II Samuel 9
David asks about survivors of Saul’s familyverses 1-4
And David said
Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul
that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?
And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba
and when they had called him unto David the king
said unto him
Are you Ziba?
And he said
Your servant is he
And the king said
Is there not yet any of the house of Saul
that I may show the kindness of God to him?
And Ziba
said to the king
Jonathan has yet a son
which is lame on his feet
And the king
Said to him
Where is he?
And Ziba said unto the king
BEHOLD – he is in the house of Machir
the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar
Mephibosheth is found by Davidverses 5-7
THEN king David sent
and fetched him out of the hosue of Machir
the son of Ammiel – from Lo-debar
NOW when Mephibosheth – the son of Jonathan
the son of Saul was come unto David
he fell on his face – and did reverence
And David said
Mephibosheth
And he answered
BEHOLD your servant
And David said to him
Fear not – FOR I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan your father’s sake
And I will restore you all the land of Saul your father
and you shall eat bread at my table continually
Mephibosheth questions Davidverse 8
And he bowed himself
and said
What is your servant
that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am?
David tells Ziba to care for Saul’s propertyverses 9-11
Then the king called to Ziba – Saul’s servant
and said to him
I have given to your master’s son all that pertained to Saul
and to all his house
You therefore – and your sons – and your servants
shall till the land for him
and you shall bring in the fruits
that your master’s son may have food to eat
BUT Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread always
at my table
Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants
then said Ziba to the king
According to all that my lord the king hath commanded
his servant – so shall your servant do
As for Mephibosheth – said the king
He shall eat at my table – as one of the king’s sons
Mephibosheth lives with David in Jerusalemverses 12-13
And Mephibosheth had a young son – whose name was Micha
and all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were
servants unto Mephibosheth
So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem
for he did eat continually at the king’s table
and was lame on both his feet
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? ((2617 “kindness” [checed] means loving-kindness, steadfast love, devotion, benevolence, piety, beauty, favor, good deed, or mercy)
DEVOTION: David had to make sure that he was able to help someone else. He had to establish himself as king and have a place to live before he could help anyone else. Once he had these things in place, he looked for someone from the family of Saul to help. He could do it because he was king.
So he gave the land that used to belong to king Saul to his grandson. He made sure that there was a servant doing all the work for the grandson because he couldn’t do it. He allowed his best friend’s son to live with him. He did everything he could at the time to make life good for him.
When we are able, we need to look for those who can be helped by what we can do for them. It is not hard to find a fellow believer that needs genuine help. There are people who like to take advantage of other believers, but that is not what is happening here. It is someone with a genuine need having that genuine need met by someone who genuinely cares.
This type of attitude is hard to find today. So many individuals want to take advantage of others that it is sometimes hard to find a genuine need. This can be done with proper questions and proper prayer when we find someone who is in a place of genuine need.
David did this when he was able. We can’t do it if we are not able. We might be able to help encourage others by what we can do. It might be just to bake a dozen cookies and take it over to their house. You might want to do it anonymously.
We had people leave things on our front porch when we ministered in the country. It was fresh vegetables. It was great to find them and eat them. Our salary was very low to begin with while we were there.
When we moved to the suburbs for our next church, we found money put in our mailbox on occasions. We never knew who left it but it was needed. We had to thank both individuals before the LORD in prayer because we didn’t have someone to write a thank you note.
So you can be on either end of this type of help. You can be the one in need and the LORD sends someone alongside to help or you can be the one who the LORD lays the burden on to help someone who has a genuine need. If HE lays this burden on you DO IT!!!
CHALLENGE: If you don’t know someone who has a genuine need ask your pastor and he will give you some suggestions. Sometime even those we think are well off need encouragement.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 7 And David said to him, Fear not: for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually. (7725 “restore” [shuwb] means turn back, return, to give something back to someone, to cause to return, relinquish, give in payment, refresh, or make requital.)
DEVOTION: I had a man in my last church who was a best friend of a man who died of a stroke leaving a wife and three sons. This man took the time to help each of the sons mature in the LORD. He spent time with them hunting and playing tennis and helping by providing a job. He showed his loving-kindness to this man’s three sons. This has been a lifelong relationship to this day.
David had made a covenant with Jonathan and he meant to keep his word. The kingdom was established in his name and he wanted to find someone from the house of Saul to honor.
Mephibosheth, the son of his friend Jonathan, was found. David kept his word to his father and honored him. Here was a man who was lame. Here was a man who was settled in another man’s house but David took him to his house and treated him as one of his sons He provided him with a place to live in Jerusalem. He had him eat with him. He told his father’s servant take care of his property.
