- araratchurch
- May 27, 2022
- 3 min read
“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds.”
Psalms 57:7-10 NKJV
So, I’ll start with a disclaimer. It is true that people are fickle about a lot of things. It is also true that when things are going bad, it tends to paint everything in your life toward negativity, uncertainty, and so on. However, no amount of adversity will generally provoke a reaction of contempt for things we have always loved. Think about it: you’ve had bad things happen in your life; but if you love your house and home, you didn’t suddenly look around and say, “I hate this place.” If you have a precious pet, you didn’t suddenly look at that animal and think, “What use are you to me?” If you have a loving family and things begin to go wrong at your job or you’re sick, you don’t look at your loving family and suddenly despise them. So, why is it that many times when adversity comes, people turn against the Lord? Is our appreciation of the Lord based on whether or not He has checked all the boxes for us today?
I think the truth is that when things go wrong, we blame the Lord for it. And, if we think that He is responsible for the bad things going on in our life, we do not feel motivated to praise Him. It’s kind of like the impudent child screaming, “I hate you!” to the parent who has displeased them.
You are probably familiar with the trials of Job. As if things weren’t bad enough for him, at one point, his own wife encouraged him to curse God and die. His response to her should serve as an indictment toward the fickle-hearted:
“So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
Job 2:7-10 NKJV
I will not take this time to enter into a discussion about original Sin, our own bad decisions, and the myriad other factors having to do with why bad things happen to us. I will just say, God is good and worthy to be praised. Now, it is certainly true that we do not understand everything that happens in our lives. But nothing that happens to us should affect our love toward our Father and our praise toward Him.
On the 11th day of our “100 Days with David,” we talked about the fact that God wants our whole heart; but, He also wants our heart to be steadfast or faithful. You see, a steadfast heart toward the Lord has already settled the issue of whether He is good or not; it has already settled the issue of whether or not He can be trusted; it has already settled the issue of whether or not we are secure in His love. Therefore, the steadfast heart is never moved away from praise when we face adversity.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David declaring the steadfastness of his heart before the Lord and then instructing his own spirit to bring forth praise. It’s important to note that he wrote this in the midst of great pressure and adversity from his enemies. We find David often mentioning the steadfastness of his heart in his psalms. And, his steadfast heart, always awakened praise toward the Lord.
If adversity in your life has silenced your praise, perhaps the problem is a heart that is not faithful or steadfast. If that is the case, ask the Lord to forgive you for having a fickle heart and ask Him to make it faithful. Then, open your mouth and give Him praise!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
A faithful heart awakens praise.
- araratchurch
- May 26, 2022
- 3 min read
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”
Psalms 56:3-4 NKJV
It seems that every day we hear another horrible account of some terrible act that has been perpetrated by our fellow human beings. Everywhere you look it seems that you can find a reason to fear what other people are going to do. Tragically, basic respect for human life is woefully missing in some people in our society.
Additionally, whereas the threat of bodily harm is real and understandable, there are also other ways in which we may fear other people, causing us to live less than victorious lives.
For example, have you ever allowed self-consciousness to keep you from doing something you really wanted to do? Well, if you haven’t, then put a hand in my direction; because I have. I am ashamed to say that there was even a time that I fell short of my calling because of fear of what people would say or think about me.
And then there’s the issue of being afraid to engage with other people for fear of being hurt—not bodily—but emotionally. Some people, whether consciously or unconsciously, can’t be open with other people for fear of rejection or hurt.
Sadly, some people actually become so overwhelmed with the fear of what other people are going to do, that they become extremely isolated and alienated, choosing to live the life of a hermit. Whatever it is you are fearing, whatever harm you are striving to avoid, fear of man can definitely cause you to live a miserable life; and worse, can make you fail the Lord and miss your calling.
Fearing what other people will do, think, etc., has often caused the people of God to displease the Lord and turn from Him. We see this dynamic writ large in God’s word; so many times, the children of Israel’s fear in this regard, caused them to turn to other nations, other men, to help, rather than turning to the Lord. On one such occasion, the Lord said something we would do well to remember:
“Now the Egyptians are men and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; And the Lord will stretch out His hand, And he (Egypt) who helps will stumble, And he (Judah) who is helped will fall, And all of them will perish together.”
