Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Justice Demanded



Justice, people seek, demanding for them.
Railing, begging, striving, and bribing for their suit.
Claiming validity, for their “just” sake.
Unjust they be, though supposed claiming the truth.

Justice is my right, people declare.
Seeking to obtain it for themselves is their claim.
Wanting the profit and advantage from its reaping,
Shouting for justice, requiring, demanding it be made.

Justice, we seek, when we are unjust.
Claiming to be weakened, received harm from a hand.
Obtained unjust actions and words that have harmed,
We cry for justice for us; it’s for what we demand.

Seeking justice when we’re unjust seems unbalanced, untrue.
Why do we seek for our purpose that which we don’t bestow?
Striving always to be ahead, caring not for other’s lives now;
Wanting what we can get, uncaring what they are owed.

Justice we seek, we cry for, we plead.
Justice is not what we give, what we think, or what we heed.
Justice requires a person to be just, an impossible human task.
No one is always just, always right, sin makes sure of that.

Justness, rightness, can’t be defined by humanity;
God’s character defines it, the always righteous Holy One.
Humanity strives but fails to do what is right;
Weakness, temptation, sin separates and makes alone.

For this reason, humanity’s sin and God’s great love,
The Father sent the Son to live as man yet sinless to be the One.
The One who lived to die so sins may be cleansed,
The One who died so God would make righteous, just, everyone.

Justice we seek as if we’re the most important person alive.
Christ came and loved to show each His love and make right.
Nothing we can give nor anything we can do
Gives the salvation Christ gives, and, with it, eternal life.

Come as a child, nothing to give, no way to earn;
Righteousness from God comes by belief in Christ alone.
Jesus taught belief in Him alone, God’s love justifies;
What God asks of you is belief, for His grace makes you whole.

Justice we demand, yet justice we don’t give.
God demanded nothing for your sins to be cleansed.
He provided everything needed for you to be justified;
You pay Him nothing for the redemption price of your sins.
Though you owe God everything since your sins caused your death,
He paid the whole price, redeemed you, now you are fully cleansed.
Once you believe in Jesus as the Redeemer for your sins,
God’s grace and His cost are fully repaid as He welcomes you in.
As one of His children, cleansed, saved, redeemed,
Your only requirement is to answer the “Follow Me” of Christ’s beckoning.
“Follow Me with your life, with your actions, words, and thought.
Love Me, love your neighbor with your whole being, your whole heart.
Sell all you have, give to the hurt, lost, and needy;
Give your right to yourself to serve Me and others to eternity.”

These things Jesus taught as He spoke to the faithful, rich man.
The utmost he wouldn’t give though he followed the law of the land.
All that’s written cannot give you righteousness and peace;
Only through God’s gift, Jesus’ sacrifice, can we be justified, find justice, and all we need.

This all that God gives is eternal life and relationship with Him;
It’s better than all we can think, ever want, demand, or conceive.
It’s the ultimate of God, the source for all good things.
The definer of truth, justice, and giver of everything we need.

Justice we demanded and justice God gave.
At the cost of His Son by Whom we received His grace.
The power of death held no sway over His mighty power;
He rose from the grave and gave us cleansing and victory for every hour.

Jesus calls to us as we called to the judge;
“Justice,” I give, “with mercy and love.”
“Seek Me and find Me, I wait for you to come.
Believe in Me and receive from the depths of My love.”

Come to the Savior, Who for your life He died.
Come see the cross where He was crucified.
Give Him your life, your heart, everything,
And He will give you grace, justification, love, and all you need.


“For it is My Father’s will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40 [NLT])

“The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63 [NLT])


Note: Read Luke 18 and John 6 for more understanding of Jesus’ teaching as referred to in this poem.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Injustice Prevails?!



“The law is ignored and justice is never upheld.” Habakkuk 1:4 [NASB]

People cry out to God for the same thing about which Habakkuk cried out to Him. Wicked people appear to prevail. Corruption and crime are rife. Justice is perverted.

Habakkuk’s prophecy proclaimed God’s pronouncement against Judah. They sinned. God saw and would judge. Their enemy, Babylon, would overpower them. Still, God would save His people. The Judeans experienced defeat, but God would deliver them. He would be their mighty Warrior and judge their captors.

Babylon became a rising empire in 626 BC. They defeated Assyria outside Babylon. The Babylonians continued to strike the Assyrian empire and overtook the region. When the Assyrian empire fell, Egypt took Judah to be its vassal. By 609 BC, the Babylonians defeated Egypt and Judah’s loyalty switched.

During these changes of power over Judah, the hearts of God’s people cried to Him. They wondered if God still retained control over them and their land. The Judeans saw corrupted justice and abounding crime. The Judeans, as Habakkuk proclaimed for them, questioned where God could be. Was He hiding? Had God judged the Judeans and taken His hand of protection from them?

When evil seems to reign, remember God still controls all things. He’s omniscient and omnipotent. God knows all things and is all powerful. Nothing surprises Him. Nothing can take you permanently from God’s omniscient protection and provision. You’re His child. Once you choose God-believe in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ-nothing can separate you from Him. Laws may be ignored and justice be hidden, but God sees and is in control. Never fear. You’re a precious child of the High King!

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 [NASB]

God, please help us when we are weak and despair. Help us remember You are our Protector and Provider even in dark times.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Justice Like Rolling Water


Introduction

Amos spoke eight prophecies to Israel about the seven nations surrounding them and about their own nation. These prophecies were the LORD’s charges against the nations for their sins and His judgment of them because of their sins. God sought to get the Israelites’ attention because their sins were great. Their sins were against people and God.

Beginning in Amos 3, Amos preached and exhorted the listeners of Israel. God explicitly told the Israelites their sin through Amos. In Amos 3, Amos told the Israelites they were not immune to punishment because they were God’s chosen people. That would not keep them safe from God’s wrath. In Amos 4 and 5, Amos told the Israelites their ritualistic religion would not save them from the LORD’s wrath. God’s judgment is for all His enemies. This point Amos unequivocally pronounced to the Israelites in chapter five.