There are people who need someone to help them through some hard times. There are people who need a phone call to help them through a day. There are people in our world that we can show favor too.
Are we being thankful to the LORD if we only care about ourselves? Do we have a responsibility toward those in our family that need help? Do we have a responsibility toward those in our church who need help?
We need to ask the LORD what we can do for those in our world. Sometimes we are so pre-occupied with our own needs and problems that we forget that there are others out there that have a need we can help them with. When we help others we please the LORD. While we serve the LORD, HE can bless us more abundantly. Our motive should be service to the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Ask your pastor if there is someone in the church that needs encouragement. Look around your neighborhood for someone who might need help. In our daily life we can see people who might need our encouragement. Be a friend!!!
: 8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am? (7812 “bowed” [shachah] means to bow down, to get into a prostrate position, as in submission, homage, humility, worship or grief among other things, do obeisance, or reverence)
DEVOTION: We find that here Mephibosheth submits to David and says that he appreciates his concern for him. He says he is his servant. He likened himself to a da=ead dog.
These all seem like a right attitude of someone who is going to be blessed by someone who can show him real love. David was trying to find someone to show love to that was related to Jonathan.
Jonathan had been a best friend to David while he was running from his father, Saul. They were close and Jonathan helped David as much as he could. He warned David that his father wanted to kill him.
David was sad when Jonathan died. He had a genuine friendship with him. He wanted to show genuine friendship to someone related to him. This didn’t work out in the end but here we find that he tried to show friendship.
Today we find that we can try to show friendship to some people but they sometimes will act like Mephibosheth. They will be friendly at first but in the back of their mind they are just looking for an opportunity to take advantage of the friendship and cause problems for the one who is trying to be a genuine friend.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t try but we have to know that some people cannot be trusted. Sometimes we find out the hard way and other times we are prepared for what is going to happen.
God wants us to love one another with a genuine love no matter what the outcome. HE wants genuine Christians to be genuine with each other. We are to help one another. We are to love one another.
CHALLENGE: We have to face the truth that not everyone we show friendship to will be our genuine friend but that should not stop us from being genuine.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 10 You therefore, and your sons, and your servants, shall till the land for him, and you shall bring in the fruits, that your master’s son may have food to eat, but Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread always at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. (3899 “food” [lechem] means bread, grain, any food, whether solid or liquid, that is used as a source of nourishment by humans or animals, wheat, nourishment.)
DEVOTION: David not only provided Mephibosheth a place to live with him in the palace. He not only provided food for him to eat but he provided land for him to earn a living.
He knew that Mephibosheth couldn’t work the land but he also provided a servant for the work. This servant’s name was Ziba. He had fifteen sons and twenty servants. He was a man who was well off as far as family and employees. He received this new assignment from King David.
Once the fruit was gathered from the land of Mephibosheth, he was to bring the profits to him to have an income for the rest of his life. His son would have an income because the land was his as well.
David was keeping his promise to his best friend to care for his family. He wanted his best friend at his table to eat with him each day. He gave him the privilege to eat with his own sons.
Our word is our bond. If we keep our word to those around us the LORD will honor us for this action. Don’t promise something if you are not willing to follow through with the promise like David did for Jonathan. Never promise something you can’t do.
If believers keep their promises to those around them the world will take notice and wonder why we are willing to keep our word. We can tell them it is because it gives honor to our Savior Jesus Christ.
CHALLENGE: What a witness this would be to a community if they saw Christians genuinely helping other Christians as they were struggling.
: 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem; for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet. (6455 “lame” [picceach] means disabled in the feet or legs, crippled, maimed, or limp)
DEVOTION: Today we have too many people with handicap taps or license plates. Some of those with these things are just not willing to walk far for exercise. There are many who are genuinely handicapped. They need these taps or licenses to be able to shop and park close for doctor’s appointments.
In David’s day those who had physical handicaps were not treated as well as those today. Many had to beg for a living. David wanted to help someone from the family of Saul to keep his promise to Jonathan. He found a son of Jonathan who had been crippled by a nurse running too fast away from the Philistines. This happened when he was young and he had to live with this condition for the rest of his life.
David invited him to come live with him. He had him ate at the same table with his sons. He treated him well for the sake of the friendship he had with his father.
How should we treat those who are handicapped today? We have the same responsibility that David felt toward Mephibosheth. If we can help them, we need to come along side them whenever we can to make sure that we don’t neglect something the LORD wanted us to do.
There is a man who was a pastor in Illinois who had a server stroke. He was not thought to have lived through the night according to the surgeon. Well, he is alive and needs the assistance of those believers around him on a regular basis. He has a wife and two children.
