marriage was restored.”
Wow! What a story. And it’s true, absolutely true!
Now let’s go back & review what we have learned today from the apostle Paul.
We have learned we need to be asking for God’s presence and strength in our daily lives, for His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be working deep within us.
We need to be “celebrating God” by praying for God’s will to be done, and not ours. We need to be concerned about more than just our “celebrating” our own lives and needs and trials, but too about “celebrating” those who are around us.
Human beings of all ages are wonders of God. Just as we are amazed by and ought to recognize the glory and blessing of a stately mountain range or the awesomeness of a crashing ocean, we should join with the psalmists in praising God for the absolute sanctity of human life. Birthdays are great opportunities to remind a person of the blessing he or she is and how they are a wonder of God.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Good morning, Lord!
Thank you for my Birthday, Lord!
Thank you for my life, Lord!
Thank You for a new day. Thank You that Your compassion is renewed every morning. Great is Your faithfulness and Your steadfast love, O Lord!
I do not know what all is going to happen today, and how much celebrating I will get done, but You do. So, I give this entire day as one celebration to You.
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Father. Energize me for Your work, because You know how happy I am and how tired these bones are. Awaken me to the wonder of Your salvation and quicken my spirit to the reality of Your work in my life.
Lord, my mind is filled with creative ideas of celebration, but they are also jumbled. Holy Spirit, come and hover over my mind like You hovered over the waters at creation and speak order out of the chaos!
Help me to cease striving and to trust that You will give me all I need today to celebrate what life You have given and to do the work You’ve given me to do.
I deeply believe You will be faithful to complete the good work You’ve started, and as I step out into my day, I declare Your sovereignty over every area of my life. I entrust myself to You and ask that You use me however You see fit.
This day is Yours. My body is Yours. My mind is Yours. Everything I am is Yours.
May You be pleased with my celebration today.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Daniel 9:3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
I don’t know about you but one of the most frustrating things in life is trying to listen to the radio when I am driving and suddenly there is all kinds of static!
This is especially true when I am on the road cruising, and I am tuned into my all-time favorite music stations and life is deemed by me to be so very good.
I am just driving along when there is an important ball game on, and the static arrives, and your ears and nerves start to hurt from it, then you carefully scroll through the channels and all you can find is a station of some other noise that you cannot stand to listen, and it seems to be right between the two numbers.
Everything was great. Cruising the highways. Now the static arrives. You can’t quite seem to dial your place of “ultimate” peace back in. You try to fine tune with all of your might but it isn’t distinct or clear.
Delays, Distractions, Disturbances and Worldly Static interference prevail.
This is never truer then when you are forced to try to turn over to an AM radio station while driving! You begin to question the signal strength of the station.
Static on the radio is one thing but static when you are trying to hear God is even more frustrating. There is an example from the pages of God’s Word of static when it comes to hearing from God that I want to remind us all about.
Daniel 9:1-6 NKJV
Daniel’s Prayer for the People
9 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Let’s set the scene.
Daniel and the Children of Israel are in captivity.
Because of their own rebellion, hard heartedness and disobedience, prophecy has been fulfilled and they are slaves to Babylon.
Familiar with Scripture, Daniel knows the foretold length of the bondage is coming to an end and so he begins to call out to God to remember them.
He reminds God of the promise that the captivity will last a certain period of times – 70 years.
Daniel 9:7-17NKJV
7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore, the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake [a]cause Your face to shine on [b]Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
Daniel Fasts. Daniel Prays and Daniel approaches God. He acknowledges their wrongdoing and then he reminds God of an example of God’s ability to rescue.
Some of us would hear God if we would simply acknowledge our own culpability and responsibility for the situation, we are in.
But we also need to learn a key here in getting response from God.
We pray to God. We remind God, even though He hasn’t forgotten, what He has done in the past. In the process, we are reminded that He can do more than we ever dreamed of or expected! It increases our faith to reflect on His faithfulness.
Daniel 9:20-23
“While I was pouring out my heart, baring my sins and the sins of my people Israel, praying my life out before my God, interceding for the holy mountain of my God—while I was absorbed in this praying, the humanlike Gabriel, the one I had seen in an earlier vision, approached me, flying in like a bird about the time of evening worship. “He stood before me and said, ‘Daniel, I have come to make things plain to you. You had no sooner started your prayer when the answer was given. And now I’m here to deliver the answer to you. You are much loved! So, listen carefully to the answer, the plain meaning of what is revealed:
So, he gets immediate response. But watch and listen – here comes the static.
Daniel 10:2-3, 12-14
“During those days, I, Daniel, went into mourning over Jerusalem for three weeks. I ate only plain and simple food, no seasoning or meat or wine. I neither bathed nor shaved until the three weeks were up.
“‘Relax, Daniel,’ he continued, ‘don’t be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I’m here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what’s ahead.’
In this instance Daniel goes from immediate communication to kneeling and fasting and wading and waiting through static.
He prays for 3 solid weeks and there is no response.
Then 24 days later an angel shows up and says the first moment you prayed you were heard but I ran in to static.
The enemy resisted.
Remember our enemy is called the prince and power of the air!
He works in the air ways to convolute and delay deliverance.
His power is best exhibited in the air ways.
Think about that a moment –
the enemy flexes his muscles in our lives by trying his best to control what we hear. That is why we so often see people derailed and detoured by something they hear – or more often than not – they thought they heard.
The truth it what they thought they heard was actually a twisted version of what was actually said. So, in order to be able to defeat this power of the air we need to learn some lessons based on Daniel’s experience that will help us tune in.
1. We need to hear that we are heard.
I want you to notice an incredible truth from this account.
This passage says on two different occasions that from the moment Daniel even thought about or began to pray that he was heard. The rate of response varied but the rate of God hearing Daniel’s request was consistent. Immediate!
Our petitions and requests hit God’s ears not when they cross our lips but when they cross our mind! I believe it is so important to recognize this because I have noticed we tend to think because we struggle to hear that God struggles to hear.
So strong was this on my heart today I just write to assure you today that even when static interference has become the new standard of normal for us as we pray and try hard to listen for and harder still to hear God, even when we, like Daniel, consistently long for response but hear nothing we all need to know:
God absolutely hears us from the very exact moment we begin to think about it.
There may even be occasions when the answer may seem to arrive too late to us, we need to, instead trust, to rest in the knowledge that the answer is on its way.
Isaiah 65:24 – Before they call, I will answer while they are still speaking, I will hear!