With Amos 5:18-27, Amos expressed clearly like what the “day of the LORD” would be. He preached against the religious hypocrisy of the Israelites. In the middle of the sermon, Amos called the Israelites to repentance. He made this stand out by using a chiastic structure in the sermon. A chiastic structure helps lead people to focus on the most important part of a sermon, the center part. The chiastic structure denotes itself as A, B, C, B*, A* where A and A* are the same, as are B and B*. The focus for both parts is C, the purpose of the sermon. In this sermon by Amos, the chiastic structure looks like the following diagram.

                        A  Description of God’s Certain Judgment (vs. 18-20)

                                    B  Accusation of Religious Hypocrisy (vs. 21-22)

                                                C  Call for Repentance (vs. 23-24)

                                    B* Accusation of Religious Hypocrisy (vs. 25-26)

                        A* Description of God’s Certain Judgment (vs. 27)

God’s Certain Judgment

People throughout history, when adversity combatted them, cried out to the Lord to hasten the “day of the LORD.” Our inner being recognizes God exists and is greater and mightier than our feeble human selves. The cry for the LORD most often seeks Him to halt or eliminate enemies. Throughout the Bible, the “day of the LORD” calls for God to bring the last days (the end times like Isaiah 5:19, Jeremiah 30:7, Joel 1:15, 2:1, 11, & 31). God will come to earth and judge evil people at that time. Rarely do the people seeking the “day of the LORD” realize he or she deserves God’s judgment, too. Crying out for the “day of the LORD” would bring judgment upon each person on earth not just one’s enemies. People do not think of that in their desperation. In Amos 5:18-20, Amos told the Israelites the “day of LORD” is more than they acknowledge. He said in verses eighteen through twenty,

18 “Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, for what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light, 19 as when a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. 20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?” [NASB]

The word “alas” comes from the Hebrew word howy and means “woe.” Amos proclaimed woe to the Israelites. They were not ready for that. Why should woe and lament come upon them? Israel considered themselves justified. God chose them as His people. They performed the rituals in the temple. The Israelites thought they lived correctly, and God would bless them and extinguish their enemies. He had always been the Protector, so why would He not be now or in their future. The people of the northern kingdom did not understand with their hearts and in their spirits what it meant to be the people of Yahweh, the children of GOD.

“Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD,” Amos said. The people desired, coveted, and craved for the day of God’s return to judge all people. Amos reminded the Israelites what that day would entail. It would not bring joy to each person because God’s judgment would occur then. Only the righteous would rejoice. Amos explained in three ways what that day would be like. He said it would be darkness and not light. This “darkness” is more than night, an absence of light. Amos called that time choshek, a day of gloom and obscurity.  Obscurity means to be unknown, inconspicuous, and unimportant. These Israelites would be unknown by God because their sins removed them from His presence. Their sins would bring judgment upon them like their enemies’ sins would for them. The LORD would cast the Israelites away from His presence forever. Amos explained the true reality of the “day of the LORD” for them. The Israelites sought God only when they needed something from Him–protection, provision, healing, etc.–not for a relationship.

Besides the “day of the LORD” being a time of darkness and the Israelites being unknown by God, Amos said they could not escape God’s judgment of them. Just like he said the Israelites could not outrun God’s judgment in chapter two, he said they could not outrun it in Amos 5:19. Though the unrighteous Israelite outran the lion God sent, he would meet with a bear and suffer defeat. When the Israelite ran for safety to her house, a snake would bite her hand when it rested against the wall. The place the Israelite considered himself most safe, his grand winter and summer houses or ivory palaces, would give no place of refugee from God’s judgment. God would judge all sinners, Amos said.

With verse twenty, Amos described to the Israelites again what the darkness would be like when the “day of the LORD” arrived. He said it would be darkness not light. The word “light” comes from the Hebrew word ‘owr and means light of day, prosperity or life. The “day of the LORD” would bring physical darkness, the absence of light. It would also bring darkness on a person’s life-mind, heart, body, and spirit. The darkness on the “day of the LORD” would cause poverty in these facets of life for the leaders and wealthy Israelites. What the Israelites considered came from their own hands and for which they did not thank God, God would remove. The darkness would be in the heavenly lights and within each person. The darkness would oppress them and cause joy and revelry to cease. Amos continued to describe the darkness. He emphasized the darkness by explaining it again. Amos said it would be gloom with no brightness. This darkness would be gloom, giving no light and creating depression and despondency.

When the day of the LORD arrives, God would judge all His enemies. God’s enemies are the people who sin against Him and His laws of righteousness. Though the Israelites called upon the LORD to bring His kingdom to cast judgment on their enemies, He would administer His judgment to all people on earth, not just their enemies. God’s enemies included the Israelites. The Israelites were not exempt because God called them His own. They had no entitlement. The Israelites’ election by God would not keep them safe from His wrath, as Amos said in chapter three. The people God chose to shine His light to lead other nations to Him broke their covenant with Him continually even after He sent prophets to call them back to Him. Because the Israelites broke their covenant with the LORD, they were His enemies, too. Yahweh would also mete out judgment on them. On the “day of the LORD,” God would defend and establish Himself and His righteousness. Israel was not righteous and God would punish them.

No person can escape from God’s judgment. Wherever a person can run, judgment will still find the person. God’s judgment is evitable and certain. The Apostle Paul said this over seven hundred years later, too. In Romans 3:23, Paul said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Each person deserves God’s judgment, not just Israel or our enemies.

·         What wrong have you done that you believe no one will ever know about so you feel safe? Have you taken money from someone’s wallet, spoke scathingly against a person, or told an untruth?
·         Did you truly think you could get away with that wrong?
·         Have you really escaped the guilt of that wrong? That guilt comes from God? He put it there to lead you to seek Him, confess and repent, and receive newness of life?
·         How does knowing this affect you at this moment?