The church is coming alongside to make sure that he and his family are cared for years after the stroke. He is able to walk some and communicate some. We should never neglect to help those in our church family who need us to come alongside to help them.
David helped Mephibosheth for the rest of his life. Should we be available to those in our community for the rest of their lives as well? Will God honor believers who help the handicapped? We know the answer to that question.
We should never leave it entirely to the government to help a fellow believer. It might mean cleaning their house or moving their lawn. It could mean just bringing them a treat once in a while.
CHALLENGE: Help the handicapped in your faith community first and then move on to those outside of the community when you are able.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator)verse 3
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Show kindnessverses 1, 3, 7
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Davidverse 1
Told Mephibosheth not to fear
Going to show kindness to him
Restore all the land of Saul to him
Household of Saulverse 1
Jonathan’s sake
Zibaverses 2, 9-11
Servant of house of Saul
David gives him instructions
Mephiboshethverses 3, 6-13
Son of Jonathan
Lame of feet
Did reverence to David
Told David he was his servant
Describes himself as “dead dog”
To eat at David’s table
Young son: Micha
Dwelt in Jerusalem
House of Machirverse 5
Micha – Mephibosheth’s sonverse 12
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
9:12 The family of Saul continued through Micha for several centuries (1 Chr. 8:34–40). (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (2 Sa 9:12). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers)
Ver. 12. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha, &c.] What his age was is not said; from him sprung a progeny of several generations, 1 Chron. 8:34–40. and all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth; his sons and his servants. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 2, p. 601). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
The story of Mephibosheth is the first thing mentioned after the government of David had been fully established. Typically it reveals the Gospel in a beautiful way, and dispensationally the kindness of God which will be manifested in the coming kingdom. Mephibosheth is a type of the sinner and the condition in which he is in. He was helpless, being lame of both feet. How he became lame is found in chapter 4:4. He fell and became lame, a helpless cripple. It reminds us of the fall of man and the helpless condition into which sin has put man. Therefore he could not come to David. He had to be carried into the King’s presence. The sinner cannot come of himself to the Saviour; He has to seek him out. And David wanted to show him “the kindness of God” for Jonathan’s sake. Thus the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man hath appeared. (Titus 3:4.) God for Christ’s sake shows His great kindness to sinful man. Mephibosheth means “shame out of the mouth”; when he hears from David’s lips what kindness was prepared for him he confessed with his mouth his own shame and nothingness. “What is thy servant that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am?” And what words of Grace came from David’s lips! Surely the kindness of God is here fully made known. He is lifted from his low place of shame to take a place at the King’s table “as one of the King’s sons.” It is the kindness of God as made known in the Gospel of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. He takes us out of our shame and makes us one of His sons. “So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem; for he did eat continually at the King’s table; and was lame on both feet.” When the Kingdom has come the King will show such grace and by kindness to the poor and needy. (Isaiah 11:1–5; Ps. 72:1–4.) (Gaebelein, A. C. (2009). The annotated Bible: Joshua to Second Chronicles (Vol. 2, pp. 207–208). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
2. Great-grandson of Saul. In 2 Sam 9:12, his name is spelled mı̂kāʾ, and his father is listed as Mephibosheth; in 1 Chr 8:34, 35, and 9:40, 41, his name is spelled mîkâ, and his father is Merib-baal (see TPNAH, 59). The genealogy found in Chronicles was preserved because of a continued belief in the legitimacy of the line of Saul. The short notice in 1 Sam 9:12, that “Mephibosheth had a young child and his name was Micah,” is given for similar reasons: Mephiboshet would later be killed (2 Sam 21:8), and the line of Saul would continue through Micah. See also MICA. (Brettler, M. Z. (1992). Micah (Person). In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 4, p. 806). New York: Doubleday.)
