"Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old....The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary....They said in their heart, 'Let us completely subdue them'....Have regard for Your Covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land." (From Psalm 74, NIV)
Verse 4 says, "Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place...."
Every month when I read Psalm 74, I am reminded of Germany, 1938. Increasingly, however, I am reminded of the United States of America. I have probably bored you before with my take on how and why King Jesus raised up the USA. But I can tell you that even though Psalm 74 is obviously speaking of the Jews and their nation, I believe there is a very real application for America. What Psalm 74 describes is occurring in the US more and more. The enemies are not only "roaring" in the streets, in the universities, in the media and entertainment industries, the Government, they are also "roaring" in the, "meeting place."
"We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, none of us knows how long this will be. How long will the enemy mock you, God?" I am not saying that there are, "no prophets left," in the US. But I am wondering, Is what they/we are saying in alignment with, "The Word of God"? The only way any prophet, or any of us, for that matter, can have any certainty about what is taking place in the earth, any comprehension, and any corresponding knowledge of what the Bible says, "....men ought to do," is by a consistent reading, listening, and obeying of the entirety of Scriptures, and that with no agenda but His. I simply would not have any confidence at all to write a devotional, to do any mission work, to preach/teach, even converse with individuals if I did not read/hear and submit, on a daily basis, to the very, "Words of God."
The Psalm also declares, "But God is my King from long ago; He brings salvation on the earth....The day is Yours, and Yours the night." Good news today is that this, "....salvation on the earth," of which our text speaks, is rooted, founded upon, and pours forth from Golgotha, from the Blood-stained Cross, the Blood flowing from our Savior's precious Body. Indeed, That Precious Body was given for you, me, the whole of mankind, and, this was, "....from long ago," as the Bible says, "from days of eternity." Now our Lord Jesus Christ, He Who is, "from days of eternity," continues this, "from long ago...salvation...," in the very "Throne Room" of Heaven where, "He also makes intercession for us"; therefore, no worry nor fear should overwhelm us. I can tell you, furthermore, We need to understand that a very real integral part of this, "salvation on the earth," is in and through His Church. If humanity is going to make any "sense" whatsoever of what is taking place in the USA or any nation, it will be the Church, faithfully bearing witness to Jesus Christ, His Words, His Blood, His Cross, His Resurrection and Ascension, who will bring the only sanity and whatever clarity we all can receive.
Father, in Jesus' Name, "Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, the uproar of those who rise against You which ascends continually." Amen.
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Berlin/Wittenberg Mission, October 28-November 15
Verse 4 says, "Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place...."
Every month when I read Psalm 74, I am reminded of Germany, 1938. Increasingly, however, I am reminded of the United States of America. I have probably bored you before with my take on how and why King Jesus raised up the USA. But I can tell you that even though Psalm 74 is obviously speaking of the Jews and their nation, I believe there is a very real application for America. What Psalm 74 describes is occurring in the US more and more. The enemies are not only "roaring" in the streets, in the universities, in the media and entertainment industries, the Government, they are also "roaring" in the, "meeting place."
"We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, none of us knows how long this will be. How long will the enemy mock you, God?" I am not saying that there are, "no prophets left," in the US. But I am wondering, Is what they/we are saying in alignment with, "The Word of God"? The only way any prophet, or any of us, for that matter, can have any certainty about what is taking place in the earth, any comprehension, and any corresponding knowledge of what the Bible says, "....men ought to do," is by a consistent reading, listening, and obeying of the entirety of Scriptures, and that with no agenda but His. I simply would not have any confidence at all to write a devotional, to do any mission work, to preach/teach, even converse with individuals if I did not read/hear and submit, on a daily basis, to the very, "Words of God."
The Psalm also declares, "But God is my King from long ago; He brings salvation on the earth....The day is Yours, and Yours the night." Good news today is that this, "....salvation on the earth," of which our text speaks, is rooted, founded upon, and pours forth from Golgotha, from the Blood-stained Cross, the Blood flowing from our Savior's precious Body. Indeed, That Precious Body was given for you, me, the whole of mankind, and, this was, "....from long ago," as the Bible says, "from days of eternity." Now our Lord Jesus Christ, He Who is, "from days of eternity," continues this, "from long ago...salvation...," in the very "Throne Room" of Heaven where, "He also makes intercession for us"; therefore, no worry nor fear should overwhelm us. I can tell you, furthermore, We need to understand that a very real integral part of this, "salvation on the earth," is in and through His Church. If humanity is going to make any "sense" whatsoever of what is taking place in the USA or any nation, it will be the Church, faithfully bearing witness to Jesus Christ, His Words, His Blood, His Cross, His Resurrection and Ascension, who will bring the only sanity and whatever clarity we all can receive.
Father, in Jesus' Name, "Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, the uproar of those who rise against You which ascends continually." Amen.
****************************
Berlin/Wittenberg Mission, October 28-November 15
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