Maybe in old song form – Oh yes, the answer is on the way, this I know Jesus said it I believe it to be so. Our Heavenly Father knows the need before we pray, and we can be rest assured the answers on the way!
2. Static reveals resistance and should cause us to rejoice.
I pray that I am about to blow your mind . . . Interference reveals interference!
Why bother even telling you something so elementary?
Because I get genuinely concerned that a lot of us make the mistake of equating silence as a sign or indication of God’s lack of concern or love. I have watched people get mad at God because they fail to realize that if there is static it doesn’t mean God doesn’t care it means the enemy is at work to stop their answer.
In fact, I am going to make an odd statement to you today!
If you are confronted with static, you should rejoice!
The more static you are encountering the more encouraged you should be because that is a sure and certain indication that the enemy knows a response is coming from God and he is doing everything he can to stop you from hearing it.
More Static Interference should strengthen your resolve. Too often we let static stop us in our tracks. The first little taste of any interference and we turn off the radio. Which brings me to the third to be valued lesson we can gain from Daniel.
3. The proper response to static is persistence.
Daniel is doing his very best to hear and instead there is nothing but static and silence. But notice he doesn’t give up. He keeps listening. He keeps tuning in.
No answer after day one he is persistent. No answer after week 1 he is even more persistent. No response 10 days in he yet persists. Nothing after 2 weeks . . . No change leads to no change . . . He continues. Answer released on day one but not received until day 24. Persistence 100% wins wars, persistence 100% prevails.
Some of us are always stopping one day short, one service short, one moment short of reception of miracle. Keep fine tuning.
If resisted, don’t back up, don’t give up, don’t let up instead press in harder.
If the enemy is resisting this hard and is resisting this long the answer must surely and certainly and most absolutely 1000% be worth all of the wait.
We can’t become too soon frustrated with static that we change channels.
Some of us have been praying for months even years and it is like tuning into and hearing and listening to an AM station at night in response – 100% static.
Why such a level of static?
Why does God seem to take long to answer prayers?
Sometimes God waits to answer our prayers because He trusts us to make the right decision.
Other times, God requires us to patiently wait for an answer so we can build our faith and trust in Him.
And on some occasions, God gives us answers, but they may not be what we’d hoped for, instead the answers are exactly what God knows we 100% need.
What we can learn from Daniel about delayed answers to prayer
The Lord promises to respond to our prayers, particularly the prayers we prayed in faith.
While that may be true, there are time when we feel like God’s not responding to us.
We’ve prayed and prayed but the answers just don’t come when we want them to.
These delays frustrate us.
What do we do when the answers to our prayers see, to come late?
How do we respond when God’s responses to our cries and prayers seem slow in coming?
We keep praying in faith.
Relentless faith
Many of us tend to point the blame on God when the answers to our prayers seem late. We tend to ask Him “why” the answers don’t come, “why” they arrived late, or even “why doesn’t He hear us.”
We are always quick to blame God who actually knows what we will pray for before we pray, responds in the fastest time possible
– right at the very exact moment we pray.
Actually, we are the ones who should keep praying when the answers to our prayers seem delayed, not God.
Consider Daniel, who experienced such a delay.
Here are some things we can learn from his experience:
God’s answer is sent immediately
We read in Daniel 10:12 that God sends His reply the moment He hears our prayers.
“Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.””
The enemy, however, seeks to delay or prevent God’s response from arriving to us
We then read in the following verse how the enemy prevented Daniel from receiving God’s reply in the soonest time possible.
“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days…”
This means there’s a war in the heavenlies for the answers to our prayers.
Are we going to stop praying just because the answer is delayed?
Are we going to quit on God because “He doesn’t seem to respond”?
I absolutely, fervently pray that we don’t.
In fact, I pray that we respond exactly like Daniel did when his prayers remain unanswered:
He fasted and kept praying for a time until he received the answers.
“In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” (Daniel 10:2-3)
Soon enough, the answers did arrive. They arrived because God made them arrive:
“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” (Daniel 10:13)
In closing
Friends, God does answer our prayers, but the devil seeks to discourage us from seeking God.
The more we pray, the more the enemy tries to hinder our prayers from being answered. We should never ever give up on praying for God’s answers to arrive.
Keep praying. Lean in harder. Lean in longer.
Be persistent in Prayer –
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 NKJV
14 Now we [a]exhort you, brethren, warn those who are [b]unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
In the meantime, ….
While the static interference seems to go on forever and ever – (lingering amen)
Romans 12:9-13 NKJV
Behave Like a Christian
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient[a] in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given[b] to hospitality.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Heavenly Father, what a comfort and joy to me that You know and understand the deepest longings of my heart. Thank You that You know the end before the beginning, and hear and answer my prayers before the request forms in my heart or crosses my lips. Thank You for beautifying my requests and providing the answer that is best for me. Teach me to pray into Your will for my life, and align my heart’s desires to Your perfect will. This I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
“He who has ears for hearing, let him listen with them” Benedict of Nursia
Truth: You and I are the children of a loving God who is desperately jealous for the entirety of your heart. From beginning to the end, God’s Word illustrates a truth that spans beyond the ears of this world and into the fullness of eternity.
Truth: You and I have an enormous, God sized opportunity in this life either to give our whole hearts to God and receive an eternal reward, or give our whole hearts to the world, which will only lead to destruction.
Truth: We can each choose, either surrender all that we are and have to the perfect, pleasing Words of our heavenly Father or seek fulfillment, pleasure, status, wealth in that which has little to do with God’s Kingdom, belongs to the world alone.
The absolute best way we can ensure our lives are fully surrendered and wholly available to the Father is to spend the first moments of our day alone with him.
If we are going to make the most of this life, we must set aside time to assess our thoughts, actions, and emotions. We must make time to take an honest look at our lives and discover whether we are truly living for God or for the world.
And in response to a daily assessment, we must consistently engage in the process of listening for the voice of God through Word of God so that our lives may be encouraged and empowered by the forgiveness and love of the Father.
God longs for your life here on earth to impact eternity. He is a Father who has perfect plans to bless you in ways you cannot imagine. But God cannot bless that which is not best. He cannot reward you for doing that which is destructive.
Hear the Word of God. Choose to center your life around meeting with God that you might store up a wealth of eternal treasure in your daily thoughts. Open all of your heart unto the Holy Spirit every morning that he may reveal anything that’s keeping you from experiencing the fullness of life Jesus died to give you.
Surrender your life to the God who has greater things in store for you than you can ask or imagine. And experience the peace and joy that comes from allowing God to have the entirety of your life to bless and fill with his glorious nearness.
