SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 38:21-22.    Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
 
Oh Friends, another new day, with new mercies and blessings is upon us! Do you ever get tired of it? I surely hope not, cause that’s our lifeline, our very lifeblood, our saving grace. If we weren’t getting rich, new stuff everyday, where would we be eh? The Lord only knows. And I refuse to even consider it for one moment. But on another point of interest, do we take these new daily blessings and mercies for granted? I sincerely hope we don’t, but give the Lord ample thanks and praise for them every day we awaken and see the light of God in our lives. And I guess you’re wondering what brought that all about? Well it was all brought on when I got up and heard the birds singing their sweet morning songs of praise and thanksgiving through my opened bedroom window. And as I sit in my basement office writing this now, I can still hear them outside dallying in sweet song. Now these mindless creatures instinctively know to whom their very existence is dependent on, and give appropriate praise. But are we, the creation with the wonderful mind built into each of us, as mindful to praise and thank the One who created us and provides for us? Unfortunately, I don’t think we are as mindful to exalt and extol Almighty God as we should. That’s because we take certain things for granted, and also allow the flim-flam stuff of the world to dazzle us and thus take our thoughts away from God. Oh Friends, that just isn’t right or good enough for true followers of Jesus. We definitely need to do better in that respect. Our eyes of faith and our hearts are supposed to be set on the surety of heaven, not on the uncertain things of earth. For as Jesus so wisely noted: ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ (Matt.6:21) That means if we keep looking to the things of the earth, we’ll lose the focus on heaven we’re supposed to have. And still on the wonders of creation, I’m reminded of the lovely multi-coloured tulips the duchess has blossoming and blooming in her front garden. Jesus describes it so rightly. ‘And why take ye thought for raiment (worry about clothing)? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed (clothed) like one of these.’ (Matt.6:29-29) So Friends, if God was, and is, so gracious and generous to His lesser creations, how much more gracious and generous is he going to be to His greatest creation, mankind? Obviously much more. But sadly, in our sinful, rebellious, LOVE the destructive and destructible things of the earth state, we don’t appreciate our good fortune as we should. But as soon as something goes dreadfully wrong in our lives, we’re quick to hold our heads and bawl, ‘O God!’ and mouth insincere platitudes for help. Now our Bit today is indeed a cry for help: ‘Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.’ But the big difference is that it’s a cry from a penitent heart. Psalm 38 is titled – the prayer of a penitent heart. Apparently at the time of writing, Bruh David was shaking it very rough indeed; sick, deserted by his friends and surrounded by enemies. Those three circumstances all together would certainly cause a sinful heart to be penitent. But our problem nowadays seems to be, if we don’t hear from God speedily, we tend to lose faith in Him. On the other hand, if we do receive His unfailing mercy, then once the crisis has passed, we tend to forget or relegate Him to the background of our lives once again. That my brethren is definitely not kosher! The Lord God Jehovah MUST ALWAYS have priority, first place in our lives, otherwise He’s unhappy and not prone to respond to our pleas for help. Bruh David was constantly crying out to the Lord for help, one instance being in Psalm 22 – A cry of anguish and song of praise. ‘But be thou not far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling (precious life) from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns (And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered me). I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.’ (Ps.22:19-22) Another example of his cry for help is found in Psalm 35 – A prayer for rescue from enemies. ‘This thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord be not far from me. Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgement (vindication), even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge (vindicate) me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.’ (Ps.35:22-24) And God usually answered his plea for help. Why? Because his heart and mind were constantly tuned to God’s frequency! And though he lost contact every so often, when he did regain the connection, he admitted his wrong doing and sincerely tried to do better. Oh my people, our God made us and knows all of our failures, frailties and shortcomings and thus does not expect us to be perfect. But He does expect the first portion of our lives. He does expect to be front and centre in all we think and do, not just to be called upon in calamitous times and expect to be delivered right away. And sadly, I think that’s the way a lot of supposed believers behave today. God is in the back of our minds until we come upon a serious problem we can’t solve ourselves. But please remember Friends, our God, Creator, Controller and Provider wants to be involved in ALL and EVERY aspect of our lives, without any exceptions whatsoever! So, starting today, right now, let’s see if we can’t give Him some more prominence in our lives nuh, the prominence He so rightly deserves. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it won’t happen either unless we make a serious and conscious decision to do it. Remember my people, that the true seeds of wisdom and knowledge are sown in the reverence of God; as we revere Him, so grows our wisdom and knowledge. Much LOVE!…if we keep God always before us…then we’ll walk our earthly paths without fear of stumbling…