Accusation of Religious Hypocrisy

Amos explained in chapter four God cares about the heart’s intention, not religious rituals. He ardently addressed the Israelites in the next two verses. Amos said in verses twenty-one and twenty-two,

21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.” [NASB]

God spoke seriously in these two verses. Like Amos did in verse ten when he described the Israelites’ hating and abhorring the righteous in the gate, he doubly described God’s dislike of the Israelites’ religious festivals. Amos said God hated the Israelites’ religious festivals. The word “hate” is the same Hebrew word Amos used earlier in this chapter. It means to hate, detest, and call an enemy. This hate is a mental and heart-felt rejection of the religious rituals the Israelites’ offered in their worship. Remember, the Israelites continued performing the festival rites God established and the ones Jeroboam established for their own gods. When they offered these same rituals to the LORD, He hated them because they did not execute them with singleness of devotion nor bring glory exclusively to Him. The rich Israelites sought glory for themselves by bringing extravagant things to the altar, like leavened instead of unleavened bread. They also gave their offerings and sacrifices more often than God required so they could show off their wealth. It gave them glory instead of God. In Amos 5:21, Amos said God hated their festivals, such as the festivals of Passover and Tabernacles.

Just as Amos said the rich hated and abhorred the righteous in the gate, he used similar terminology for God’s hate of the Israelites’ religious rituals. God hated in His heart how the Israelites worshiped. He rejected their festivals, too. The word “abhor” in verse ten means to despise, detest, and consider abominable. “Reject” comes from the Hebrew word ma’ac and means to despise, refuse, and reject. The Israelites physically turned away from the righteous people in the gate and turned people away who sought justice. God turned His eyes away from Israel’s worship. He turned His face away from them in rejection. The Israelites no longer had God’s blessing and protection.

Isaiah 1:11-16 says God had enough of their burnt offering and took no pleasure in the blood of the lambs they slaughtered. God did not delight in the Israelites’ offerings anymore. The word “delight” from verse twenty-one comes from the Hebrew word reyach and means smell. The Israelites’ sacrifices and offerings no longer gave a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Their actions were just ritual, not worship when they entered the places of worship for sacred and festive meetings. Their hearts were not right with God. God said He detested and rejected their festivals and solemn assemblies. The aromas were not soothing or fragrant to Him. Leviticus 26:31 mentions this. Jeremiah 14:12 says God would not accept the Israelites’ burnt offerings.

With verse twenty-two, Amos explained God’s seriousness. He said though the Israelites offered God the best of their flock and storehouses, whole burnt offerings, grain offerings, and peace offerings as God established in Deuteronomy 12 and Leviticus 2 & 7, the LORD would not accept or even look at them. The sacrifices and offerings were detestable to the LORD because they offered them out of ritualistic obedience to the Law. The Israelites did not offer genuine love for and thanks to Him. God said their offerings displeased Him and He would disregard them. Even though the people brought these to His altar, because their hearts did not present them, only their hands, it was as if they never came to Him at all. Genuinely meeting with the LORD requires heart, spirit, mind, and physical action. That is why Moses and Jesus taught the people-Jews and Gentiles-to love the LORD with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5 & Luke 10:27). Worshiping God requires devotedly loving Him with your whole being. The Israelites offered worship with their physical bodies only. Their worship was an abomination and idolatrous. The people’s worship of the LORD was ritually incorrect, which came about because of their desire for themselves and not to love Him with their whole being.

·         What do we worship and what do we offer as worship? Money? Family? Flashy cars or big houses? Kneeling? Singing routinely?
·         Whatever occupies most of your physical time and mental thought processes, and causes hunger and craving in your heart are your gods.
·         Will you recognize these false gods and seek a right relationship with God?

A Command for Repentance

In the earlier verses, Amos told the Israelites what they did to cause God’s judgment on themselves. With these next two verses, the LORD through Amos told the people what to do to get right with Him, to worship Him with righteousness. Amos said in verses twenty-three and twenty-four,

23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. 24 But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” [NASB]

Theologians over the years have debated whether verse twenty-three should go with verses twenty-one and twenty-two or with twenty-four. They said verse twenty-three seems to speak more of God’s condemnation of their false worship. It rightly could be so, but verse twenty-four, a verse obviously calling for repentance, begins with the word “but.” Verse twenty-four hinges on what Amos said in the immediately preceding verse. Besides this, verses twenty-three and twenty-four begin with commands while verses twenty-one and twenty-two are proclamations of fact by God. Personally, I believe Amos, with verse twenty-three’s command, gave one more example of the Israelites’ religiosity without heart, soul, and spirit. It operates as a counterpoint to his command to repent and be righteous.

The LORD commanded the Israelites to remove the noise and confusion of the songs from His presence. He rejected the songs because they were a noise rather than a praise of Him. These songs showed the divided hearts of the singers-divided between their gods and rituals to appease Yehovah and the true worship of the LORD. These songs were for show like their offerings and sacrifices. They were just ritual, not true worship. The command, “take away,” created a void where the antithesis should reside. It left an opening for true worship of God. By commanding a negative action, it implied a positive action should replace it. That is where the command of verse twenty-four enters.

With the command of verse twenty-four God told the Israelites to be just and righteous. The LORD rejected their “worship” songs because they were noise and chaos, which does not come from God, but Satan. Their songs lacked true devotion to God, which comes from the heart, mind, and soul and shows through actions. Amos gave vivid imagery in this verse. He told them to let justice roll down like water. Justice is righteousness in action. Justice is taking care of the orphan, widow, and foreigner. It is putting away violence. Notice this justice is flowing down. When water flows downward, it does so rapidly and with power. It moves stones, unhinges rocks and boulders, and displaces dirt. The justice the Israelites were to let roll down comes from the LORD, Amos implied. When it comes down over a person, the flowing water removed hard places and the stain of sins. A newness of life occurs. Amos commanded the Israelites to let it affect them. He said “let justice roll down.” Do not block the channel flowing from God to your heart, He meant, but let it do its good and righteous work so it will cleanse you and make you righteous.

