"Lord, you have seen this; do not be silent. Do not be far from me, Lord." (Psalm 35:22, NIV)
This is what I have been praying almost continually since I read it this morning. He does, and He will not! This is my prayer for the The United States of America.
You and I can pray this for not only ourselves, our families, our businesses, but also for our nations. My Wisdom Literature Reading today was from Job 38. Job's words may have been a variation on our text, but he too was saying, "Lord, You have seen this; do not be silent. Do not be far from me." Job 38:1 tells us that Jesus spoke to Job, "out of the storm/tempest"; it can even mean, "hurricane." Now I think that means that our Lord was perhaps just reminding Job with Whom he was dealing. It matters not, however, the "kind" of storm to our "Storm-Chaser." The Living Triune God is He who speaks, "out of the storm," in the midst of, "the storm." Yes, my friend, Jesus rules in the storm of doubt, confusion, pain, bewilderment, no matter the intensity of that storm. Jesus stilled the storm on the Galilee and as Billy Graham once said, "and in many a troubled heart." Many years ago, "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace," spoke to me out of a, "hurricane,"-force storm, "Peace, be still." Jesus saw; Jesus was not silent; Jesus was, "....not far from me."
Our text was my prayer those many years ago, though I may not have said the exact words. You too have prayed this, though not knowing. It is like standing in the middle of a mess, not knowing what to do with it, you know, like a parent going into a messy child's room and saying, "Have you seen this?"-- rhetorical, of course. Most importantly, Father, Son Jesus and Holy Spirit sees it all. Nothing to do with you and me does our Lord Jesus Christ not see. The Blessed Trinity is never silent, though you and I at times may think so.
Pain may be deep, but so is the love of Jesus. Jesus says to you today, "Yes, I, 'have seen this.'"
"O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!"
Father, in Jesus' Name, "....You have seen this", what is going on in America and the nations; "do not be silent." Amen.
*******************
I leave Friday morning at 10:00
This is what I have been praying almost continually since I read it this morning. He does, and He will not! This is my prayer for the The United States of America.
You and I can pray this for not only ourselves, our families, our businesses, but also for our nations. My Wisdom Literature Reading today was from Job 38. Job's words may have been a variation on our text, but he too was saying, "Lord, You have seen this; do not be silent. Do not be far from me." Job 38:1 tells us that Jesus spoke to Job, "out of the storm/tempest"; it can even mean, "hurricane." Now I think that means that our Lord was perhaps just reminding Job with Whom he was dealing. It matters not, however, the "kind" of storm to our "Storm-Chaser." The Living Triune God is He who speaks, "out of the storm," in the midst of, "the storm." Yes, my friend, Jesus rules in the storm of doubt, confusion, pain, bewilderment, no matter the intensity of that storm. Jesus stilled the storm on the Galilee and as Billy Graham once said, "and in many a troubled heart." Many years ago, "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace," spoke to me out of a, "hurricane,"-force storm, "Peace, be still." Jesus saw; Jesus was not silent; Jesus was, "....not far from me."
Our text was my prayer those many years ago, though I may not have said the exact words. You too have prayed this, though not knowing. It is like standing in the middle of a mess, not knowing what to do with it, you know, like a parent going into a messy child's room and saying, "Have you seen this?"-- rhetorical, of course. Most importantly, Father, Son Jesus and Holy Spirit sees it all. Nothing to do with you and me does our Lord Jesus Christ not see. The Blessed Trinity is never silent, though you and I at times may think so.
Pain may be deep, but so is the love of Jesus. Jesus says to you today, "Yes, I, 'have seen this.'"
"O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!"
Father, in Jesus' Name, "....You have seen this", what is going on in America and the nations; "do not be silent." Amen.
*******************
I leave Friday morning at 10:00
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.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