1 Samuel 3:11 Authorized (King James) Version
11 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
I want to start this devotional out by telling two brief stories.
The first is: – There once was a man that whispered, “God, speak to me.” And a meadowlark sang. But the man did not hear.
So, the man yelled back, “God, speak to me!” and Thunder rolled across the sky. But the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.” and stars too numerous to count shone brightly. But he noticed it not.
The man then shouted, “God, show me a miracle.” as he looked down upon his newborn son sleeping in his crib. But the man was unaware.
So, the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know that you are here!” Whereupon God reached down, touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly off of the back of his hand and walked on into the living room.
The second story is: – A man was having difficulty communicating with his wife and concluded she was becoming hard of hearing. So, he decided to conduct a “hearing” test without her knowing about it.
One evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her back was to him, and she could not see him. Very quietly he whispered, “Can you hear me now?”
There was no response.
Moving a little closer, he asked again, “Can you hear me now?” Still no reply.
Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer.
Finally, he moved right in behind her chair and said, “Can you hear me now?”
To his surprise and chagrin, she responded with irritation in her voice, “For the fourth time, YES! I can hear you just fine! Didn’t you hear me shouting back?”
The Premise of these 2 stories is:
1.) When God speaks make sure you do not miss out on His blessing because it is not packaged the way you expect.
2.) The hearing problem is never with God not speaking but 1000% us not listening!
Life is full of twists and turns that require both big decisions, small decisions, adjusting to major life changes, and tackling day-to-day living.
It seems like there are plenty of people out there who are ready to give you advice—in books, on television, at the office.
But is that the counsel we really need?
If we entertain too many different influences, thoughts and opinions, it can lead to confusion. In the midst of it all, you may feel uncertain that you are hearing the one voice you absolutely long to hear most—the voice of God.
God is a speaking God, and He speaks to His children every day. We have the wonderful opportunity to listen to Him and learn to hear His voice.
To what measure or degree do we believe our ears being “tingled” by something or someone other than God today?
Do we believe the Word of God for His Children can still influence us today?
Do we believe the voice of God can still be our influencer?
We don’t have to go through life being influenced through hearing others’ opinions of life, or blindly making decisions or relying on our own listening skills and hearing abilities or disabilities.
Truth: God created each and every one of the complexities of our body. That, of course includes the anatomy and physiology of our ears and brain to interpret.
As much as we can or cannot hear ourselves think through a jumble of worldly noises and countless distractions, we can hear God clearly and consistently if we are each studious and disciplined to read The Word of God for His children.
“He who has ears for hearing, let him listen with them” Benedict of Nursia
“He who has ears for hearing, let him listen with them” Benedict of Nursia
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Father, in the Name of Jesus, I thank You that You desire to speak to me every day—guiding me in spirit and in truth to obey Your Word and enjoy an abundant life. I thank You that You have called me Your friend and that I may come boldly to the throne of grace to find help whenever I have a need in my life.Lord, Let me Hear!
Lord, Your Word says that when we draw near to You, You will draw near to us. So, I draw near to You today. I seek Your face, Your truth and Your word for my life. I want to know You more, hear You more and obey You more. Help me, my Creator, to feel more and more confident each day in knowing that I hear Your voice. Alleluia! Amen.
“I do not know why I should say anything to anyone anymore. It only goes in one ear and comes straight out the other with no stops anywhere in between!”
George Stewart – In One Ear and out the Other (1978) Lyrics
When someone talks, be sure you listen When someone speaks, be sure you hear ‘Cause only if you listen to what they say Then what they say will be perfectly clear
Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let those messages slip away Be sure you know, you know what people say Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other
When someone talks, you’re gonna listen When someone speaks, you’re gonna hear ‘Cause if you really listen to what they say Then what they say will be perfectly clear
Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let those messages slip away Be sure you understand what people say Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other
Don’t let God’s messages slip away You’ll understand what the King of Heaven says Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other
Listen to what people say Listen to what people say
When teachers talk, children will listen When parents speak, the kids will hear If everybody listens to what they say Then what they say will be perfectly clear
Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other Don’t let those messages slip away Be sure you know, you know what people say Don’t let it go in One ear and out the other…
1 Kings 22:13-18 New American Standard Bible
Micaiah Predicts Defeat
13 Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold now, the words of the prophets are [a]unanimously favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 14 But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, I shall speak it.”
15 When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” And he said, “Go up and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king!” 16 Then the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you will tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 17 So he said,
“I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, Like sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Each of them is to return to his house in peace.’”
18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything good regarding me, but only bad?”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
One problem that plagues the church of our day is the plague of “Selective Hearing”. In other words, we hear only that part of a message that agrees with our own point of view, and we discard anything that doesn’t agree with us.
As a retired professional Psychiatric Registered Nurse, I have often run into this attitude in counseling sessions. I know that the first duty, and probably the most important thing that we can do as a counselor is to just sit and listen as those who come for counseling sit, vent their feelings, frustrations and anger.
Most often people who want to counsel really don’t want to hear the truth, or to even hear the counselor’s opinion, they just want to talk to someone who will listen and then return their self-opinion of what is wrong. That’s all they want.
This is the story of Ahab, King of Israel, who persuades Jehoshaphat, King of Judah to join him in a battle for Ramoth-Gilead. Syria had won this territory from Israel in a battle some three years prior and had occupied it for all that time. Now Ahab wanted it back.
Ahab was the evilest king that Israel ever had.
In the beginning of I Kings chapter 21 we can read the story of how that he wanted to purchase or trade a vineyard from Nabaoth that was adjacent to the king’s palace.
When Nabaoth refused to trade or sell the land of his ancestors, Ahab went into his room, crying, pouting, lying across his bed, refused to eat like a spoiled brat.
His wife Jezebel came in and made matters worse by plotting to get the vineyard for nothing. She sent word to all the nobles in the city to call a fast and to place Nabaoth in a high position among the nobles. Then she had hired two “sons of belial” or sons of the devil, to falsely accuse Nabaoth of blasphemy against God.
Nabaoth was stoned to death and the king took the vineyard by default.
In 1 Kings 21:25 we read God’s opinion of the character of Ahab, “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.”
Just to make a quick point here, I know that Ahab had to answer for his own evil heart, and he really had no one to blame for his idolatry than himself.
He could have chosen to not listen to Jezebel. But I wonder if he would have been a better king if he had not married an idolatrous and evil plotting queen?
She certainly pressed him on to disobey God and fall deeper into sin. Jezebel was a heathen princess, beautiful to look upon, but with a heart of malicious sin!
