- araratchurch
- Apr 14, 2022
- 3 min read
“It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect. He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.”
Psalms 18:32, 34, 39 NKJV
FTT (Failure to Thrive) is a condition found in babies or children who aren’t developing at a normal rate. The causes for this condition are many, ranging from inadequate nutrition or care, to abuse of some sort. And then there are babies or children who fail to thrive for no apparent reason.
In litters of dogs or cats you will find what is referenced as the “runt.” The runt is smaller and seems to lack the strength the others have. Again, many times the exact reason for the runt being the way it is, is a mystery.
It does appear that in both instances I have referenced, there seems to be the elusive quality of strength that is missing.
We have all probably experienced times of physical, mental, or emotional exhaustion, where our output has exceeded our resources; and, we had to “shut down” in some way or another until we mustered more strength.
I was watching a video of a donkey giving birth. The donkey was lying on its side, lifting its head and its back legs, trying to push the foal out. After much trying, she then lay there motionless; you could see the muzzle of The little foal slightly protruding from her body. A person attending the birth said that she was going to need some help because she had no more strength. They stepped in and helped deliver the foal. Caught in this situation without help, she and the foal would have certainly died.
Sometimes the only ingredient missing from attaining success, is strength. Understand, we reference strength in many different ways: courage, endurance, stamina, and so on. Whereas these qualities may vary slightly in terms of what produces them, there is the common thread of strength. For our purposes, strength can be defined as the ability to withstand or to go on.
One of the first songs I ever sang in church as a very little girl was, “They that Wait Upon the Lord.” It was taken from this passage of scripture:
“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:30-31 NKJV
No matter what weapons you may have for battle, tools you may possess to complete a task, or even your training or acumen in any area, without strength to perform or endure, you will fail.
“The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.”
Psalms 78:9 NKJV
The above scripture references a time where God’s people needed to go to battle; but, having broken His covenant, they no longer had the courage and strength to do what they needed to do even though they were well-armed!
Our portion from Psalms today takes us again to David’s reflection on his victory over Saul and Saul’s armies. He explains—in more than one place—how God provided the strength that was needed to win the battle. You see, no matter the foe or the challenge, God‘s strength gives the ability to stand!
What ever challenge, pressure, or attack you may be facing, remember: the strength of the Lord is the great equalizer. It is not about your strength; your strength can and will fail you. But, the strength of the Lord—working through you and around you—will never fail.
“For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.”
Psalms 18:29 NKJV
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord’s strength never fails.
The Lord is tender to the humble soul, but harsh against those who set themselves against Him Day 30
- araratchurch
- Apr 13, 2022
- 3 min read
“With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.”
Psalms 18:25-27 NKJV
I love to watch shows that have baby animals in them. One of the things I enjoy seeing the most is when a very ferocious animal—like a lion—is dealing with its own young. Consider what a killing machine the lioness can be when hunting her prey. As a matter of fact, did you know that the lioness does most of the hunting for the pride? The male protects the pride and stakes out territory; but it is the faster, more nimble female, that is the ferocious hunter. Yet, it is amazing to see this lioness—with these huge, sharp, teeth, well-equipping her for ripping flesh from bones—dealing so tenderly with her tiny cubs. I watch with great wonder as her huge mouth wraps gingerly around the cub, tenderly moving it from one place to another.
Another amazing thing I have seen is a huge gorilla playing tenderly with a tiny kitten. Here, this massive animal, 4 to 9 times stronger than a human being, delicately holds a kitten in its hands without so much as ruffling the kitten’s fur!
Now think of this, our Heavenly Father is an awesome God Who can effortlessly devastate His creation. And yet, when dealing with His children, He can be very tender, bringing no harm. On the other hand, we see throughout the Bible how the enemies of God can be dealt with very harshly.
God’s way of dealing with people—especially in terms of correction—is illustrated in this passage from Isaiah:
“A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail. Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverize it. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.”
