I sincerely hope that you are not as bleary-eyed this morning as I. It is 6:30 a.m., and I have been awake since 5:00....on a Sunday. I awoke to strange sounds in my bedroom, the floorboards creaking. Oh...I was not afraid that a burglar had intruded. No, I knew the source of the sounds. It was my younger one, petting the dog, who sleeps on the dog bed in our bedroom.
What you have to understand is that my son loves the dog better than anyone else in the family. This is indisputable. He says that it is because the dog never challenges him on anything....an unfair comparison, if you ask me. Who can win against that standard?!
At any rate, as is the case on most mornings when I feel like there is nothing left, I went to the psalms. The passage this morning is Psalm 147:1-7 MSG.
Hallelujah! It's a good thing to sing praise to our God;
Praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.
God's the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,
Who regathers Israel's scattered exiles.
He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
We'll never comprehend what he knows and does.
God put the fallen on their feet again
And pushes the wicked into the ditch.
"Hallelujah" is a word that means "praise the Lord". It is always good and appropriate to praise our God, and especially so in the middle of a muddle. There are times when praising Him is the last thing you feel like doing, but the thing you should be doing. Who better to meet you in a muddle and lift you out?
Since 1947, the nation of Israel has been re-born. The desert is "blooming", in fulfillment of Old Testament scripture (Isaiah 41:18-19). The God of Jacob, Israel's patriarch of the 12 tribes, has accomplished this miraculous, national rebirth. Scattered Jews from all over the world have regathered there. And, why should we praise the Lord for this? Because it is a sign that His return draws nearer and nearer. I was listening to a speaker the other day who declared that the devout Jews of Israel (not all who live there and are of Jewish descent are devout) have everything in readiness for the construction of the new Temple. The priestly line has been re-established and the priests trained. Their priestly clothes have been sewn. The necessary articles for worship have been assembled. All is in readiness. At the moment, a Muslim mosque sits on the Temple mountain, in the place where the new temple will be built. It will be destroyed, either by the hand of man or by the direct hand of God via earthquake. The Bible tells us that the temple will be re-built in the last days, and the devout Jews have everything now ready. Consider that!
Our God "heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds". I went to look at the Berry College eaglecam just now, and mama eagle is asleep atop her two eggs. I am envious of that bird! Really, I just want to go back to bed, lol... Last year, she also laid two eggs, but one of them did not survive. I wonder ... was she brokenhearted?
When I was young, I was such an idiot! I thought that I would escape brokenheartedness. No, really, I did! I really thought that I had it all figured out and that I was going to outsmart brokenheartedness. What a fool! Because God loves me, He has broken my heart. Counterintuitive, right? How is that loving? He did it so that He could teach me meekness, to teach me His ways, to conform me to the image of His Son. And, that IS my highest goal, "the chief aim of man", as the catechism goes....but, that doesn't mean that I have to enjoy it.
"He counts the stars and assigns each a name". Indescribable! Unfathomable! Do you know how many stars there are? No man knows, but we do know that there are many BILLIONS of them. Yes, billions. Such is the bigness of our God.
"His strength is limitless, and we'll never know what He knows". No kidding. Eternity will not even be long enough.
"And pushes the wicked into a ditch"... Our God is just. He will always deal justly with His enemies, regardless of how that appears to us. Who are His enemies anyway? Well, there is a whole host of fallen creatures called demons, who are spirits that do the bidding of the chief enemy, Satan. They together are the source of our troubles and the rampant evil on this planet. There are other enemies of God, fallen angels, although those (the angels who rebelled and "left their first estate" to follow Satan into battle against God) are now chained up in a place called Tartarus, where they will remain until God allows them to be unchained during the time of the end. Finally, some people are so influenced by Satan that they are self-proclaimed enemies of God. They set themselves up against him and walk in rebellion. Unlike Satan's spirit minions, however, there is hope of redemption for people, as long as they live on this earth. Once they die, they are eternally "in the ditch".
In Psalm 25:3, the psalmist says that those who trust in God will never be ashamed, humiliated or disgraced...never "in the ditch". And, the apostle Paul states in Romans 10:11 that those who believe on Jesus Christ will never be disappointed. These are referring to "the long run", of course. So, Christian, no matter where this morning finds you, hold on to Him. Let's choose to praise the Lord. Let's give Him the honor and glory due His name. "Praise is beautiful; praise is fitting."
Dear Lord, we lift our praise to You this morning, regardless of whether we are "feelin' it" or not. Our faith is not dependent upon our feelings, thank you GOD! Our faith is established on the eternal Word of our righteous God and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray, amen.
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