I wonder about Ahab since he does repent at one point because he recognized the judgment of God that was to come but Jezebel wouldn’t allow that to happen for long.
Throughout his reign as King, Ahab had been held accountable to his evil deeds by the prophets of God who dared stand up to him.
One of those prophets was Micaiah.
Micaiah was well known in the court of Ahab because Micaiah had come time and again to warn Ahab of the consequences of his evil deeds. Ahab dreaded the appearance of Micaiah, yet he knew that he could not kill Micaiah or face the wrath of the people of Israel who had confidence in the prophet.
Now Ahab’s heart was set for war to regain his lost territory and to regain his prestige in the land of Israel. No king would sit for long without attempting to win back that which was taken from him in battle and Ahab was no different.
Ahab, evil though he was, still understood that Israel needed to think that the Lord God was with them before they went into battle, so he called for 400 “prophets” to come and prophesy for his coming victory over Syria.
These so called “prophets” were nothing more than “yes men” or false prophets who ticked the ears of Ahab and always had good things to say to him.
After all, that was exactly what Ahab wanted to hear and they were no fools.
If Ahab didn’t like your prophecy, he could, without a second thought, or fear of recrimination, simply put you to death. As a result of this threat hanging over them, they told Ahab exactly what they thought Ahab would want to hear.
Have you ever felt that you needed an answer from God concerning anything in your life, but you were afraid of what the answer would be?
It’s far more pleasant to have someone say something good about your life than to hear the truth.
In fact, we often go to great lengths so that we don’t have to hear the truth. We will choose to talk to and listen to only those who we already know will agree with us. We avoid anyone who may want to disagree with us like a plague.
We don’t want to really know the truth. We just want someone else to just agree with us and put a stamp of approval on what we wanted in the first place.
It is as though their agreement with us gives us a false sense of being right and we rush headlong into disobedience of the Word of God.
All 400 of these false prophets and “yes men” prophesied good things to Ahab.
They foretold of great victories, of the coming glory to Ahab and Jehoshaphat in the war just ahead, but Jehoshaphat wasn’t satisfied with their prophesying.
Something just seemed to be wrong. It was as though all of these 400 men had planned in advance to all say exactly the same thing much as a bunch of parrots.
Ahab was content to hear what he wanted to hear and didn’t care if it were true or not. Either that or he just disregarded anything disagreeable that anyone had said and decided to do what he wanted no matter what the prophets foretold.
But Jehoshaphat still feared God and asked if there were any prophets in Israel who were not “yes men” to the king? Was there one man, in all of Israel, who would truthfully give the Word of the Lord without fear of Ahab’s revenge?
Sometimes we have to stand alone in our faith in God. Remember this: that God alone makes a majority and it’s always best to be on his team regardless of how many people raise up, shout, disagree or stand against you and persecute you.
Matthew 10:28 says it another way,
“… fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Just think about it.
Even if we lose the battle of “political correctness” and “theological semantics” with men, we still win with God as long as we speak all truth from God’s Word.
Ahab was so determined to do his own will and to hear nothing but positive things that he did his best to keep any negative prophet from coming into his court but now he had no choice for he knew that Jehosphaphat would not join him in the battle unless a true prophet of God were brought forth.
Ahab hated Micaiah! He despised this true man of God. Ahab is like so many in our churches today who would rather believe a lie than to hear the truth.
Speaking of the last days and the coming of the man called the “Antichrist,” Paul had this to say about the hearts of the people who were on the face of the earth at that time, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
Right now, the only thing that keeps Satan at bay is the Holy Spirit operating through the church as a watchdog against Satan’s evils.
Matthew 24:36-41 NIV
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, [a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
What do you think will happen when the true church, the Body of Christ, is taken away in the rapture?
I shudder to think of the flood of evil, sin and great debauchery that will cover the earth to an even greater depth than the flood of water in Noah’s day.
Yes, Jesus said, just as it was in the days of Noah, evil will abound, and the heart of man will be deceived into believing a lie from the devil that will end in man’s eternal damnation.
As we can see that spirit of the antichrist was already living in the heart of Ahab and he loved the lies more than the truth.
It would eventually bring destruction upon him and his household.
It was foretold in I Kings chapter 21 that anyone of Ahab’s house who died in the city would be eaten by the dogs and anyone who died outside of the city would be eaten by the fowls of the air, and that Ahab’s own blood would be licked from the city streets by dogs.
The fearsome news of these prophecies had actually brought Ahab to a place of repentance for a while, but his repentance was short lived. As soon as the shock had passed and he had time to forget about it, he was back to business as usual.
Ahab warned Jehoshaphat that Micaiah would have nothing good to say.
Ahab had never heard one prophetic utterance from the mouth of this prophet to encourage him in doing what Ahab wanted to do.
Ahab never realized that the reason he never heard any good thing is that he was continuing to walk in disobedience to God. How could he expect to hear anything good when all he did was evil in the sight of God?
There are many in the church today who say preachers who preach full gospel messages of impending judgment from God are just negative individuals who should be disregarded or even silenced so that peace could reign.
Most people don’t want to hear the truth. They love to hear teaching of love, mercy, grace and they praise those voices that foretell those better times are soon coming and that man will ultimately usher in his own age of peace and prosperity.
The truth is this – They simply don’t want to hear the full truth.
What they fail to understand is that it is only those preachers who are telling the truth. All others are false prophets who have the spirit of antichrist to deceive as many as possible into believing their lies.
There are multitudes of “ministers” who claim to be God’s messengers to the church who refuse to even admit that judgment is coming.
Their message of peace and prosperity is very easy to swallow but leads to a complacent, weak, even dead church that will face eternity without God.
It is God’s “very toughest” expressions of love, mercy and grace that allows his true ministers to speak the truth of the coming judgment so that perhaps some will come to God in true repentance through the true preaching of the gospel.
Ahab sent a messenger to get Micaiah.
This messenger was convinced that Ahab was the one to follow.
I read this passage over and over again and I cannot help but wonder if he really genuinely understood where Ahab was leading him?
Like so many so-called “Good Sunday Christians” in our modern-day church, he was only faithfully going to go so far following the orders of the king (the preacher) and didn’t question whether he was really in the will of God or not.
In fact, he copied his leaders thoughts, actions and mannerisms and even attempted to stop trouble by asking Micaiah to say the same things that the other 400 prophets said so that there would be no trouble.
Are we aware enough to know that by our selective hearing, sometimes the lie of the “sons of belial” comes from the lips of those who we think are spiritually minded? If we are not very careful, we can also be one of those used to hinder or even stop the flow of the Holy Spirit and spread the lies of Satan to stop the truth from being told?