Isaiah 28:27-29 NLT
Consider Jesus, God made flesh. The prophet Isaiah was quoted in Matthew as saying this about the coming Messiah:
“He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.”
Matthew 12:20 NLT
This prophecy referenced the fact that the Messiah would not appear as a warrior, but rather, He would humble Himself, allowing mere mortals to brutally torture and kill Him.
However, we see that Jesus will return to deal harshly with the enemies of God!
“Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.”
2 Thessalonians 2:8 NLT
In our passage from Psalms today we see that David—having just extolled the mighty power the Lord demonstrates in defending His own—explains that the Lord deals with different people differently. He is gentle and tender with those who are humble before Him, but can be harsh with those who set themselves against His purposes.
Ultimately it’s up to us as to how we want the Lord to deal with us. I choose to be that “cub” submitting to the tender clutch that holds me fast.
Others, having chosen destruction, will one day see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, roaring before them…
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord is tender with the humble soul but is harsh against those who set themselves against Him.
- araratchurch
- Apr 12, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 18, 2022
“They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.”
Psalms 18:18-19 NKJV
It was my first or second year in college and I was in the library. Now, the library is very old and had (at that time) a very old, VERY small, elevator. Well, one evening while I was there looking up reference material, I suddenly felt like I could not go up another flight of stairs. However, I needed to go back up into the “stacks” (rows of shelves, tightly arranged, wherein one may seek the elusive, pivotal, reference source) one more time before leaving. So, I stepped into what would prove to be a “Twilight Zone” experience (are you hearing the music?); I decided that I would risk the elevator. Now, when I tell you that the elevator is small, you may get a visual of maybe three or four people being able to comfortably move around in it, but—unless my memory has failed me—this would be tight for two people. I pushed the button and began going up: “chunka, chunka, chunka” (at this point I am wondering if I am over the load limit for this elevator), and then, the elevator totally stopped! (As an aside, I might mention that many members of my mother’s family suffer with claustrophobia—I am not claiming this—but it’s information I thought you needed to have.) To be honest with you, I don’t remember how long I was in there or how the elevator started back up. I literally have “blanked” on it. All I know is how I felt when it stopped, and that it did, somehow, start back up. I never got back on it again. Ever.
Now, whether you suffer from claustrophobia or not, feeling closed in, is not a pleasant feeling. What I mean by, “closed in” is that you are being restricted from what you want/need to do. Suddenly, a tight space, perceived as being tolerable in one circumstance, becomes intolerable if you think there is no way out.
Let’s take the concept of being closed in to another level now (no, I’m not going to talk about seatbelts here; but I really, really, want to).
If you are of my age, you probably saw a lot of westerns growing up. One of the scenarios you would see, more than once, is when there is one group of men on horses being furiously pursued by another group of men on horses. The guys being pursued begin to get ahead; it looks like they will get away! However, their escape route is now taking them through hills on either side. Suddenly, they find themselves in (yes, you may have guessed it ) a box canyon. There is no way out! They are caught!
Even if you’ve never been literally confined, with no way of escape, I can probably guess that you have been in situations where you felt that way. It can be a lonely, terrifying, place; but there is hope.
In our portion of Psalms today we see that David—while extolling the mighty power of God (having been delivered from the wrath of Saul and his armies)—talks about the fact that God has taken him out into a “broad place.” In other words, he was no longer trapped! He had been set free from seemingly inevitable destruction by his enemies!
This sentiment—regarding being released from certain destruction into the safety of a broad place— is reiterated in other psalms:
“I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.”
Psalms 31:7-8 NKJV
“I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.”
Psalms 118:5 NKJV
Sometimes, our “tight place”
is the result of our own doings, having allowed ourselves to enter into temptation.
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”
James 1:14 NKJV
Other times, the enemy of our souls may have managed to make us feel closed in with no way out. But, whatever the reason for feeling trapped, the answer is the same. When we cry out to our mighty God, He will hear and He will make a way of escape.
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
I Corinthians 10:13 NKJV
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord won’t allow the enemy to keep you trapped.