Psalm 77:2-3 In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
Ah Friends, who knows the ways of our God eh, why He causes us to be bowed down with certain calamities? And I have to chuckle shamefaced here, for this morning I picked up my bedroom phone extension and only got dead air. Puzzled, I went downstairs to the main one, found a red light on with a message saying, ‘Check phone cord.’ I checked all the cords, several times, with no positive response. But in between, I also angrily threw down the phone a couple times. Hn! Surprisingly it didn’t disintegrate. It’s an old one, guess they made them stronger then.(smile) Eventually, I got fed up and left it. A short while later though, after calming down, I decided to check out three adapters I found in a box of spare parts. The first two didn’t fit, but the third did. Whoopee! I plugged it into the wall and voila! Red light disappeared and dial tone returned. No one wants to wake up to a dead phone, but it’s not that important, especially when I had other phones to use. Friends, that’s what happens when the enemy sets upon us; we lose our focus, get upset over little things and ruin our day’s tempo. Thankfully Asaph, the writer of Psalm 77, titled, ‘Who is so great a God as our God?’ remembered the source of his strength when difficulties befell him. ‘In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord.’ Yes Friends, our first response must always be; seek the Lord. And though his problems confounded him all night, and ‘my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God.’ Another point to note people: When we cry out and don’t receive a response, don’t give up on our God; He’ll come through in due course. Asaph knew this. ‘I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.’ Sleep deserted him, and he was so troubled that he couldn’t talk either. Then he began reflecting on olden times, the days of his ancestors, and his own past. ‘I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.’ (vs.6) Oh Friends, that’s a perfect example of how to confront serious problems, when God’s silent: Consider all that He’s done for our forefathers, our friends and family, and for us personally. And though that lead Asaph to ask questions like; ‘Will the Lord cast off forever…Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?’ (vs.7-9) He ended up correctly: ‘And I said, this is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.’ (vs.10-12) Friends, in tremulous times, that should be our modus operandi: Cry out to the Most High in sincerity; then ponder His eternal goodness and mercy to His disobedient offspring; renew our faith and wait patiently on Him. He always has a good reason for allowing whatever happens. But one thing’s certain Friends, He’ll never leave, forsake or fail us. That’s His undying promise. Believe it, and live by it. Much LOVE!…when we truly trust the Lord…we’re in the safest hands possible…Selah…
Ah Friends, who knows the ways of our God eh, why He causes us to be bowed down with certain calamities? And I have to chuckle shamefaced here, for this morning I picked up my bedroom phone extension and only got dead air. Puzzled, I went downstairs to the main one, found a red light on with a message saying, ‘Check phone cord.’ I checked all the cords, several times, with no positive response. But in between, I also angrily threw down the phone a couple times. Hn! Surprisingly it didn’t disintegrate. It’s an old one, guess they made them stronger then.(smile) Eventually, I got fed up and left it. A short while later though, after calming down, I decided to check out three adapters I found in a box of spare parts. The first two didn’t fit, but the third did. Whoopee! I plugged it into the wall and voila! Red light disappeared and dial tone returned. No one wants to wake up to a dead phone, but it’s not that important, especially when I had other phones to use. Friends, that’s what happens when the enemy sets upon us; we lose our focus, get upset over little things and ruin our day’s tempo. Thankfully Asaph, the writer of Psalm 77, titled, ‘Who is so great a God as our God?’ remembered the source of his strength when difficulties befell him. ‘In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord.’ Yes Friends, our first response must always be; seek the Lord. And though his problems confounded him all night, and ‘my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God.’ Another point to note people: When we cry out and don’t receive a response, don’t give up on our God; He’ll come through in due course. Asaph knew this. ‘I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.’ Sleep deserted him, and he was so troubled that he couldn’t talk either. Then he began reflecting on olden times, the days of his ancestors, and his own past. ‘I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.’ (vs.6) Oh Friends, that’s a perfect example of how to confront serious problems, when God’s silent: Consider all that He’s done for our forefathers, our friends and family, and for us personally. And though that lead Asaph to ask questions like; ‘Will the Lord cast off forever…Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?’ (vs.7-9) He ended up correctly: ‘And I said, this is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.’ (vs.10-12) Friends, in tremulous times, that should be our modus operandi: Cry out to the Most High in sincerity; then ponder His eternal goodness and mercy to His disobedient offspring; renew our faith and wait patiently on Him. He always has a good reason for allowing whatever happens. But one thing’s certain Friends, He’ll never leave, forsake or fail us. That’s His undying promise. Believe it, and live by it. Much LOVE!…when we truly trust the Lord…we’re in the safest hands possible…Selah…
SCRIP-BITS 