MICA (PERSON) [Heb mı̂kāʾ (מִיכָא)]. Var. MICAH. 1. Also referred to as Micah (mykh), the son of Mephibosheth and grandson of Jonathan (2 Sam 9:12). The name may be an abbreviation of the name mykyh, meaning “Who is like Yahweh?” (Brockington Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther Century Bible, 180). Born to Mephibosheth after David announced his intention to care for Jonathan’s descendants, Mica presumably shared a place at the king’s table with his father. He is said to have had four sons, one of whom seems to have been the father of a line which remained influential down to the time of the Exile (1 Chr 8:34–35; 9:40–41; cf. Myers 1 Chronicles 62). This seems to be in contradiction to 1 Chr 10:6, which states that Saul and his entire house perished at the hands of the Philistines. This apparent contradiction may be due to carelessness (Curtis and Madsen Chronicles ICC, 181), or it may be due to the use of archival material that has not been thoroughly integrated into the account (Myers 1 Chronicles AB, 80; cf. Braun 1 Chronicles WBC, 149–50). In any event, the Chronicler stresses not so much the extinction of the royal line as the influence of Saul’s house as agents of divine rule (Coggins Chronicles CBC, 64; Braun 1 Chronicles WBC, 149–50). Furthermore, scholars are widely agreed that chapter 10 is where the writer’s real work begins (Myers 1 Chronicles AB, 78–80). (Schmidt, F. W. (1992). Mica (Person). In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 4, p. 806). New York: Doubleday.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
In nearly every sector of society—media, education, medicine, public policy, even sports—children are now subjects of social experimentation. As fundamental realities of life such as sex, marriage, and parenting are reimagined, we say to ourselves, “Oh, the kids will be fine.” Overwhelming evidence suggests they aren’t.
At the same time, too many churches and too many Christians, often jaded by Christian activism either poorly done or poorly received (or both), have moved to the sidelines. At times, this move has been away from the social implications of the Gospel, focusing instead on individual transformation and privatized faith. Other times, this move has been simple compromise on moral issues, often out of a misplaced attempt to be inclusive and “welcoming.”
This indifference to our culture’s widespread exploitation of children, places these churches and these Christians firmly outside the priorities of Church history. Time and time again, across cultures and time periods, those who brought the Gospel to pagan cultures found themselves defending and protecting abandoned, abused, and victimized children.
One of the great missionary heroes of Church history is a clear example. Amy Carmichael was born in 1867 to devout parents in Ireland. By 1895, after already serving as a missionary in Japan and Ceylon, Carmichael devoted herself to bringing the Gospel to South India.
Immediately, Carmichael started wrestling through the idea of contextualization, how best to present the Gospel in that cultural setting. For example, unlike most missionaries at the time, Amy wore the same clothes as the local population. She travelled with a group of Indian women converts known as the Starry Cluster and would tell anyone, regardless of caste,(another cultural reality) about God’s love. Many women fleeing slavery and prostitution in Indian temples came to Christ because of her teaching.
One day, a young girl named Preena, who had been sold as a temple slave by her widowed mother and literally branded when she tried to run away, listened as Amy Carmichael told of God’s love. Preena ran away again, this time to Amy’s house.
Amy knew that if she took Preena in, she could be charged with kidnapping. However, she also knew to send Preena back would mean further beatings or even death. Driven by the truth of the gospel, Amy welcomed Preena into her home.
This led Amy to begin studying the caste system in more detail. She learned that children were often dedicated to the gods and left at temples to be slaves and child prostitutes. Horrified, she dedicated the rest of her life to fighting these abuses.
As word spread, children and teenagers who had run away from temples began to show up at her door. Soon, Amy was looking after almost 50 people. So, she moved all of them to the city of Dohnavor and established the Dohnavor Fellowship, a home for former child prostitutes.
In 1901, Amy was taken to court by infuriated Hindu priests. Still, Amy continued to provide a home for any child who came to her for help, and the priests’ lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. In 1918, she added a home for boys, many former temple prostitutes. Throughout her life, Amy Carmichael took in over 1,000 children, giving each one a new home, renewed hope, and even a new name.
In 1931, Amy had a serious accident and broke both her leg and her ankle, and badly injured her hip and back. This, combined with neuralgia, effectively left Amy bedridden for the rest of her life. As a result, she led the Dohnavor Fellowship from her bedroom.
In 1948, largely because of Amy’s work, child prostitution was outlawed in India. Three years later, Amy died at the age of 83. At her request, no stone marked her burial place. Instead, the children she had saved erected a birdbath over her grave, engraved with the word Amma, which means “Mother.”
The parallels between what children faced in that pagan culture and what children face in our pagan culture is obvious. In both contexts, children are sacrificed to sexual ideologies, and forced to serve the desires of adults. In both contexts, anyone who resists faces significant social pressures, even political penalties. One difference is that Carmichael didn’t think that standing for children would be an impediment to telling people about the love of God. On the contrary, she believed it was an essential part of serving Christ in that pagan culture.
Today, you can join Carmichael and others from Christian history by making a Promise to America’s Children, pledging to protect the minds, bodies, and the most important relationships of children. And then, learn all the ways children are being victimized and how the church can help, by reading Them Before Us: Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement, a vital new book by Katy Faust. Them Before Us is the featured resource from the Colson Center this month. (BreakPoint)
Vatican Bars Blessing of Same-Sex Unions: God ‘Does Not and Cannot Bless Sin’’
The Vatican on Monday pointed to Scripture and centuries of church teaching in stating it does not have the power to bless same-sex unions.