Micaiah came into the court of Ahab, with Jehoshaphat listening, and began to say the same thing that all of the other prophets had said. He “prophesied” of great victory for Ahab against Syria.
But Ahab believed he knew, in his heart, that Micaiah was just mocking him.
1 Kings 22:16, “And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?”
Even in his sinful condition Ahab knew the difference between the truth and a lie. “All right, quit mocking, and tell me the truth. I know you have something negative to say, so just get it over with,” was the attitude of Ahab as he spoke to Micaiah.
The world knows the difference between the truth and the lie. So does every member of the church. The Holy Spirit will ever be a reminder of what is truth and what is not. Even when we refuse the listen and obey the truth, we will still know when we are in disobedience.
We can harden our hearts, refuse to repent, and continue in sin but our own heart will condemn us because God won’t let us forget what the truth is.
No man will have an excuse when we stand before God in judgment. Every man will know exactly where he stands before he ever faces God.
We can keep on practicing Selective Hearing but that will be no excuse for living in disobedience to God’s Word. Ignorance of the Law is no excuse in the courts of man and it will be no excuse in the court of the Lord God either.
Now the truth was said as God directed Micaiah – Ahab would be defeated, and the people of Israel would be scattered as though they had no shepherd.
What was Ahab’s reaction?
1 Kings 22:16, … Ahab looked over at Jehoshaphat in total disgust and said something like this (just like our modern thinking), “Didn’t I tell you? He never has a good prophecy for me! Everything he tells me is nothing but bad news!”
“That’s why I didn’t want to call him in the first place! Now look at what you have forced me to do. I didn’t want to hear any negative! All I ever wanted was positive talk! Now it’s going to take me all day to get that negative thought out of my mind! These just ruins everything!”
You have to have Father, Son and Holy Spirit positive thoughts, picture their victory in your mind, write good slogans all over the refrigerator, the mirrors in the dressing room and everywhere to get the right results, not hear and listen to some negative old prophet with a message of repentance and acknowledgment God’s truth isn’t always going to be the palatable to eat and pleasant to hear.
It’s not always sweet to taste and easy to swallow. Sometimes it’s downright the most bitter food to take into our mouths. But, like a bad tasting medicine that helps us to heal, if the truth of God is heard and obeyed it brings healing to our souls, healing to our land and life that is more abundant and eternal.
One of the saddest parts of this whole scenario is that King Jehoshaphat was also fooled and became an unwitting part of Ahab’s disobedience.
Here was a king who was attempting to live in God’s will. He had every solid appearance of being a good king except for one all important things. He didn’t remove the idols from Judah that were already there when he became king.
Because he was used to compromising, it was easy for him to be led astray by Ahab. When the battle started, he was chased from the battlefield by the Syrians who thought that he was Ahab.
Meanwhile, Ahab disguised himself so that he would be harder to find and kill.
How many ministers do we know which have disguised themselves and have gone into deep hiding or have simply blended in with the rest of their misled congregations? They have trapped themselves and others by their own lies.
You can’t hide from God (Psalm 139). His judgments are sure! Whether you believe them or not, or whether you accept them or not, is immaterial! The fact is that God’s judgments will come, and his perfect will must be accomplished.
How does this prophetic story end? The hidden Ahab was shot by a stray arrow.
One of the Syrian archers just drew back his bow and shot into the air at no specific target. That arrow was like a guided missile, led by the laser sight of God’s own hand of judgment, it struck Ahab right between the shoulder blades.
Ahab died in his chariot. His blood was washed from the chariot at the same spot where Nabaoth died, and the dogs licked up Ahab’s blood from the ground.
God’s judgments are sure!
Ahab died because he had selective hearing! He only heard and wanted to hear those things that he agreed with or that made him feel “theologically” good.
In closing let me say that we cannot afford to have selective hearing any more than Ahab could. We must hear and obey the truth of God’s Word!
There is coming a day of judgment soon. Only those who have opened their ears to hear the truth and have learned to obey God will enter Heaven’s glory. Get rid of your selective hearing and let’s hear the whole counsel of God’s truth.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear God, I desire to do according to your will. I desire to walk in your ways. I desire to have a heart that is more like yours. Lord, I desire this so I can be illuminated in my heart and mind. I pray for this because I want to recognize your word and hear your voice. I do not want to be deceived by preachers and prophets who claim to preach your word but actually are false teachers. I ask that you grant me these desires, oh Lord. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
In the beginning of all things, God spoke into the darkness. Underneath those first spoken words which remain beyond our knowledge and comprehension I can imagine is God’s not so subtle prayer the darkness would relent of its efforts to prevent the light of life from shining, from distracting the light away from revealing the absolute glory of God in creation to all created generations.
I can imagine too, God knowing fully what God is going to do in the life of the humanity He Himself formed (Psalm 139:1-18), likewise subtly prayed that humanity would one day come to the same knowledge of God and also believe.
I can imagine David, at any given time and season in his life and turning his yes and his soul deep into the heavens, trying to count all of the stars and praising God for the complete failure in his efforts to do so. The utter majesty of God!
David raised his soul, offered up a psalm of praise to God, then concluded with these words about his words and thoughts. And they are my prayer as well.
Psalm 19:14 Amplified Bible
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
So many of the psalms of David rejoice our hearts, as he pours forth a harmony of poetic praise to God for His merciful forgiveness and extraordinary favour.
It does not take very long for one to conclude, perhaps more than any other worship song from Israel’s great psalmist, Psalm 19 reminds us of the never-ending wonders of God’s mighty works and ways, the glories of His creative wisdom, and His most gracious acts towards the rebellious children of Israel.
The heavens above do indeed declare the beauty and splendour of our Heavenly Lord, and His magnificent handiwork is most certainly reflected in the glorious works He has performed by the might of His power.
The diverse language of nature and the spoken and unspoken poetry of the heavens above and the earth beneath, pour forth a never-ending message of unyielding worship and praise, as it proclaims the wonderful works of God.
So many of the sacred words that have been penned by Israel’s shepherd-king are prayers that have been rehearsed on the lips of many saints over centuries of time, who have found comfort, grace in his pleadings to the Lord.
From the very first utterances of those very first Words, God’s truth is revealed and forwarded into eternity for all to come to belief. For the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; and all of the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
David was a man after God’s own heart, for he realized it is not only the outside of a cup that needs to be clean and unsullied, but God desires an inner purity, which stems from a heart of flesh which is cleansed, humbled before the Lord and from whom will stream rivers of living water.
