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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 3 November 2024:
Psalm 44:1 — O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old….
The primarily place we learn about God, His Nature, His Character, His purposes, His will, His ways, His commands, His plans, His promises, and His intent for us, His children, is through the Bible. Of course, Romans 1 tells us that God also reveals Himself through nature, but another way God intends for people to learn about Him is through the eye-witness accounts of others as they experience God in their lives. Specifically, God expects us to teach the next generation about Him, in part, by testifying to what God has done in our day. Who have you told about what God has done in your life to teach them about the power and love of God, and what have you told them? The most important part of your life story is the love story between you and God. What is the story you share with others?
Psalm 44:3 — For not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.
Christians understand their total dependence upon God and NEVER take credit for their own success but give ALL glory to God.
Psalm 44:5 — Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
The psalmist describes victory through the LORD and through His Name. When the Bible speaks about someone’s name, it isn’t just speaking about their title or their identifier, it is speaking about their character, their personhood. Jesus said He would do whatever we ask in His Name. However, He wasn’t saying we can use His Name like a magic incantation, that merely saying His Name would cause it to happen. He was saying two things: 1) when we ask in accordance with His will for His purposes and glory He will do it, and 2) when we ask, not because of our merit, but because of His righteousness and grace, He will do it. So, in our prayers, we are essentially asking, “thy will be done,” in our lives solely for His glory — “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (See the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6)
Today, the psalmist is saying that their foes were pushed down by God’s miraculous power and tread down by the feet of those who acted obediently in accordance with God’s will. Throughout the Bible you see this pattern that God works miraculously in the lives of those who obey Him faithfully in faith. It is only through Him that blessings come but they are received by those who actively take hold of them by doing His commands. (see Joshua 1:8)
- Matthew 18:20 — For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
- Mark 16:17 — And these signs will accompany those who believe in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues….
- John 14:13, 14 — Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son…. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
- John 14:26 — But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
- John 15:16 — You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
- John 16:23, 24, 26 — In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you…. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full…. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;
Psalm 44:6 — For not in my bow do I trust.
It is not your own talents and abilities that will ultimately determine your success but rather your relationship with God and His mercy and grace bestowed upon you. Your future is solely in His hands. Eternal life is “knowing Him,” being truly one with Him (John 17:3). Don’t wait until you die to experience eternal life.
Psalm 44: 9, 17 — But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies…. All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant.
God does use circumstances to discipline His people, and during trials, we should search our hearts, minds, and actions as the psalmist does to ensure that we are aligned with God and that we haven’t hidden forbidden booty in our hearts that has caused our own “defeat at Ai” (Joshua 7). How foolish and dishonorable it is for a Christian to suffer needlessly due to the consequences of personal sin (Hebrews 10:29; 1 Peter 4:15)! However, as Job and his friends learned, you cannot explain every problem you have as a punishment for sin. Nor is crisis an indication that God has abandoned you, rejected you, or fallen asleep. God may be preparing you for greater things or to use you in a very mighty way.
In any case, you can always trust God with your circumstances, even if you are partly to blame for them (Romans 8:8). Consider the lives of the protagonists in the Bible — how do you think Joseph felt having been left forgotten in prison with a life sentence, having previously been sold into slavery by his brothers? How do you think Moses felt before his burning bush experience, wandering in the desert as a deposed prince, a fugitive murderer? In their seemingly helpless situations, they could not understand that God was preparing them for great leadership. God has placed us in service to Him to reach the lost in a sinful world that is both corrupted by sin and full of sinners. He knows that this calling will often involve pain while we operate in this world of destruction and hurt. In the battlefield which we fight, the wounded are all around us; sin has corrupted even the cells of our bodies; and hurting people hurt people – God knows as you reach out to the wounded, you are going to get hurt too.
The Bible says that when we suffer trials in the name of Jesus, we actually have cause to rejoice because we are experiencing a special and unique fellowship with Jesus as we “share Christ’s sufferings” (1 Peter 4:13). Paul would encourage us: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3).” However, it gets lonely and sometimes terrifying deep in enemy territory, and what do you do when you appear surrounded and are receiving no communications from the Commander? Trust and Obey! And Pray! We see today that, in silence, the psalmist recounts that God has always been more than faithful – the evidence upon which faith is based (Psalm 44:1-8). In dark, silent times, remember that God is always faithful even when we are not, and trust in Him; wait on Him; be still and know that He is Lord (Psalm 46:10). Don’t let your pride stand in the way of allowing others to minister to your needs. In your times of strength and confidence, remember how you suffered, and empathetically minister to the needs of others going through trials – God never intended for us to go it alone.
- 1 Peter 4:19 -- Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
- 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 -- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
- Philippians 4:4-13 -- Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice…. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus…. I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Psalm 44:24 — Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
Faith is tested when God appears to have forgotten you during your trials. During the exam, the professor remains silent. God is faithful to see you through. In times when God appears (seems) to be distant or unresponsive, hold fast to what the Bible has is true about your relationship with God and how much He cares about you. There are countless verses which teach you that God’s love for your is unfathomable, and His plans for you are perfect. The Romans 8 verses below are just one example:
- Romans 8:15-39 — For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him…. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God’s Everlasting Love. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 3 November 2024: No matter what you are going through, trust in the Lord, and rest in the confidence in His perfect, sovereign love and provision for you. Remember, in Christ, it isn’t happening to you, it is happening for you, and if it isn’t working for you, it is working on you as God’s refining fire to conform you to Christlike character. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 