a child of god
this is the way, run in it
Home from church today with a cold, so hanging out with God on the sofa, reading Psalm 73. This is an interesting psalm as the guy who wrote it records how he nearly lost the plot - because he was upset over observing how the wicked and the arrogant were prospering. And we can all get like that. How can they keep going from strength to strength? Where is the justice in that? Why are they getting away with... The psalmist takes it a step further and questions why he has bothered doing good, keeping his way in the right way with God.
Then the psalm says that he came into the temple of God and was pondering over this, trying to understand, trying to come to terms with it, and he found it difficult, "it was troublesome in my sight." And God helps him. "until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end." God helps him get a different perspective, a godly perspective. He got a view of God, remembered that God is in charge and will judge all people - good or bad - and that righteousness and holiness and goodness are God's alone. After this epiphany, he looks back at himself, caught in his anger and turmoil over the state of the world and those who lord it over and oppress others for their own gain, "when my heart was embittered, and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before Thee" and he sees that his anger and lack of peace and perspective had kept him from a godly understanding. He also says, and I love this, that even when he was struggling with all this, God was still with him and had not abandoned him - "nevertheless I am continually with Thee; Thou has taken hold of my right hand. With Thy counsel Thou wilt guide me, and afterward receive me to glory." God is with us! He holds us by the hand. When we belong to God, even when we struggle, He is with us and will help up. But note, that it was when the psalmist drew near to God, went to God's temple, that the Lord helped him understand and see it from God's perspective. We need to run to God when we are struggling. He will more than meet us halfway. He is faithful. Verses 25-26 are some that I have memorized in the past and used as a prayer. Remembering that today, I'm going to start using them again for a while: Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. And today, my epiphany from God as I drew near and spent time with Him, and that I prayed over all God's people for today, is in verse 26. "But as for me, the nearness of God is my good." It wan't until the psalmist drew near to God that he was refreshed and restored, taught, reassured, felt God's love again. May we all, today, draw near to God that He may draw near to us. May we, all His children today, meet with the only true and living God, the LORD God almighty, and be changed a bit more by our time with Him. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Franci Ballwatching and working for the kingdom of God in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham - UK Archives
January 2019
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