Words of worship flowing from a proud, rebellious, or unrepentant heart, are undoubtedly like an open and festering sewer to the Lord, but worshipful words flowing forth from a heart, soul and life which is pure in thought and in motive, word and deed, ascend unto the Father’s nostrils as a fragrant, sweet perfume.
And so, as David’s exuberant praise for the Lord climbs into an ever-increasing crescendo of worship and exaltation, his heart and his soul are suddenly moved into hushed prayer of submissive surrender and deep devotion, as he recognizes his own human limitations in contrast to the magnificent glory of God and cries out unto the Lord, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.”
Imagine a heart (how about your heart) that meditates on the glory of the Lord and lifts up the person of the Lord Jesus, is the one that exhibits an inner grace and beauty, for such a one is willingly being transformed into the likeness of the Christ, for out of the mouth come thoughts that are conceived in the heart.
David not only understood the need for an inner cleansing and purity on a day-by-day basis, where God Himself governs and sanctifies the thoughts of the heart and the words of the mouth, but he had come to an understanding that his future promised royal Son- the coming King, the Promised Messiah – the divine days-man of Job – and the coming Seed of the virgin woman, would be the true, everlasting strength of his life, the only true Kinsman-Redeemer for his soul.
May we, like David, in true humility of heart, sanctify the words of our mouth, the meditation of our heart, the thoughts of our minds, and the motives of our inner most being so that all we say and all we do, will be pleasing and acceptable in the sight of our precious Lord and Savior, our Rock, our Redeemer and friend.
My prayer is that the words that come out of my mouth would be pleasing to God. Not just the words I speak when I am gathered with the church. But also when I am socializing with friends. When I am talking about politics or other social issues. And when I am in debate, or dispute, with another person. May my words be filled with grace and honoring to God.
And may my thoughts also be pleasing to God. Not just when I am meditating on the words of the Bible. But also, when I am fighting traffic. When I am also stewing over some wrong done to me, or someone close to me. I pray that my thoughts always be respectful of mankind’s diversity, God honoring and pure.
The earlier part of the Psalm gives us instruction in how to accomplish this.
Immerse yourself in God’s Word. Let it fill you and root out the sin and error in your life.
The Bible has great value for those who will dwell in it.
Allow it to fill your heart and your soul. And then you will surely and certainly find that your words and thoughts will more and more be pleasing to the Lord.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Loving Father, the heart that meditates on the Lord and lifts up the person of the Lord Jesus, is the one that exhibits an inner grace and beauty, for such a one is willingly being transformed into the likeness of Christ.
I know that out of the mouth come thoughts that are conceived in the heart, and so I pray that, like David, in humility of heart I would sanctify the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart, the thoughts of my mind, and the motives of my inner being so that I too am pleasing and acceptable in the sight of my precious Lord and Savior, my Rock and Redeemer. In His name I pray, AMEN.
As the children of God, our goal in life is to be sinless.
That means we are seeking to be imitators of God, to follow and live out the example of His Son Jesus in the ways and truths the Bible communicates. As Christians, we are all disciples of Christ and we therefore seek to imitate him, his life, truth, his attitudes and his desire to always do the will of the Father.
We are all aware that this is a lofty goal and that we will fail at times. (In fact, the more we recognize the holiness of God, the more we realize how far short we fall of being like him.) The good news is that as long as this is our goal and we are striving every day for that perfection, we confess our weakness, and our sinfulness and by His grace and mercy God promises to continue to forgive us.
As an essential part of that goal, we seek to make the words of our mouths and the thoughts of our hearts pleasing in the sight of God. Our actions begin with our thoughts and our thoughts are controlled by what we put into our minds.
So, to walk in his light, we must fill our minds with His light, the things of God, the things which are right, pure, wholesome and lovely. This means we must be ever so very careful of spiritually dining on the things of this world; the ungodly entertainment that fills the radio, television, internet and other forms of media. As a man thinks in his heart; so is he. As his heart beats so his life beats away.
We are covenanted by God to daily desire more and more of Him in our lives. As we make this our greatest desire, our most sincere effort, our heart is changed. It beats not in tune with the godlessness of the world but with God’s true life.
Is that not what we should most desire – a heart which beats to keep us upright and living? A sin corroded; sin sickened heart will die and leave us in our graves. There has to something, someone, somewhere to be more desired than a grave.
David provides us with his insights through these final verses from Psalm 19.
Psalm 19:12-14 English Standard Version
12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
So far, we have looked at what Psalm 19 teaches us about how creation recounts the glory of God and we have looked at and studied what Psalm 19 teaches us about the other book God has written, the Bible. Specifically, David praises the beauty and the perfection of the Law in Psalm 19, which raised an important question for us: As Christians, how should we read and understand the Law?
I recently heard someone helpfully explain the Law like this: Before we came to Christ, the Law was our enemy because it exposed our sin and our guilt before a holy and righteous God. But after we came to Christ, the Law became our friend because we have no better teacher than the Law for learning how to desire God to the utmost and to please the God whom we have come to know and to love.
This is what David explains in the final verses of Psalm 19
Let’s break this down into a few guiding principles to help us interpret this.
David Uses the Law to Expose His Sin, Not to Forgive It
The first thing I pray we each recognize about what David does in this prayer is that he isn’t citing the Law as evidence for his innocence.
He isn’t pointing to the Law and saying, “O LORD, my rock and my redeemer, I am innocent from hidden faults and blameless before you!”
He understands that he hasn’t yet achieved perfection under the Law.
In fact, he assumes that he has faults that are “hidden” from him.
The word used here for “errors” describes a sin that is committed in ignorance (e.g., Lev. 4:13 or Job 6:24).
The fact that the sin happened unintentionally doesn’t make it acceptable, but that kind of sin wasn’t judged as harshly as sins that were committed willfully.
David’s relationship to the Law is to use it as a “diagnostic tool” to find out where he is still guilty, and not as justifying tool to proclaim himself innocent.
This is the main contention of the New Testament writers to write strongly against the wrong use of the Law. It is not that they are rejecting the Law altogether, but they absolutely reject any idea that we can use the Law as a platform to declare ourselves righteous. The Law simply doesn’t work that way.
The only way for anyone to be saved—at any point throughout salvation history—is through their sincere heartfelt confession faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
People like David didn’t necessarily know or comprehend the details of who Jesus would be, so they were required to have faith that God would fulfill his covenant promises, but we do know what God has done to save his people.