The statement was issued by the Vatican’s doctrinal office and was approved by Pope Francis himself, and says it came in reaction to a question posed to the Vatican. That question was, “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?”
“Negative,” the answer states.
An explanatory note added that “God loves every person and the Church does the same,” but on the question of same-sex unions, Scripture and Vatican teaching are clear. The Vatican also released an “article of commentary” on the issue.
“The Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex,” the Vatican said.
Blessings, the Vatican said, “belong to the category of the sacramentals,” whereby the Church “calls us to praise God, encourages us to implore his protection, and exhorts us to seek his mercy by our holiness of life.”
“For this reason, it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex,” the Vatican said.
A marriage blessing, the document said, “refers back to the creation account, in which God’s blessing on man and woman is related to their fruitful union.” The document cited Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 2:18-24.
A same-sex relationship, the Vatican said, is a “a choice and a way of life that cannot be recognized as objectively ordered to the revealed plans of God.”
God “does not and cannot bless sin,” the Vatican said. Instead, God “blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him.”
Meanwhile, the document said the Vatican “does not preclude the blessings given to individual persons with homosexual inclinations, who manifest the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as proposed by Church teaching.” (Michael Foust)
Jesus continues teaching with parables, then returns to His hometown of Nazareth.
INSIGHT
Throughout His ministry, there are periods during which Jesus teaches extensively in parables. Often the multitudes do not understand the meaning of the parables, but Jesus is careful to explain them to His disciples.
This pattern is illustrative of God’s ways: to those who are the most receptive to truth, the Lord grants understanding.
However, for those who do not receive the truth, greater understanding is not given. Light received brings greater light; light rejected leaves darkness. If you hunger for greater spiritual understanding, it is vital that you strive for faithfulness in what you do understand. Then light received can bring more light in your life. (Quiet Walk)
TRIALS
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. John 17:15
God’s way is not to take us out of the difficulties and trials, not to avoid them. His way is to enable us and to strengthen us, so that we can go through them with heads erect and undefeated, more than conquerors in them and over them. And that is a wonderful thing.
We must never grumble at our lot, nor ask doubting questions. We must rather believe that there is always a purpose in these trials, if we can but see it; we must believe that God has laid this thing upon us and that He has left us in this situation in order that we may show forth His glory. The disciples were left in the world to do that, and you and I can be certain that whatever we may be passing through at this moment is a part of God’s plan and purpose for us to show forth His glory.
The world may not recognize you; it may ignore and dismiss you, and others may get all they want from the world. Do not worry about it. The saints have experienced the same thing, and Christ knew something similar: “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26). All is well—you are fulfilling the glory of God even as you go through a trial. Paul came to see that about his thorn in the flesh. “All right, God,” he says in effect, “I asked You three times to remove it, but You are leaving it. I see now that Your glory is going to be shown through me. Very well, I will glory in this infirmity. I will stop asking You to take it away. It is really when I am weak that Your power is made manifest in me and through me.” So, we must never grumble. We must gladly accept what He allows and remember that we are fulfilling the glory of God.
A Thought to Ponder: We must never grumble at our lot, nor ask doubting questions.
(From Safe in the World, pp. 155-156, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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What the Creator Requires (JDM, The Institute for Creation Research) |
A Strong Heart
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26
In his book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, co-authored with Philip Yancey, Dr. Paul Brand observed, “A hummingbird heart weighs a fraction of an ounce and beats eight hundred times a minute; a blue whale’s heart weighs half a ton, beats only ten times per minute, and can be heard two miles away. In contrast to either, the human heart seems dully functional, yet it does its job, beating 100,000 times a day [65–70 times a minute] with no time off for rest, to get most of us through seventy years or more.”
The amazing heart so thoroughly powers us through life that it has become a metaphor for our overall inner well-being. Yet, both our literal and metaphorical hearts are prone to failure. What can we do?
The psalmist Asaph, a worship leader of Israel, acknowledged in Psalm 73 that true strength comes from somewhere—Someone—else. He wrote, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (v. 26). Asaph was right. The living God is our ultimate and eternal strength. As the Maker of heaven and earth, He knows no such limitations to His perfect power.
In our times of difficulty and challenge, may we discover what Asaph learned through his own struggles: God is the true strength of our hearts. We can rest in that strength every day. By Bill Crowder (Our Daily Bread Devotional)
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