- araratchurch
- Jul 31
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 5
“Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble?”
Psalms 10:1 NKJV
When someone is going through an extended hard time and they feel that somehow or another the Lord has turned His face from them, we may be quick to reassure them that God does care and that He is not hiding Himself. But what about when it’s you feeling forsaken of God?
It’s undeniable, there are times that—for whatever reason—we may feel that the Lord has forsaken us. Now, if we’ve been in open sin and rebellion against God, or living against His word, we can understand that we have lost touch with Him through our own doings. As such, we are the one who has changed, not God.
Even so, there are times when, though you feel you are doing the very best you can, you find yourself in a tight place, feeling utterly alone, just when you needed Him the most!
Consider, when Jesus was suffering on the cross, He spoke of feeling forsaken.
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?””
Matthew 27:46 NKJV
Now, we could argue that since Jesus was taking on the Sin of the world, the Father had to turn away. Or we could say that because He references “My God,” rather than “My Father,” as He generally did, the part that He now felt of God was only His judgment and not the Fatherly relationship. But, whatever was going on, it was real and it was bad and Jesus endured that for us!
The writer of Hebrews, in encouraging the people not to be grasping for things, offers this assurance:
“Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?””
Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT
God will never fail us or abandon us! We can rest on this assurance even when we don’t feel His presence; even when circumstances say otherwise.
In today’s portion from David’s psalms, we see that David was feeling forsaken by God, a theme often expressed in the psalms of David. In fact, Jesus was quoting from Psalms 22 when He spoke “Why have you forsaken me?” as He suffered on the cross.
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.”
Psalms 22:1-2 NKJV
However, every time David spoke of feeling forsaken by God, he would follow up with praises of God, expressing the goodness and steadfastness of our Father!
“Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.”
Psalms 27:9-10 NKJV
So what is the summation? Simply put, we all feel forsaken by God at times. But we must know that He has not forsaken us even though we don’t “feel” Him in that moment of crisis.
Reflecting back to what we considered earlier, Jesus experienced the feeling of being forsaken by God that was the product of our rebellion. He experienced that in the midst of taking our punishment. Yet, He was still victorious over the Sin that separated us from God. And—even now—His Spirit in us cries out, reassuring us that God has not forsaken us. He is our Father!
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”
Romans 8:15-16 NLT
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
It sometimes seems that God is hiding from us. But He isn’t.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jul 30
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 10
“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”
Psalms 9:10 NKJV
For many years of my life I had aquariums. I enjoyed having that window into an aquatic world. However, one mistake I too often made, was overfeeding the fish. You see, food that drops to the bottom, will go uneaten (unless you have scavengers). Unfortunately, this messes up the water balance.
Now, I knew I should only feed the fish a small amount; but there was an intervening variable (something else was going on, affecting the outcome): When the fish would see me go by the aquarium (recognizing me by what I would wear around the house), they would go to the surface and begin doing their mouths like little birds wanting to be fed! It was very, very, difficult to just pass them by. You see, I didn’t want to disappoint their expectation ( . . . I know).
And then there’s the matter of my “granddog.” When she was first acquired as a family member, her “parents” would bring her over to our house when they would come for dinner (this was before human grandchildren, who now require all the attention). Well, this sweet little dog would stand in the kitchen while I was preparing the food and when I was putting the food away. She would literally stand between my feet—or on my feet—looking up at me with her big brown eyes, expecting something. Needless to say, I rarely disappointed her, either.
OK, I’m a “feeder.” I like to feed people and animals, particularly when they are entreating me to do so.
From what Jesus said, it sounds like our Father is not that much different from me in terms of consistently responding to an expectant, persistent seeker.
“So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.”
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
Here, the Lord was specifically speaking of God’s faithfulness in giving His Holy Spirit to those who persistently seek Him; but it is a general principle of how the Lord operates.
At another time Jesus was in the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Martha was preparing a large meal, while Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to every word He spoke. Martha went to Jesus, asking Him to tell Mary to help her prepare the food.
“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.””
Luke 10:38-42 NLT
Although at that point in time, women generally served the meal as the men sat and talked to each other, Jesus, seeing Mary’s desire to be near Him and learn from Him, refused to make her get up and help Martha.
In today’s selection from David’s psalms, we see that David is expressing confidence in God’s faithfulness to those who seek Him. As we have said, David fervently sought after the heart of God; and he found it!
I particularly love this proclamation from David about seeking God:
“When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.””
Psalms 27:8 NKJV
Basically, we can stand aloof from the Lord (either because we are busy seeking everything else or because we have decided that He doesn’t care about us anyway), and we will pretty much get what we expect: nothing. But, if we are always at His feet, looking up with expectation, won’t He respond by filling our need?
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord will not ignore those who seek Him.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jul 28
- 3 min read
“I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”
Psalms 9:2 NKJV
Basically, any one person in a crowd is just part of that crowd, until, and unless, you know that person’s name. Something about knowing a person’s name sets them out as a direct point of reference. To explain, given the crowd example, we might now say something like, “I see Jane Anyperson over there in that crowd.”
Further, think of the difference between saying something like, “A man, 6 feet tall with a light complexion and blue eyes, came in and robbed the bank,” and “Mike Anyperson, came and robbed the bank.” In the first instance, you’re describing some unknown perpetrator; in the second instance you are referencing a particular person: Mike Anyperson. And he robbed a bank!
Personhood is inextricably connected to the name by which you are known. With the mention of the name of a person you know well, all of their attributes, all of their character, all of your experiences with them, comes to mind in a moment of time.
Of course, all of the details about this person are not brought to the forefront of your mind like a “list.” Rather, they are the context within which we can attest knowing this person. As well, it is the context which will inform any future interactions with that person.
Additionally, think of the fact that some names have become so associated with a set of behaviors that the name is now used as a descriptor. For example, when we hear a person referenced as being a “Benedict Arnold,” we immediately know that means they are a betrayer. On the other hand, hearing someone described as a “Mother Theresa,” informs that the person does good deeds for the underserved.
Moses had been chosen by God to deliver His people out of Egypt. The Lord explained to him that although the patriarchs knew Him as the Almighty God, they did not know Him as THE LORD (YAHWEH), the One Who would fulfill Covenant with them. He is saying that He is now extending Himself in a more personal way by bringing to pass that which had been promised.
“And God said to Moses, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by My name the Lord [Yahweh–the redemptive name of God] I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles].”
Exodus 6:2-3 AMPC
We have previously talked many times about the wonderful fact that the Lord knows our individual names. Let us now consider how wonderful it is that He allows us to know His personal name: THE LORD. Everything He is, is in His Name; and His Name is Everything.
My words fail to describe and convey what I feel about the Name of the Lord. I can do nothing but praise His Name!
In today’s portion from David’s psalms, we see that David also was provoked to praise the Name of the Lord, just at the very thought or mention of His Name!
In another place, David says this:
“Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah, And rejoice before Him.”
Psalms 68:4 NKJV
For the one who loves the Lord, for the one who has known Him by experience, the mere mention of the Name of the Lord provokes the deepest response of admiration. For those who are unmoved by His name, I can only say that they must not really know Him.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Name of the Lord is worthy to be praised!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!