"Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do You hide Your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?... Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!" (Psalm 44, ESV)
I know many people right now who are right in our text. Maybe you are or have been "there."
The psalmist is a person or persons who lived life. They were not bound by a religious spirit, a spirit which enslaves so many today. Some people think if you "talk the talk," if you sing, dance, lift your hands, pass out tracts, go on mission trips, give tithes and to the poor, and perhaps worst of all, repeat empty cliches which have been popularized in puddle "christianity," i.e., no depth, and all the other stuff which attempt to assure themselves and others that they are "Christian," well, everything will be alright. It will not. There is nothing like total honesty with our Lord Jesus.
Our text is a prayer of desperation, perhaps the only kind of prayer which is heard. Such prayers are of a child who is pressingly seeking his father, knowing that, "Our Father Who is in Heaven," is also, "Our Father Who is in," you and me. I love my children and grandchildren. There is nothing they could ever do which would cause me to cast them away; they are mine. Nothing in the universe can "un-son a son." You must believe this about Your Heavenly Father. Jesus said, "I and the Father are One," and so it is true of you and me. Jesus and...Father are One, and you and I are one with/in Father, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
In such intimacy, we are secure. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." Such self sacrificial love, unconditional love in the Blood of Jesus, and by Jesus' Blood in Which and in Whom you and I now may, "enter the Most Holy Place," you and I need never, ever doubt His, "Very Present Help in trouble." O, my dear friend, my weary sojourner in life's battle, what the Bible describes as, "warfare," never, ever allow yourself to forget, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast inside the Veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us...."
Jesus is, "awake," today. Jesus is not, "sleeping." Jesus is "rous[ing Him]self." Jesus does not, "hide [His] face." Jesus does not, "forget our affliction and oppression". Jesus is saying to you right now, "See! I, 'Rise up.' I, 'come to [y]our help!"
Father, in Jesus' Name, Glory! I believe/accept/receive Your Words. Amen.
***************************
My DC Mission expenses are totally covered. Thanks to all who participated. We have not yet, however, met the Berlin/Prague Mission need.
I know many people right now who are right in our text. Maybe you are or have been "there."
The psalmist is a person or persons who lived life. They were not bound by a religious spirit, a spirit which enslaves so many today. Some people think if you "talk the talk," if you sing, dance, lift your hands, pass out tracts, go on mission trips, give tithes and to the poor, and perhaps worst of all, repeat empty cliches which have been popularized in puddle "christianity," i.e., no depth, and all the other stuff which attempt to assure themselves and others that they are "Christian," well, everything will be alright. It will not. There is nothing like total honesty with our Lord Jesus.
Our text is a prayer of desperation, perhaps the only kind of prayer which is heard. Such prayers are of a child who is pressingly seeking his father, knowing that, "Our Father Who is in Heaven," is also, "Our Father Who is in," you and me. I love my children and grandchildren. There is nothing they could ever do which would cause me to cast them away; they are mine. Nothing in the universe can "un-son a son." You must believe this about Your Heavenly Father. Jesus said, "I and the Father are One," and so it is true of you and me. Jesus and...Father are One, and you and I are one with/in Father, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
In such intimacy, we are secure. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." Such self sacrificial love, unconditional love in the Blood of Jesus, and by Jesus' Blood in Which and in Whom you and I now may, "enter the Most Holy Place," you and I need never, ever doubt His, "Very Present Help in trouble." O, my dear friend, my weary sojourner in life's battle, what the Bible describes as, "warfare," never, ever allow yourself to forget, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast inside the Veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us...."
Jesus is, "awake," today. Jesus is not, "sleeping." Jesus is "rous[ing Him]self." Jesus does not, "hide [His] face." Jesus does not, "forget our affliction and oppression". Jesus is saying to you right now, "See! I, 'Rise up.' I, 'come to [y]our help!"
Father, in Jesus' Name, Glory! I believe/accept/receive Your Words. Amen.
***************************
My DC Mission expenses are totally covered. Thanks to all who participated. We have not yet, however, met the Berlin/Prague Mission need.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