Besides allowing God to cleanse them and allowing that righteousness to influence their lives and actions, Amos commanded them to let righteousness be “like an ever-flowing stream.” The waters of justice that come from the LORD are not stagnant; they keep flowing. We can and often do choose to stop the flow into our lives when we decide we want to do things our way or “live our own lives.” Amos told the Israelites to let the righteousness of God continue to their hearts as an ever-flowing stream. Let that stream continue through them to the people they encounter and represent in the community. Let their thoughts and actions be righteous. An ever-flowing stream smooths stones, makes a deeper stream bed, creates a more permanent path, and allows people a permanent supply of water upon which they can count for planting, growth, and sustenance. Amos told the Israelites to let God’s justice and righteousness flow on and through them. Be made right with the LORD and let it affect their actions and words. Let its affect cause the community and the people to care for and serve each other.

These metaphors of justice and righteousness being like an ever-flowing and powerful down-flow of water are a foreshadowing, too. It reminded the Israelites of the LORD’s plan to send a Messiah whose blood would flow to bring us salvation from our sins and make us righteous.  For the Israelites it spoke of God’s judgment, cleansing, and continual provision of cleansing, righteousness, and judgment. For their future, it spoke of His promise of cleansing and a continual provision of life and salvation for all people who believe.

The LORD rejected the Israelites’ worship because it was hypocritical and because of their absence of righteousness and justice. He rejects the worship of people today who are hypocritical and unrighteous. Our worship of God should come from our whole being, not just our body. It should not be mere ritual, but should be real and from our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

·         Do we have the continual flow of God’s righteousness in our lives?
·         Does it show in our actions and words each day?
·         Do you need to unblock the water flow from God and let His justice, righteousness, and mercy flow into your life?

Accusation of Religious Hypocrisy (reprise)

Amos resumed his sermon on the Israelites’ religious hypocrisy. The people of the northern kingdom claimed their election by Yehovah as His holy people, but they did not exclusively choose Yehovah as their God. They worshiped other gods. Because they did that, their worship of the LORD was merely ritual. The Israelites had covenanted to have no other gods except the LORD and not to worship manmade images (Commandments 2 and 3). With verses twenty-five and twenty-six Amos directed the Israelites to their sins of breaking these commandments. He stated in verses twenty-five and twenty-six,

25 “Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 You also carried along Sikkuth, your king, and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.” [NASB]

In verse twenty-five, the English word “present” comes from the Hebrew word nagash. Nagash means to draw near to God to bring something to Him. Amos asked a question of the Israelites in this verse. Did they draw near to God to bring Him sacrifices? The main part of this question is did they draw near to God. To draw near to God, one must have a repentant heart and genuinely seek Him. God said this to Solomon when He answered his prayer in 2 Chronicles 7:14. The LORD said, “If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” [NASB] To be in His presence, God said people must pray, seek Him, and turn from their wicked ways. In Amos 5:25, Amos asked the people did they draw near to God with sacrifices and grain offerings. If they did, God would accept their offerings and sacrifices. He promised the Israelites if they genuinely sought Him, they would find Him.  

When Amos asked the question in verse twenty-five, he asked if they did it during their forty years wilderness experience. Many times Moses recorded the worship of idols in the wilderness. Moses, too, was the one who gave God’s laws about worship to the Israelites as they wandered. Some people wonder if Amos asked a rhetorical question. Others say it cannot have been rhetorical because the worship regulations were to begin after the Israelites entered the Promised Land according to Numbers 15:1. (Frank Page) What is important about this question by Amos is not so much the timing of the offerings, but their hearts. Did they during their history truly draw near to God? That required a genuine seeking of God with the heart requiring contrition and love for God, not self. Truthful Israelites would mostly have replied in the negative. Since they did not draw near to God, their acts of worship toward God were false and He rejected them.

In verse twenty-six, Amos reminded the Israelites of their idol worship. This harkened back to the Israelites’ worship of golden calves in the wilderness and the gods of Moab when they camped on the eastern side of the Jordan River before entering the Promised Land. It reminded the Israelites of their worshiping false gods during their current time, too. By naming some gods they worshiped during the 750s BC, it showed their unfaithfulness to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. Amos said they carried along Sikkuth. “Carried along” comes from the Hebrew word nasa’ and means to bear, lift up, and exalt. The Israelites exalted another god. Sikkuth means tent or tabernacle, but it was also a Babylonian deity like Moloch or Saturn, a war god. Amos said the Israelites lifted up and exalted a Babylonian false god, instead of the One God Yahweh. He said they made a star image to represent their god, Kiyyun. Amos was not the only writer to speak of these gods of the Israelites. Acts 7:42-43, written by the apostle Luke, refers to these gods the Israelites worshiped.

The important point Amos made in these two verses is the Israelites did not worship God exclusively. They worshiped other gods and, thus, the ritualistic worship they gave to the LORD was not worship. The people of the northern kingdom did not draw near to the LORD seeking Him with their whole being. Their worship included several gods. For that, Yehovah ‘Elohyim rejected the Israelites’ worship and judged them. They were unrighteous and unjust. The Israelites practiced hypocritical worship. Their election as God’s holy nation would not protect them from the wrath of the One Holy God who is righteous. His righteousness required justice on His enemies. When the Israelites or anyone broke His just laws, judgment would occur.

·         What wrong have you committed that you refuse to admit to yourself? Possibly you keep stuffing it down hoping it will go away. We each have at least one of these wrongs because we are all sinners and are ashamed of our sins.
·         What have you done to try to appease the guilt and make it alright? Did that work?
·         Have you sought God, repented, and found Him and His mercy? He told Solomon about it in the Old Testament and made it a reality for all humankind with the death of His Son, Jesus, in the New Testament.

