Psalm 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Oh Friends, what a bam-bam! Just one more natural disaster for us to think on and pray about. I’m talking about the terrible tornado that tore through the U.S South last Saturday, wreaking havoc across several states and causing the loss of at least a dozen lives. My people, we never know when our number will be called up yonder, that’s why we’re constantly warned and encouraged to be always prepared to meet our Maker, whenever and wherever He calls. I certainly hope those who died as a result of the tornado were prepared. We should pray for their departed souls, as well as those who survived the horrible disaster. Now the Psalm from which our Bit comes is titled ‘The need for relying on God.’ And that my Friends is the living gospel, for we are helpless without Him. As the Psalmist so aptly declares: ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.’ And the house here is not merely a building, but a group of lives, a people, a society. Whatever we try to build without God’s help and guidance is doomed to failure, for it’s only in His power, through His strength, that we’re able to successfully put all the necessary parts together to make a lasting whole. Yes Friends, the principle put forward here is that all our efforts will be in vain, unless we have the Lord’s blessing. And that shouldn’t be news to any believer, but it’s something we need to keep pounding into our hearts, minds and souls so we don’t forget it and go off trying to accomplish stuff on our own. That’s when we dispense with godliness and humility and let foolish pride and arrogance rule our lives. But remember my brethren ‘except the Lord keep (guards) the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.’ And isn’t that an awesome truth! Unless we have the Most High God Jehovah in our individual lives and societies, it’s no use having a watchman stay awake at night to guard us. It will be all in vain because the enemy will still capture and destroy us anyway. And that is marvellously brought home by these words from Psalm 121 that deals with God’s sustaining power. ‘My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.’ (Ps.121:2-7) Wow! That’s the beauty of our God, mih people! He’s our Protector. With Him we’re in safe hands; the safest hands possible. The All State motto is really applicable to only the One, True God we serve mih breddren. The Psalmist also talks about a couple of other things that’s senseless for us to do without God’s help and protection: ‘It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.’ (Ps. 121:2) Yes my Friends, it is not healthy to sit up late at night or get up too early in the morning; in other words, working overly long hours, because God gave us the restful, refreshing benefit of sleep so we can ably toil another day. That’s why we feel so lousy and are more susceptible to illness when we don’t get enough sleep. Keep quiet children. The ole fella gets enough sleep these days, much more than he used to get. I just might not get it all at once, or at what you consider normal times, but I am abiding by the principle, practicing what I preach, for I certainly don’t want to partake of that ‘bread of sorrows.’ And for your information Friends, that comes from God’s admonishment to our forefather Adam. ‘And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow (toil) shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life…In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ (Gen.3:17,19) Ah mih people, yuh see what happens when we don’t listen to God? We’re cursed and suffer thereafter. But our God, in His LOVING kindness and mercy, devised an ingenious plan to break that curse. It took everything into account, covered all bases. Though He LOVED us a whole lot and could have pardoned us with a wave of His hand or a simple word, being a just and righteous God, He could not let sin flourish and go unpunished. So He sent His only Son, Jesus to die as a sacrifice for our sins, putting them all, from day one till forever, on His innocent, unblemished shoulders, so that justice would be done and we could return to Him sin free. Mama Mia! What ingenuity! But what yuh think happened Friends? Sadly, after all that trouble the Lord went through to set us right, we gone back doing the same nonsense; not listening to Him, but trusting in our own puny efforts from our puny minds, with lives that are as feckless and fickle as a candle flame, easily put out by the slightest breeze. My brethren, I’m pleading and imploring us to get out of that bad habit of ignoring our Creator, Protector, Guide and Provider, else we’ll pay dearly for our mistake. Just listen to all that He is to us nuh. Now tell me, does it sound sensible or logical to ignore and disobey Him? Certainly not! And those who do it, do so at their own peril. Oh Friends, our God knows we’re not perfect. He knows all our faults, frailties and limitations because he moulded us with His own two LOVING, gentle, masterful hands, and also blew the breath of life into our dust based bodies, but He still LOVES us unconditionally, and desires nothing but communication and obedience from us. When we do that, it brings such pride and joy to His heart and a big smile breaks out all over His face. And remember, joy doesn’t reign in heaven only when one sinner is saved, but every time a sinner does right by His God. So please, let’s try to do right by our God as much as possible nuh. Much LOVE!…our purpose…to keep joy reigning continuously in heaven…