He sent his Son Jesus to be born under the Law so that he could fulfill the Law, perfectly obeying the Law in ways that we could not and suffering under the full weight of the curse of the Law in our place, as we ever so righteously deserved.
Jesus is our only hope for salvation—not the Law.
David Longs for Communion with God
So instead of misunderstanding David as a legalist, let’s listen more closely to his real desire.
David wants to be blameless…
In these final verses, he pleads for God to help him to discern his ignorant sins so that he can be declared innocent from hidden faults.
(The word for “hidden” is the same word used to describe how there is nothing “hidden” from the sun’s heat in Psalm 19:6.)
Then, he asks God to graciously hold him back from presumptuous sins. And finally, he pleads that every word of his mouth and meditation of his heart would be “acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
But why? What’s David’s motivation behind his desire for blamelessness?
Quite simply, David longs for everlasting communion with God.
In the context of the whole Psalm, here is what is happening.
David is first standing in awe of God’s majesty and glory as he listens to the praises of creation.
Then, as he reads, studies and prays Yahweh’s Law and finds it to be perfect, reviving, sure, etc., he wants nothing more than to know the God of creation who has crafted such a perfect Law.
There is wisdom found here, and David wants to know the wise God who gave this Law—to know this God is the great reward David mentioned in Psalm 19:11.
David wants to be accepted by this God: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” He wants to be embraced by God and to know him better and better.
Union vs. Communion
This isn’t the same thing as being justified by God.
David doesn’t embrace the Law in order to make himself righteous before God, because he knows only God can make sinners righteous, by grace through faith.
Our union with God was established perfectly at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the ebbing and flowing of our obedience and holiness before the Lord can do nothing to affect it.
Theologians, however, make an important distinction between our union with God and our communion with God.
Think about it like a marriage.
If you had an affair, that wouldn’t automatically sever yourunion with your spouse. Legally, you would still be considered married to your spouse unless you both went through the divorce proceedings to break that union.
But an affair would absolutely destroy the communion you have with your spouse. Even if you tried to cover it up, that violation of your spouse’s trust would be an onerous burden on any kind of relational intimacy you might have otherwise had until you were both able to somehow work with God through it.
Our union with Christ is inviolable, and there is nothing that we could ever do to destroy it. Even the most severe spiritual adultery is something that Jesus Christ has already died for, and he extends grace to us through the victory he won over sin through his resurrection.
Shout this to whoever will hear it:
There is more than sufficient grace for even the very vilest of sinners! Nothing you do can separate you from the love that God has for you in Jesus Christ!
But our communion with Christ can absolutely change over the course of our lives. Sin clouds our intimacy with him, and what David teaches us here in these verses is to learn to love the Law of God as a tool for exposing our hidden faults as well as illuminating the imminent danger of presumptuous sins.
David is not interested in blamelessness for its own sake, or for the sake of trumpeting his own “not so high and mighty” righteousness to the world.
His goal is simply this, he wants to be blameless so that nothing at all will stand between his heart, his soul, his God—that is, between his Rock and Redeemer.
Or as Charles Albert Tindley would later write … (1906)
1. Nothing between my soul and my Savior, naught of this world’s delusive dream; I have renounced all sinful pleasure; Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between. Refrain: Nothing between my soul and my Savior, so that his blessed face may be seen; nothing preventing the least of his favor; keep the way clear! let nothing between.
2. Nothing between, like worldly pleasure; habits of life, though harmless they seem, must not my heart from him ever sever; he is my all, there’s nothing between. (Refrain)
3. Nothing between, like pride or station; self or friends shall not intervene; though it may cost me much tribulation, I am resolved, there’s nothing between. (Refrain)
4. Nothing between, e’en many hard trials, though the whole world against me convene; watching with prayer and much self denial, I’ll triumph at last, there’s nothing between. (Refrain)
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
O Lord, my God and my Father, I thank you for revealing your Living Word. Lord of wisdom, I sometimes finding understanding the Bible to be difficult. I know you want me to apply your word to my life. I thank you for giving me your word so I can grow in my relationship with you. Help me grasp what you want me to know as I read your revealed word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Be my teacher, so I can live and obey your word. Thank you for your wise advice. Amen.
Have you asked yourself what it really means to delight yourself in the LORD?
If you are even .01% like me, then the answer is almost certainly yes, then you have been brought by GOD to the right place.
Today, let me try to discuss the real meaning of Psalm 37:4-6 which most people either do not know about or care or reach out, dare to know about!
Psalm 37:1-6 NASB
Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.
A Psalm of David.
37 Do not get upset because of evildoers, Do not be envious of wrongdoers. 2 For they will wither quickly like the grass, And decay like the green plants. 3 Trust in the Lord and do good; Live in the land and [a]cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. 6 He will bring out your righteousness as the light, And your judgment as the noonday.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
For however long we have been a Christian, a short time or for a long time, there are those certain words and phrases which have a subtle tendency to settle into your vernacular, become commonplace, and lose their potency.
Any new believer, well-versed believer is certainly familiar with and, truthfully has probably memorized, David’s beautiful invitation in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”
But what does it mean to delight yourself in someone—especially ‘the Lord’?
We’ve all had those days. “Do I believe in God?” “Why should I believe today?”
Circumstances go from bad to impossibly worse, creating an undercurrent of fear so strong that it tugs at your hope and threatens to pull you under. While you and I are trying to believe, to stay afloat on God’s promises, guilt sets in.
“Joy in the midst of trials is the mark of a true Christian,” you tell yourself.
In enters doubt with all the what-ifs that make your burden heavier.
Work, phone, binge-watching, ministry, mission—any of these should do.
But they don’t.
Somehow, they just seem to fall of the steepest cliffs into the deepest abyss.
Why does the call to ‘delight yourself in the Lord’ seem so distant in times of trouble?
What Does It Mean to ‘Delight Yourself in the Lord’?
Think back to a specific moment in time when you freely enjoyed the company of a loved one.
What made that moment special and memorable?
Did you laugh or cry together—like good friends often do.
Did you bond through the thrill of a shared experience? Did you boisterously celebrate a long-awaited victory together? Or perhaps you sat with each other in loving silence, grateful to know you didn’t have to carry a burden alone.
To experience deep, satisfying fellowship is a gift like no other.
But that kind of connection doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s silly to think we could find heartfelt delight with a stranger.
The same is true when it comes to delighting ourselves in the Lord.
What is the Psalm 37 4 meaning?
Psalm 37:4 is no doubt one of the most popular passages in the book of Psalms.
Why not?