God’s Certain Judgment (reprise)

Amos prophesied to the Israelites several times about God’s judgment of them for their sins. In Amos 3:12, 4:2-3, and 5:5, Amos said the people of the northern kingdom of Israel would go into captivity. Lest the Israelites not believe him as they did not believe the other prophets who proclaimed God’s word to them, he said it would certainly come because God swore by His own name (Amos 5:8). With Amos 5:27, Amos again spoke God’s word of judgment on the Israelites. He said in verse twenty-seven,

 27 “‘Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,’ says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.” [NASB]

With the word “therefore,” God explained something would happen because of Israel’s sins of the preceding verses. His judgment proclaimed they would go into exile beyond Damascus. This told the Israelites which nation would subdue and capture them, the Assyrians. No nation had ever subdued and captured the Israelites. The LORD had fought their battles for them. The Israelites had remained a theocracy, a nation chosen by God and ruled by His laws. Notice this time when an enemy came to the gates of Israel, it would happen because the LORD allowed it. How would the Israelites know this prophecy would occur? Amos stated, “the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts, said it.” Yehovah (the existing One, the I AM), whose name is the ‘Elohiym (the ruler and judge) of hosts said it would happen. ‘Elohiym, the ultimate judge and ruler, would carry out this judgment, not an intermediary. By removing His hand of protection, He willed the Israelites’ conquer and capture. Because there was no justice or righteousness in Israel and they worshiped idols, they would not survive God’s judgment. His judgment would affect all the Israelites of the northern kingdom.

·         In the past when you did something wrong and knew it was wrong, but refused to stop, did you feel God’s censure of your actions and attitudes, of pulling away from Him and what is right? Hardened criminals and addicts show this and we can easily discern it.
·         What did you do to stop feeling the guilt God put in your heart and mind because of your wrongdoing? Did that make it go away and you feel better?
·         Is your life now not what you would like because God allowed it since you would not repent and return to a right relationship with Him?

Recap

Amos spent four chapters expanding for the Israelites of the northern kingdom their sins of which God specifically charged them. In Amos 5:18-27, Amos used a chiastic structure to help the Israelites and later readers understand the message of this sermon. God wants all sinners to return to Him, and let His justice and righteousness cleanse them. The Lord wants His righteousness and justice lived out in our lives through our words and actions. God said Israel did not do that. In this section of Amos 5, the Israelites did not worship the LORD with their whole being-heart, soul, mind, and strength-only with empty religious ritual. God said they worshiped false gods and did not worship Him solely. For this, Amos prophesied God’s judgment would certainly happen. If a person ran from a lion, he would meet a bear. If she ran to the safety of her home, a snake would bite her. There was nowhere the Israelites could go where God and His judgment would not find them. It would certainly happen. When the Israelites cried out to the LORD for His day to come upon their enemies, they would realize they, too, were His enemies. The “day of the LORD” would not be the day of celebration they wanted, so they needed to return to a true relationship and worship of God.


Conclusion and Relevance

Though Amos spoke to people who lived in the Middle East over 2800 years ago, we can still apply this lesson to us today. We all sin against other people and God. When we hurt someone, we break one of God’s commandments. Breaking a commandment shows lack of love to God. When we break one of these commandments, which God gave humanity for its orderly and respectful functioning and to lead us to keep our focus on Him, we break all His commandments. James made this point in James 2:1-13. Specifically recall James 2:10,

10 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” [NASB]

No one can keep the letter of the law perfectly. We are all sinners and keep sinning. Yet God made a way for us to receive cleansing permanently from our sins and guilt. That way came through the death of His Son, Jesus, who took on human form and did not sin in his 33 years of living on earth. Though Jesus faced temptation, He did not sin. Because of God’s love for us, He died a sinner’s death on a cross. Jesus’ crucifixion paid our sin penalty that God’s judgment requires. Romans 6:23 says, 

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Death while one remains guilty of sin is permanent, eternal separation from Yehovah, the existing One, I AM. Yehovah is the One who created you and has provided the redemption price for you to live with Him eternally in heaven. He wants to have a relationship with you and so sent His Son to die for you and all people. When you accept Jesus as the Savior of your soul who takes away your sins and believe He is the Son of God, you become a child of God. Paul stated it this way in Galatians 3:26,
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

When we become children of God, we fellowship with Christ. Romans 8:16-17 says this,

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if we indeed suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” [NASB]

If we live as the Israelites did, we would remain sinful. Our worship of God, if we worshiped Him, would be in vain. Our lives would be fraught with guilt and shame. Our deaths would be permanent. It would be eternal separation from God,
the One who loves you

the One who paid the price for your sin so you could be in a loving relationship with Him

the One who keeps calling to you

Pray
Seek Him
Turn from Your Sin
He will hear You from Heaven
He will forgive Your Sin
He will welcome You to an Eternal Relationship with Him

Let justice flow down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.




Wednesday, August 12, 2015

What Does the Lord Require: A Micah 6:8 Devotional

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 [NASB]

