Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Oh Friends, I remember saying a couple days ago that this was an interesting Bit, but it has turned out to be even more interesting than I thought. We’ve spoken for two days on just the Light aspect of our God: how we viewed Him, how He viewed Himself and how Jesus viewed us. LIGHT and LOVE seem to be the basic characteristics of our Heavenly Father. Everything else can be found within those two attributes. Oh Praise His Holy Name my People! Finally, we move on to the next part of the Bit: ‘The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ We iterate again Friends that once the Most High God Jehovah is our guide, protector and provider, there’s no earthly being of whom we should be afraid. Jesus said we should not fear those who kill the body, but be wary and afraid of those who can kill our soul. (Mat.10:28) Just like Light was a very important part of the Old Testament perception of the Lord, so was His abundant Strength. All the faithful ancients relied heavily on Him for their strength to make it through their often rough and tumble lives. And it’s not so much physical strength they are talking about, although Samson did call on the Lord for that when he wanted to pull down the arena pillars on the Philistines. ‘O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.’ (Jud.16:28) And we all know that our wonderful God granted Him that physical strength, not only because Samson asked for it, but more likely because He also wanted the Philistines punished. Anyway Friends, it was more the spiritual rather than the physical kind of strength that The Lord’s people sought. They desired of Him things like perseverance, fortitude and strength of character, to stand up for what they believed in or what was right. In our West Indian parlance we’d probably say they desired ‘stick-to-itiveness,’ backbone and belly, an inner strength of spirit that allowed them to live the way their God desired. And when Moses sang his song, he joyfully proclaimed: ‘The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.’ (Ex.15:2) Wow! Those are surely strong words my people. But can we truly say like wise? We ought to, for it’s the inner strength that our Lord provides that really keeps us keeping on, and not balking or giving up at the slightest hint of adversity or disappointment. We all know it’s in the Lord that Bruh David found the wherewithal to carry on despite his many troubles and misfortunes. ‘In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.’ (Ps.62:7-8) Those are words of infallible truth my people! It’s in the Lord our God, and from no other source, that we find the strength to carry on when life gets rough and crazy, and also in Him that we find refuge, a hiding place, a place of comfort and rest in those times when we just can’t handle life anymore. Our God is the only one to whom we can go with any problem(s) whatsoever, at any time, and be assured of a friendly greeting, a listening ear, a caring heart, a comforting shoulder to cry on and most excellent advice on how to handle whatever ails us. Oh Friends, that’s the beauty of our God! He’s a one man wrecking crew as well as a one stop, fix it all. Obviously His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit ably assist Him. Now it’s very important that we, as believers, in these violent and uncompromising times, identify with God’s all-powerful nature and then make the best use of it. That’s what it’s there for mih people. It’s of no use just sitting there idly by, the same way whatever positive abilities we possess are wasted if unused. And our God wants us to come to Him, both in good times and bad. There’s nothing He desires more than that. But sometimes we get too proud and haughty for our own good and refuse to ask Him for help. And that’s where we get tripped up Friends, because the Lord thoroughly dislikes pride and arrogance. He wants us to come to Him humbly, but with the knowledge, the inner strength and confidence that whatever the problem, He will assist us, without condemnation too. We might not like His answers or advice, but be certain of one thing my people, that whatever our God does for or says to us, it is ALWAYS FOR OUR GOOD. And I just broke out chuckling because it seems that we’ll have to continue this Bit tomorrow since I haven’t said half of what I planned to say. But it’s all good Friends, for it’s the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and it’s only fitting that we end with some encouraging and prayerful words from Isaiah. This prayer is taken from his talk on ‘Salvation for those who trust in God.’ ‘O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.’ (Is.33:2) Yes Friends, that’s what we need to pray for; the strong arm of our God, to help and deliver us every day from the cruel and inhumane ‘sufferation’ that comes knocking at out door. He is the ONLY ONE who can do it ALL! Please remember that mih people, and let us act in compliance with it. And our God willing, we’ll have more on His Strength tomorrow. But why not eh? It’s His Name we’re glorifying and His Word we’re spreading in trying to live a life of Faith. Till then: Much LOVE!…don’t take our God for granted…but never fear to seek Him…and use His services to the max…