Isaiah 31:3 AMP
Here we see the reminder that there is an immeasurable difference between what men and flesh can do and what God and spirit can do. And yet, again, it’s often other flesh that we fear.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David making the proclamation that he overcomes his fear by remembering the difference between mere mortal man and God. This was not an uncommon thing for David and is found in many other places throughout his writings. As a matter of fact, we can find him expressing that even armies coming against him, are nothing compared to the power of the Lord (for example, Psalms 27:3).
In whatever way fear of man may be negatively impacting your life, wait no longer, place your eyes on the Lord, allowing Him to fill your vision to the point that the threat of man is completely obscured by your Father (Who He is and what He has promised)!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Threats from mere mortals are nothing compared to the Lord.
- araratchurch
- May 25, 2022
- 4 min read
“He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were many against me. God will hear, and afflict them, Even He who abides from of old. Selah Because they do not change, Therefore they do not fear God.”
Psalms 55:18-19 NKJV
When I was a youth, I remember four specific times—over a period of a few years—where the same thing happened in four families. In each case, the father, through a relationship with the Lord, had overcome alcoholism; and sadly, in each case, they relapsed to the ruin of their families. I remember how happy the families were during the time of their fathers’ sobriety. Beautiful children in all families, all within my age group, were happy and thriving. But after the relapses, in each case, the result was devastation of the family. In one of the cases there was a divorce. In the other three, marital misery and early deaths of the fathers resulted. In all of the cases, the children were greatly, negatively impacted . (Now, this is not a commentary on alcoholism or social drinking. But I will say that alcoholism will never happen if you never take that first drink.)
I also remember interesting cases where we would, as a form of entertainment, do makeovers on young ladies within the church. I particularly remember one time involving a young lady who looked completely unkempt. She looked and acted like she gave no thought to her appearance, not even in terms of cleanliness. After she received the makeover, everyone marveled at how beautiful she looked. She was nearly unrecognizable as the same person. It’s not a matter of saying that wearing make up or having fancy hairdos is better than going natural; it’s a matter of the fact that it was the difference between looking like she just came off the streets to looking like a respectable young lady. We just knew that after she had seen herself like this, she would make some effort to keep it up. But lo and behold, the next time we saw her, it was exactly the same as before the makeover.
And then there’s the cases of poor people who have won great sums of money. The rate at which these individuals fall back into poverty is staggering.
Now, in the first example I gave, you could say that addiction played a part in the recidivism, and that is true. In the second case, you could say perhaps self-esteem issues and possible abuse issues, kept the young woman from caring about the way she looked and carried herself. In the third case, you could say that these people returned to poverty because they had no knowledge of how to manage money.
What we can say about all these cases is that a change in circumstances did not change the inside of the individuals, at least it wasn’t a change that lasted.
I clearly remember one individual saying something when I was younger that shocked me. This person was a pastor who apparently did not believe what they preached. This person did not believe in miracles, saying that they would believe if they could just see one real miracle. And yet that person, themselves, had once been miraculously saved from certain death. This person died a doubter.
On the other hand I know a person who was severely addicted to heroin who—after receiving salvation—never craved heroin again! I know of people who once walked around, hanging their heads, looking like a junkyard dog, who now walk like they are king of the world. And, I’ve seen people, once poor, who now have enough to share with others.
We know by experience that God can and does change people. We also know that a person’s will can definitely be a stumbling block to the process of change. One of my favorite scriptures gives this exhortation:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
My daddy used to sing a song called, “It’s Different Now.” Part of it went: “It’s different now, since Jesus saved my soul; it’s different now, since by His blood I’m whole. Old Satan had to flee, when Jesus rescued me. Now it’s different, oh, so different now.” The Lord can make the difference in our lives, bringing lasting change; but we must cooperate. We must be convinced of the finished work of the cross and the sanctifying power in the blood of Jesus Christ. Additionally, we must submit our will to the Lord, allowing the Holy Spirit to direct us into newness of life.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David’s commentary on his enemies. He makes the determination that they have set themselves against God and will not change. Also, he declares that their reticence to change, will lead to their destruction.
On this side of eternity, we may never fully understand why some people are so dramatically changed, to the glory of God, while others, either refuse to change, or fail to stay changed. But, if we are willing and obedient, the Lord will help us to not be counted in the number of those who refuse change.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Sadly, some people will never change; but, you don’t have to be one of them.