Micah was a prophet of God during king Ahaz’s reign about 730-700BC. During the reign Ahaz, worship of false gods became popular and accepted in the southern kingdom. Ahaz required the priests of Yahweh to offer sacrifices to the false gods, too . By the leading of the rulers, priests, and prophets, the people of Judah walked away from the LORD God to serve other gods. Micah entered this scene and proclaimed deliverance for the people who would go into captivity to Babylon and exhorted them to destroy the nations who came against her.
In today’s passage, Micah summarized in one verse what God required of His people, Israel. Micah proclaimed God wanted justice and loyalty from His people. In verses six and seven, Micah spoke for the people and asked if the LORD wanted burnt offerings, rivers of oil, or their firstborn children as sacrifice for the sins they committed against God. He told the people what God desired.
Micah told them what Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy as they walked to the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 10:12 explained the LORD wants people to live a manner of life that represents Him, to love Him, to serve Him, and to fear Him with reverence and awe. Moses added to this in Deuteronomy 30:15 by telling what the blessing would be for love and obedience to the LORD and what the curse would be for unfaithfulness to the LORD and their covenant with Him. Obedience and faithfulness brought life and prosperity. Disobedience and unfaithfulness brought death and adversity. The priests of God to Israel knew this. He commanded them to teach it to the people so they would not forget.
When Micah spoke up for the LORD in his time, the people of God as a whole had forgotten these things and walked away from Him. Micah called them back and reminded them what God requires. He told them to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
By walking with God following closely in obedience and awe, the characteristics of God would become part of their own lives. God is righteous and just. The people of Israel would become just and do justice. Isaiah 56:1 and Jeremiah 22:3 give commands to be just and preserve justice in their lives and to the powerless.
The kindness Micah spoke of is goodness and faithfulness to God and other people. As God is the author of goodness, their lives lived in faithfulness to Him would show goodness to other people. Hosea 6:6 says God delights in faithfulness/loyalty rather than sacrifice and knowledge of Him rather than burnt offerings. Knowing and being faithful to God develops a person who is like God and lives out His kindness and goodness.
Last, Micah told the people God requires them to walk humbly with Him. He meant they were to live lives of humility to Him, worshipping and obeying Him as their LORD. When people decide to set up other things as their god, they decide they know better than Yahweh. Those people make themselves greater than the LORD God when they decide they know better than Him. Isaiah spoke for God in Isaiah 57:15 when he said God lives on a high and holy place and the contrite and lowly of spirit live with Him. Besides this, in Isaiah 66:2, God spoke through Isaiah and said He would look to the humble and contrite of spirit. Humility before God is what God required of the Israelites. By the time Micah became a prophet of the LORD, most Israelites no longer revered the LORD and came before Him humbly. God was just another god to them among the multitude of other gods they served.
Micah came to the Israelites calling them to return to exclusive worship of the one God, Yahweh God. He told them what the LORD required – justice, kindness, humility, and loyalty to Him alone.  As the Israelites lived their lives in this way, they would take on the characteristics of God once again. Following the LORD requires humility in recognizing He is greater than they. By following Him and obeying Him in their daily lives, they would begin to love other people, which would manifest itself in goodness, kindness, and justice.
One step at a time to return to God requires the first step of acknowledging God is God of all including your life. He is greater than you or anything you think is better. As you make these steps one at a time, eventually you become more like God, more like Christ. The Israelites ended up captives of Babylon, but they listened to God and returned to their home land eventually. They returned to God and walked in His ways.
We can do that, too. We acknowledge God is supreme and the only God. We are nothing compared to Him. Next we accept that Jesus Christ is His Son who died for the death penalty to our sins. We ask forgiveness for our sins and give our lives to Him to be Lord – leader of our lives.
Whether you are already a Christian or not, we each are human and turn away from God. We tend to choose to make our own decisions and make ourselves god of our lives, which usurps God’s role as the Lord of our lives. God is waiting for us to turn back to Him. He promised He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9). He waits for each of us to accept His gift of grace through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. Each time we sin after accept His grace gift, God waits for us to turn back to Him, asking for forgiveness, and giving our lives back to Him to lead.

We can be just and live justly, giving kindness, and live humbly with the Lord. Just decide to give Him your life, ask forgiveness, and walk one day at a time with Him as your Lord. This is what Micah told the Israelites. It is what God continues to call us to do. What will you decide?

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Deuteronomy 31:1-2 A Devotion

"So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And He said to them, 'I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross this Jordan.'" [NASB]

You notice Moses did not say anything else about God not allowing him to enter the Promised Land. He did not complain or weep about it. Moses knew why God did not allow him to enter there.

In Numbers 27:13-14, God told Moses he would be punished for He was being punished by God for not honoring Him as holy at the waters in the Desert of Zin. In this desert, the Israelites complained about not having water. The LORD told Moses to speak to a specific the rock and water would gush out from it. Moses chose to strike the rock, berate the people, and did not give God the glory for the miracle and providing the Israelites with water.

We note in Deuteronomy 3:25-27 Moses asked God to allow him to go over to see the land. The LORD stood firm on His punishment of Moses. The next time we hear from Moses about this subject is right before his death in Deuteronomy 31.

Moses had seen God at work - His might, provision, love, and protection. He had seen God's patience tested with the Israelites. Moses was tested by them. Because he knew God, knew He is holy and righteous, and knew he was wrong and deserved punishment, he did not challenge God's judgment. Moses had been blessed by God. Pharaoh raise him in Egypt and educated him by the best teachers to be a leader in Egypt. Moses stood up for his people when the Egyptians oppressed them. As a shepherd, he acquired a personal relationship with the LORD God and learned how to lead people God’s way. As the LORD's chosen leader of the Israelites, he saw God's power and might in action to bring them out of Egypt and provide for them. Moses could not argue with God's judgment of his actions in Numbers 27.

Moses expressed in Deuteronomy 31 he had a very long life. He knew the LORD would soon come for him. Moses called forward the man God appointed to be his successor and introduced him to the Israelites. He heralded in the future of the Israelites and gave credit to God with his obedience at the end.

How many of us can say we would accept God's judgment of our wrongs as quietly as Moses did? How many of us would willingly and  graciously usher in the next leader and God-anointed person?

We need to get to a point where we recognize the holiness of the LORD God and listen to and obey Him because of Who He is. When we do that, we will sin against and offend Him less. When we disobey, because we recognize God's holiness, we can accept with grace God's punishment while at the same time recognizing, as Moses did, God's recognition of good service to Him.

Yes, we will all sin and be punished by God at some time during our lives. Maybe more than once. Yet if we are children of God, we know the punishment is not for eternity. Jesus redeemed and saved us. We will be renewed and made holy and blameless. For now though, while we live on this earth, let us accept our justifiable punishment from God with grace and possibly, just possibly, lead more people to discover and accept the LORD God by our humble acceptance of His righteous judgment.

Will you accept that challenge? Will you accept God's righteous judgment on you for your fault/sin/error recognizing that He is holy and deserves honor and glory even when we deserve judgment and punishment?