Oh Friends, I remember saying a couple days ago that this was an interesting Bit, but it has turned out to be even more interesting than I thought. We’ve spoken for two days on just the Light aspect of our God: how we viewed Him, how He viewed Himself and how Jesus viewed us. LIGHT and LOVE seem to be the basic characteristics of our Heavenly Father. Everything else can be found within those two attributes. Oh Praise His Holy Name my People! Finally, we move on to the next part of the Bit: ‘The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ We iterate again Friends that once the Most High God Jehovah is our guide, protector and provider, there’s no earthly being of whom we should be afraid. Jesus said we should not fear those who kill the body, but be wary and afraid of those who can kill our soul. (Mat.10:28) Just like Light was a very important part of the Old Testament perception of the Lord, so was His abundant Strength. All the faithful ancients relied heavily on Him for their strength to make it through their often rough and tumble lives. And it’s not so much physical strength they are talking about, although Samson did call on the Lord for that when he wanted to pull down the arena pillars on the Philistines. ‘O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.’ (Jud.16:28) And we all know that our wonderful God granted Him that physical strength, not only because Samson asked for it, but more likely because He also wanted the Philistines punished. Anyway Friends, it was more the spiritual rather than the physical kind of strength that The Lord’s people sought. They desired of Him things like perseverance, fortitude and strength of character, to stand up for what they believed in or what was right. In our West Indian parlance we’d probably say they desired ‘stick-to-itiveness,’ backbone and belly, an inner strength of spirit that allowed them to live the way their God desired. And when Moses sang his song, he joyfully proclaimed: ‘The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.’ (Ex.15:2) Wow! Those are surely strong words my people. But can we truly say like wise? We ought to, for it’s the inner strength that our Lord provides that really keeps us keeping on, and not balking or giving up at the slightest hint of adversity or disappointment. We all know it’s in the Lord that Bruh David found the wherewithal to carry on despite his many troubles and misfortunes. ‘In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.’ (Ps.62:7-8) Those are words of infallible truth my people! It’s in the Lord our God, and from no other source, that we find the strength to carry on when life gets rough and crazy, and also in Him that we find refuge, a hiding place, a place of comfort and rest in those times when we just can’t handle life anymore. Our God is the only one to whom we can go with any problem(s) whatsoever, at any time, and be assured of a friendly greeting, a listening ear, a caring heart, a comforting shoulder to cry on and most excellent advice on how to handle whatever ails us. Oh Friends, that’s the beauty of our God! He’s a one man wrecking crew as well as a one stop, fix it all. Obviously His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit ably assist Him. Now it’s very important that we, as believers, in these violent and uncompromising times, identify with God’s all-powerful nature and then make the best use of it. That’s what it’s there for mih people. It’s of no use just sitting there idly by, the same way whatever positive abilities we possess are wasted if unused. And our God wants us to come to Him, both in good times and bad. There’s nothing He desires more than that. But sometimes we get too proud and haughty for our own good and refuse to ask Him for help. And that’s where we get tripped up Friends, because the Lord thoroughly dislikes pride and arrogance. He wants us to come to Him humbly, but with the knowledge, the inner strength and confidence that whatever the problem, He will assist us, without condemnation too. We might not like His answers or advice, but be certain of one thing my people, that whatever our God does for or says to us, it is ALWAYS FOR OUR GOOD. And I just broke out chuckling because it seems that we’ll have to continue this Bit tomorrow since I haven’t said half of what I planned to say. But it’s all good Friends, for it’s the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and it’s only fitting that we end with some encouraging and prayerful words from Isaiah. This prayer is taken from his talk on ‘Salvation for those who trust in God.’ ‘O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.’ (Is.33:2) Yes Friends, that’s what we need to pray for; the strong arm of our God, to help and deliver us every day from the cruel and inhumane ‘sufferation’ that comes knocking at out door. He is the ONLY ONE who can do it ALL! Please remember that mih people, and let us act in compliance with it. And our God willing, we’ll have more on His Strength tomorrow. But why not eh? It’s His Name we’re glorifying and His Word we’re spreading in trying to live a life of Faith. Till then: Much LOVE!…don’t take our God for granted…but never fear to seek Him…and use His services to the max…
SCRIP-BITS 