Oh Friends, what a bam-bam! Just one more natural disaster for us to think on and pray about. I’m talking about the terrible tornado that tore through the U.S South last Saturday, wreaking havoc across several states and causing the loss of at least a dozen lives. My people, we never know when our number will be called up yonder, that’s why we’re constantly warned and encouraged to be always prepared to meet our Maker, whenever and wherever He calls. I certainly hope those who died as a result of the tornado were prepared. We should pray for their departed souls, as well as those who survived the horrible disaster. Now the Psalm from which our Bit comes is titled ‘The need for relying on God.’ And that my Friends is the living gospel, for we are helpless without Him. As the Psalmist so aptly declares: ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.’ And the house here is not merely a building, but a group of lives, a people, a society. Whatever we try to build without God’s help and guidance is doomed to failure, for it’s only in His power, through His strength, that we’re able to successfully put all the necessary parts together to make a lasting whole. Yes Friends, the principle put forward here is that all our efforts will be in vain, unless we have the Lord’s blessing. And that shouldn’t be news to any believer, but it’s something we need to keep pounding into our hearts, minds and souls so we don’t forget it and go off trying to accomplish stuff on our own. That’s when we dispense with godliness and humility and let foolish pride and arrogance rule our lives. But remember my brethren ‘except the Lord keep (guards) the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.’ And isn’t that an awesome truth! Unless we have the Most High God Jehovah in our individual lives and societies, it’s no use having a watchman stay awake at night to guard us. It will be all in vain because the enemy will still capture and destroy us anyway. And that is marvellously brought home by these words from Psalm 121 that deals with God’s sustaining power. ‘My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.’ (Ps.121:2-7) Wow! That’s the beauty of our God, mih people! He’s our Protector. With Him we’re in safe hands; the safest hands possible. The All State motto is really applicable to only the One, True God we serve mih breddren. The Psalmist also talks about a couple of other things that’s senseless for us to do without God’s help and protection: ‘It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.’ (Ps. 121:2) Yes my Friends, it is not healthy to sit up late at night or get up too early in the morning; in other words, working overly long hours, because God gave us the restful, refreshing benefit of sleep so we can ably toil another day. That’s why we feel so lousy and are more susceptible to illness when we don’t get enough sleep. Keep quiet children. The ole fella gets enough sleep these days, much more than he used to get. I just might not get it all at once, or at what you consider normal times, but I am abiding by the principle, practicing what I preach, for I certainly don’t want to partake of that ‘bread of sorrows.’ And for your information Friends, that comes from God’s admonishment to our forefather Adam. ‘And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow (toil) shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life…In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ (Gen.3:17,19) Ah mih people, yuh see what happens when we don’t listen to God? We’re cursed and suffer thereafter. But our God, in His LOVING kindness and mercy, devised an ingenious plan to break that curse. It took everything into account, covered all bases. Though He LOVED us a whole lot and could have pardoned us with a wave of His hand or a simple word, being a just and righteous God, He could not let sin flourish and go unpunished. So He sent His only Son, Jesus to die as a sacrifice for our sins, putting them all, from day one till forever, on His innocent, unblemished shoulders, so that justice would be done and we could return to Him sin free. Mama Mia! What ingenuity! But what yuh think happened Friends? Sadly, after all that trouble the Lord went through to set us right, we gone back doing the same nonsense; not listening to Him, but trusting in our own puny efforts from our puny minds, with lives that are as feckless and fickle as a candle flame, easily put out by the slightest breeze. My brethren, I’m pleading and imploring us to get out of that bad habit of ignoring our Creator, Protector, Guide and Provider, else we’ll pay dearly for our mistake. Just listen to all that He is to us nuh. Now tell me, does it sound sensible or logical to ignore and disobey Him? Certainly not! And those who do it, do so at their own peril. Oh Friends, our God knows we’re not perfect. He knows all our faults, frailties and limitations because he moulded us with His own two LOVING, gentle, masterful hands, and also blew the breath of life into our dust based bodies, but He still LOVES us unconditionally, and desires nothing but communication and obedience from us. When we do that, it brings such pride and joy to His heart and a big smile breaks out all over His face. And remember, joy doesn’t reign in heaven only when one sinner is saved, but every time a sinner does right by His God. So please, let’s try to do right by our God as much as possible nuh. Much LOVE!…our purpose…to keep joy reigning continuously in heaven…
SCRIP-BITS 