God is glorious and majestic even when we are sinful. We will never take that away from Him.
Give Him the glory even in receiving punishment.
It is for your growth and for His honor and the praise of His glory.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Upon Wondering


Psalm 10
            As we read Psalm 10, we observe obvious things. David faced wicked people and wanted God to avenge him. Another thing we notice is David’s questioning the nearness of God. After seeing these obvious parts of the psalm, if we want to learn more, we must dissect the psalm. We should recognize that often humankind, when in crisis, questions God’s presence, even when they realize He is not absent. God allows us to express our feelings and leads us to recall that He was with us all the time. We will see this as we go through the Psalm 10.
            Beginning with the format of the psalm, we find four parts. They are 1) the opening question, 2) the situation and plea, 3) description of the wicked, and 4) description of God. David’s opening question is like that of Psalms 13, 22, and 55. He asked why God was not near and was hiding Himself. Each of us can relate to David’s feeling alone and without God. We understand what that feels like – fear, desperation, searching, wondering.
            David expressed his circumstance with much emphasis. The wicked “hotly pursued the afflicted.” Notice David does not speak solely of himself, but of all the weak. He used many adjectives to express the persecuted people. He called them the afflicted, unfortunate, innocent, orphan, humble, and oppressed. The Hebrew words David used regarding these people mean the clean, guiltless, poor and unfortunate, needy, weak, orphaned, humble, crushed, and oppressed. David pleaded with God to let the wicked catch themselves in their own plots and traps, which they laid for the afflicted.
            David expressed for nine verses who the wicked were and what they do. Verses 3-11 reveal to us the character and actions of the wicked. The wicked were prideful, covetous, greedy, self-centered, merciless, and snide, as well as, despising and abhorrent of God and others, gave no thought to God, derided enemies, considered self greater than others. These are characteristics coming from a person’s attitude. David also told God about the actions of the wicked. They were intentional in their evil, deceitful, oppressive, treacherous, predatory, strong in strength and numbers, troublers, as well as, they cursed God and people, plotted, and murdered. We perceive from this list that David meant that these wicked were intentional in their evil; they planned it in their minds and hearts. They were evil in their actions, too. They laid in wait to steal and murder people. David showed God and us, the later readers, that the wicked are wicked in every part of themselves – heart, mind, and body. Their evil was mental and physical affected the wicked as such. Evil affected their whole self. They were complete evil. (As Christians, we can understand why God says we are to love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, so that evil could not have any part of us.[Luke 10:27])
            Let us break this down by verse.
Vs. 3. “The wicked boasts (praises himself for) of his heart’s (soul’s) desire and the greedy (covetous gain by violence) man curses and spurns (despises, condemns, and abhors) the LORD (Yahweh).”
The actual Hebrew says of the last part of this verse that the wicked praises and blesses the greedy man. This puts a better understanding of the wicked into the reader’s mind.
Vs. 4. “The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance does not seek (enquire of and require) Him (God). All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’.”
This haughtiness of countenance means he is exalting himself. In addition, the Hebrew word for “thought” in this verse is the same word used to mean “plots.”
Vs 5. “His ways prosper at all times. Your (God) judgments (justice and judgments) are on high (from a lofty and noble place), out of his (the wicked’s) sight. As for all his (the wicked’s) adversaries (those who have what he wants and whom he distresses), he snorts at them.”
Note that the word “prosper” in this verse is the Hebrew word meaning “strong.” It is used in this way is Psalm 52:7 too. Thus, the wicked’s ways are strong. Notice, too, that this verse compares a man’s strength with God’s and recognizes that God’s judgment comes from a higher place than that in which man exists. Yet, the wicked man snorts as if he is greater than everyone.
Vs. 6. “He (the wicked) says to himself, ‘I will not be moved (shaken or overthrown); throughout all generations I will not be in adversity’.”
This man thinks himself so great that nothing and no one can overthrow him, just as Psalm 49:11 says, too. He forgets he is a man, not God, and so is not invincible. Through John, in Revelation 18:7, the Lord says the person who lived this way and caused torment and mourning will receive this in the same quantity as judgment.
Vs. 7. “His mouth is full of curses (oath or curse), deceit (deceit and treachery), and oppression (injury, fraud, deceit); under his tongue is mischief (trouble) and wickedness (trouble, wickedness, and sorrow).”
This verse uses a very interesting idiom, “under his tongue.” The literal translation means he hides his mischief and wickedness, but them spews forth venom as a viper (see Psalm 140:3). This idiom means he burdens and oppresses. David put forth that God and others could recognize these people because they were full of curses, deceits, treachery, oppression, and fraud. The wicked are tricky. They bring burden, oppression, trouble, sorrow, and evil.
Vs. 8. “He sits in the lurking places (a hunter’s blind; lying-in-wait, an ambush spot) of the villages; in the hiding places (for protection or perpetration of a crime), he kills the innocent. His eyes (used figuratively to mean mental qualities of lying-in-wait) stealthily watch (lie-in-wait) for the unfortunate (hapless, poor and unfortunate person).”
The wicked person lies in wait in a hidden place to ambush the innocent. David repeats this sentiment within the verse and says the wicked, with his mental quality of deception and wickedness, lays waiting for the poor, hapless, and unfortunate person. This verse shows the intentionality of the wicked.
Vs. 9. “He lurks in hiding places as a lion in his lair. He lurks to catch the afflicted. He catches the afflicted (poor, humble, needy, weak) when he draws (intentionally sets a trail to lead) him into his net (a trap).”
David repeated, the wicked laid waiting in a hiding place just as a mighty lion in his lair, his hiding place, waiting to catch his prey. Just as predators go after the weakest, the wicked sought to snare the afflicted, poor, humble, needy, and weak with his treachery, deception, oppression, and wickedness. The wicked actively enticed them into his net. He lay in wait and lured them. He intended to do harm. The wicked planned, was intentional, in trapping the weak, and that was not just for food, as the lion stalks his prey.
Vs. 10. “He (the afflicted) crouches (dakah – is crushed, broken, made contrite), he bows down (is bowed, crouched, humbled) and the unfortunate fall (by attack) by his mighty ones (great in number and strength).”
The wicked crushed, broke, and humbled the unfortunate by their strength and numbers.
Vs. 11. “He (the wicked) says to himself, ‘God has forgotten (forgot and ignored); He has hidden His face. He will never see (regard, and consider) it (the wicked’s treachery)’.”
David repeated verse 4. He began with the wicked’s mindset and repeated as a reminder and to add emphasis. In verse 4, the wicked said there is no God. By verse 11, he said God forgot, hid his face, and would not see it. The wicked deluded themselves concerning the ever-presence of God, His power, and that He never overlooks or forgets anything. God saw everything in the past and will see all the wicked does now and in the future. The wicked got away with so much in the past, he felt God was powerless and only a manmade god. God does not ignore what happens. God deals with all and judge them, if not while they are on earth, then at the judgment seat when Christ returns.
The final section of this psalm encompasses verses 12-18. These verses show how David perceived and knew God. David recognized God’s greatness and goodness, the two categories of God’s characteristics. He acknowledged God’s greatness by stating God sees all (omnipresence), is all-powerful (omnipotent), and knows everything that happens (omniscient). God is righteous, eternal, infinite, and King of all. David expressed God’s goodness by acknowledging that He listens to the humble, helps the weak, gives strength, is just and avenges the weak, and pursues the wicked. These show God’s greatness and goodness to humankind over all time and we see them throughout Bible times and later.
            Vs. 12. “Arise, O Lord; O, God, life Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted.”
This is a plea and a command from David. He knew God is powerful. David cried out to God to remember His children and the weak. He asked God to show Himself to the wicked.
Vs. 13. “Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, ‘You will not require it’.”
David asked a rhetorical question, which he answered. The wicked spurned (abhorred, detested, snubbed) God because he did not believe God required his obeisance and honor. He did not believe in God. He did not recognize with awe that God is real and powerful.
Vs. 14. “You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You. You have been the helper of the orphan.”
David brought to God’s attention that he knew God saw what the wicked did. He called on God to be the God he knew Him to be and who he knew God had been for His people. He held God accountable, in essence. David recalled how God rescued the unfortunate and orphan before and called Him to do it again. David was being bold.
Vs. 15. “Break (violently rend, shatter, crush) the arm of the wicked (those hostile to God) and the evildoer (one who is evil, malignant, unkind, hurtful, and adversarial). Seek out his wickedness until You find none."
This phrase is use in Job and Ezekiel, as well as Psalms 37:17 and 140:11. David asked God to crush the might and strength of the adversary. He pointed out this one was wicked and evil. Wicked is rasha and means hostile to God. It is a mental thing. The evildoer is an active adversary who is hurtful, malignant, and unkind. This covers both of the areas of the wicked in this chapter, mental and physical (actions). David then asked God to not just crush these wicked ones, but find all wicked and crush them so they are no more.
Vs. 16. “The LORD is King forever and ever. Nations have perished from His land."