After all, it is a wonderful promise from God that many people hold on to.
Psalm 37 is a psalm of David in which he reassures the righteous not to be dismayed at the sight of evildoers. In this Psalm, David explains what will happen to the wicked, but at the same time, what the righteous should also do.
Since the fate of the wicked is already prophesied and understood, the righteous should not worry about them anymore, rather they should place their sole focus on their relationship with God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
That’s where Psalm 37 verse 4 comes in.
Psalm 37:4 is just one of the instructions David mentioned in Psalm 37.
As you can read:
Verse 3 – Trust in the LORD and do good
Verse 5 – Commit your way to the LORD
Verse 7 – Rest in the LORD
Verse 8 – Cease from anger, and forsake wrath
These are just some of David’s admonition in Psalm 37.
As you can see, Psalm 37:4 is part of a greater list of instructions.
But for now, let us focus on the meaning of Psalm 37:4.
What does delight mean in Psalm 37:4?
The first thing we need to ask is, what does the word “delight” mean?
If we put everything together, Psalm 37:4 tells us that we must take pleasure, we must be joyful, we must be excited about Yahweh.
It means our only source of joy and happiness should be our Heavenly Father.
Is it the right time to confess our real truth? Exactly Who or what is our source of delight?
However, as we look around us, where do people get their happiness?
Where do people usually take delight from?
They take delight in worldly and sensual things. They take delight in watching inappropriate and immoral entertainment. They take pleasure in material possessions. They take pleasure in people. Worst, they take pleasure in sin.
But the absolute bottom line truth be told – we ALL fall impossibly short.
This utterly dismal failure on our parts must not go unaddressed – otherwise, it will very definitely, very decisively not go unnoticed and unpunished by God.
Mark 1:14-15 NKJV
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel [a]of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God [b]is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Out of the most indescribable act of Love known, God acted, God sent His Son.
Sent to save the World, NOT TO CONDEMN IT as would be His right to do so.
Salvation in no other name or condemnation in no other name?
Absolute Delight in YAHWEH or Absolute delight in the World?
These realities are ever before every one of us – if we acknowledge them!
Some choose to acknowledge, come to believe – their delight is YAHWEH.
Others, refuse to acknowledge, do NOT make the decision or flat refuse the invitation to believe and subject to condemnation – delight – the World.
We must examine ourselves, then.
How about us?
Where do our joy and delight come from?
If we look at our activities and schedule for the day, can you find God in it?
Can you honestly say that you are delighting in God?
Does the very thought of studying the Bible make you excited?
Or do you simply make it an optional thing, that you only do it when you have extra time?
Do you still find time for prayer and meditation? Or are you too busy that you don’t have time to pray?
Does preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ make you happy and blessed? You think it’s boring and useless? Divisive or politically incorrect?
Is your mind filled with God’s word, peace, and love? Or are you filled with worries, anxiety, and fear?
The answers to these questions would determine whether you truly delight in Yahweh or not.
How Psalm 37:4 changes your life?
Now, here’s something you need to realize.
Psalm 37:4 is a life-changing verse.
It literally changes your perspective in life.
If you delight in Yahweh, you take on a new mindset.
No matter what happens in your life, as long as you delight in God, you are still at peace.
You are still filled with Joy.
You still feel blessed.
I strongly believe we, as individuals, need to delight in God more than ever.
As we go through these Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 times and seasons under the sun, we are coerced, forced to make many difficult moral choices and ethical decisions.
Choices and decisions which no one can claim would be delightful or desirous.
If we don’t delight in God, we all can easily drift away. We can all easily become weak in faith and eventually, forget about our brothers and sisters in Christ.
But as we continually delight in the Eternal, what then become the possibilities?
Connection of Psalm 37:4 to gratefulness
Here’s another important key we should not forget about delighting in God. It is being grateful both for the things we have and the things that we don’t have.
Take note of this:
No one can never truly delight in Yahweh without FIRST and FOREMOST being grateful and you can’t be truly grateful without delighting in Yahweh.
Instead of complaining about how unfair life is, be thankful, you’re still alive.
What I’m telling you is that people who truly delight in God see His blessings.
These blessings move them to be more grateful and worship God.
All these are part of delighting yourself in the LORD.
Psalm 37:4 and the REAL desires of our heart
Now, what happens when we delight in Yahweh,
we read the rest of Psalm 37:4, “He will give you the desires of your heart.”
This verse does not mean that if we delight in God, He will give us any desires of our hearts!
Now, that’s a dangerous teaching.
Why?
Because not all desires that we have are good for us!
You see, friends, it doesn’t mean that if you delight in God, you will become rich, you will have a new smartphone, you’ll have a big house.
You’ll have a lot of money in the bank.
It doesn’t mean that everything you want would be given to you.
No, that’s not how it really works.
Listen to this very carefully:
If we truly and genuinely delight in Yahweh, the desires of our hearts will eventually align with God’s will and purpose in our lives.
This means that your ultimate desire will not be limited in this world anymore, but it will be God’s desire.
The problem with so many people, and that includes you and me, is that we determine our desires first before we delight in God!
Instead, what happened should be is that we FIRST delight in God so that we will have the right and proper desires in our hearts.
I hope that we come to the point that whether we receive what we ask from God or not, we are still thankful and would still delight in God.
If God gives what we’ve asked, then, praise God!
If God doesn’t give it, then we still praise Him because you know that He has your best interest in mind.
That’s exactly what it means to delight in God.
It is never conditional.
Whether God grants our prayers or not, we still choose to delight in Him.
God has become our ultimate source of happiness, joy, and peace.
So, friends, let me end this devotional by reading Psalm 37:4 again:
“Delight yourself in the Yahweh, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
What does Psalm 37:4 mean?
In conclusion,
Psalm 37:4 means that we must delight in Yahweh, the supreme Ruler of this vast universe.
It means that the object of our gladness, joy, and delight should be God.
Psalm 37:4 should remind us that the ultimate Source of our joy should be our Heavenly Father.
When we delight in God, He will give our desires, but our desires have already been in line with His will and purpose in our lives.
Romans 8:28New King James Version
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
My ABBA, My Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times when I have delighted myself in wrong things. Keep me from fretting over much over evildoers in this increasingly confusing world and help me to keep the eyes of my heart on Jesus and to delight myself in the things of God.
Align my thoughts to Your thoughts, I pray, and my will to the will of God. May the desires of my heart unite with Your perfect will and eternal purposes, for Your everlasting praise and glory. This I ask in Jesus’ name, Alleluia! AMEN.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 