David acknowledged that the LORD (Yahweh) is the eternal King who annihilated whole nations. God is great and good.
Vs. 17. “O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble. You will strengthen their heart. You will incline Your ear”
David acknowledged that God hears His people. God hears the humbled and afflicted. He acknowledged that God gives strength to their souls because He listens to them. God actively relates with His children. He loves them and gives them strength, which gives them hope. This recalls and reinforces who He is in their hearts and minds. God is good as well as great.
Vs. 18. “To vindicate (judge and punish for the orphan and oppressed) the orphan and the oppressed (crushed), so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror (dread, fear, oppress, prevail, and break).”
God vindicates for the humbled, weak, and oppressed. Humankind knows from God’s actions that He is powerful, merciful, and just. David, in his psalm to God, reached the point in His writing where he remembered God’s immortality and man’s mortality. This verse, when it speaks of God, implies man as contrasted to God. The verse juxtaposes God and man, the infinite and all-powerful contrasted with the finite and limited. When the weak and oppressed remember this fact, the wicked should not cause fear in them because they remember God is greater. Our end on earth is not our ultimate end if we are God’s children. Isaiah 29:20 says, “For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished. Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off.”
Verses 17-18 show a progression. God is kind and merciful; He hears and strengthens us. Since He is these, His mercy extends to finding, judging, and punishing those who have hurt/terrorized His loved ones. The progression is that we will understand He loves and hears the afflicted because He vindicates the weak against the evil. These two verses tie into verses 1 and 5. Because God is not “afar off,” but near and kind, He shows the wicked there is a God and He is Him. His mercy to the weak comes as vindication on the wicked. The wicked will understand they cannot prevail because God is not out of sight. God sees all and is more powerful than mere mortal, wicked people.
David answers his question of why God feels “afar off” in the end. God appears far off, so the wicked can experience His reality and power. The wicked will fear Him, because His mercy to the weak requires His judgment and punishing of the wicked. The David reminded the weak, the people of God, and himself that God is not “afar off.” He told this to the wicked, too. Psalm 10 helped to stir the faith of the weak and oppressed, as well.
God recognized David was wrestling. He discerned what David needed to know. God realized David needed to express his fear, so He let him. Expressing one’s self is therapeutic. It allows a person to acknowledge out loud what is bothering a person. It gives a person a voice. God did this for David. He let David voice his fear so that he could recognize it. When a person voices a fear that bothering him or her, he or she acknowledges its presence in his or her life. When he or she acknowledges the problem, then work can begin on recognizing solutions for it. God allowed David to voice and recognize his fear so that he could recognize God as the solution. Once David voiced and discerned (often we have to speak about our problems before we know the problem) the problem, he discerned and remembered God is immortal and all-powerful. He understood and believed God rescues the weak and His children. David believed God heard him, loved him, would avenge him, and is capable to capture, judge, and punish the wicked. This is what we need to remember, too.
God loves each of us so much, He often will wait until we discern and voice our problem so that we recognize that He is the answer to the problem. When we discern the problem, then we can realize God is greater. We can then extinguish the terror that grows within us due to the problem because we discern and believe God is greater than the problem and merciful to the weak and to His children. This is what is most important about this psalm. God allowed David to figure out what was wrong so that he perceived what the solution was. Until we recognize the limits of the problem, we often do not recognize that God in His unlimited-ness can be the answer. God handles what is affecting us mentally and physically. He heals the whole person, heart, soul, mind, and strength. God was not “afar off.” God was there with David helping him to figure out the problem and its limitations and His own abilities as the unlimited, eternal, and infinite God who loves us.
What is creating fear and worry in your life? What is creating problems for you? Recognize that these issues are limited. Realize that God is not far off and can vanquish them. Recognize God, His love, mercy, power, and justice. He is there for each of us. He is there for you. Will you tell Him what is making you afraid and allow Him to work in your life. Try it. You will lose nothing by asking Him to help. In doing so and believing, you can gain a Savior whose love for you is so great He died for you. Go ahead. Ask Him to help you.