The Necessity of Christians Knowing and Understanding God’s Great Faithfulness, and thus Wait Patiently on Him!

Today’s Scrip-Bit   25 August 2026   Psalm 40:1.

Psalm 40:1.          I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

Ah friends, we’re into the last Tuesday of August; next week Tuesday we’ll be talking about September. (smile) But today, as many of the previous August days, it’s sunshiny and warm, so there’s still hope for August to finish up as a good month. And since we’re running a li’l bit late, (my fault) let’s get to today’s topic right away. And that’s this month’s prayer from the In Touch Devotional.

So, please pray with me: ‘Lord, sometimes I wonder if you hear my prayers – the waiting is so long, the ache so deep. But You’ve never left me – You see me when I feel invisible, when I feel as if I don’t matter. Nothing is too hard for You – no prayer too repetitive, no situation too broken. You turn mourning into dancing, emptiness into fulness. Help me hold on to hope when doubt tries to creep back in. I’ll never stop saying it: You are faithful. In Jesus’ name, amen.’  

And that last statement about God’s faithfulness is absolutely true! All of us who have spent anytime in God’s presence know that to be a glorious fact, because we have all experienced at least some modicum (small amount) of His faithfulness in our time with Him. And the bible has oodles of verses that talk about it, but we’ll only share a couple of the better known ones here.  

The first one comes from Bruh Paul’s second letter to Timothy, where he is telling him that the word of God is not bound, is not a chain: ‘It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer (endure), we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.’ (2 Tim. 2:11-13) Oh my people, isn’t it wonderful and ever so encouraging to know that God is always God, regardless of who I am, or how I behave! His character is one of utmost faithfulness, therefore He remains steadfast and true even when I am not.

And the second scripture comes from Jeremiah’s famous testimony on the Lord’s faithfulness in his Lamentations. ‘This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam. 3:21-26)

Yes my brethren, wiser words were never spoken! And waiting on the Lord can be very long and heart aching, that like the prayer says, we sometimes are led to wonder if He’s heard our prayers. But He indeed hears them all; it’s just that He takes His own time to answer them; whether it be yay, nay, or not now. Our job though is wait patiently and keep on persevering until we get an answer. Know one thing though, the Lord will not leave us in the lurch, whatever answer He has will arrive in good time for us to make the necessary arrangements.

And a man who certainly knew about waiting on the Lord, Bruh David, strongly advises it in several of his writings. In psalm 27, he says: ‘Wait (in faith) on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait (in faith), I say, on the Lord.’ Then in Psalm 37: he declares: ‘Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.’ (Ps. 37:34)

Now listen to the crowning glory of waiting on the Lord. In Psalm 40 – Praise for God’s Deliverance, Bruh David testifies: ‘I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings (steps). And he hath  put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.’ (Ps. 40:1-4)

And we all know that Bruh David is not talking from hear say, but from personal experience, because after the Lord anointed him king of Israel, he went through many years of trials and tribulations waiting for that to happen. And it would never have happened if he had not waited on God, patiently in faith. And we also know that waiting patiently in faith is not easy, especially when our circumstances seem to be pulling us under quicker than we can blink, but that’s where our faith and trust in God is expected to show up.

But there are a few things we need to know and believe. Firstly, that the Lord never leaves nor forsakes us, that’s His promise. (Heb. 13:5) So although we may not see or feel His presence, rest assured that He’s always there with us. As Jesus assured the disciples at the end of the Great Commission; ‘and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20b) We could not desire better assurance than that my fellow believers.

And when the song says: ‘You turn mourning into dancing, emptiness into fulness,’ Bruh David corroborates those sentiments in Psalm 30, when he declares: ‘Hear O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth (the sackcloth of my mourning), and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory (my soul) may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.’ (Ps. 30:10-12)

Yes friends that’s exactly how it ought to be; us continually giving thanks to God for His LOVE, faithfulness and everlasting goodness to the children of undeserving men! Now let’s go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice! ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

So let’s go out now and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…weeping may endure for a night…but joy comes in the morning…  (Ps. 30:5b)

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Overwhelming Importance of Understanding that the Sooner One Cries Out to God for Help, the Better!

Today’s Scrip-Bit   11 August 2026   Psalm 38:22.

Psalm 38:22.        Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

Ah friends, we’re on a somewhat late bus this loverly Tuesday morning, because I’ve been forced to spend time on the phone with representatives of my phone and internet company, the mighty Bell Network, trying to fix a relatively simple problem.  It’s been three days now since the problem arose and the Duchess began talking to them. And she is still talking to them. She is indeed a better woman than me, for I interacted with them twice and lost my cool each time. That’s why I don’t deal with those kinds of problems, but I got involved because the service is in my name. But the good part of it all, is that though I can get angry when faced with unnecessary bureaucracy, my anger doesn’t last for long. Praise the Lord! (smile)

And today we’ll check out a rather interesting and relevant poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, titled ‘The End of the Rope.’ As always, I don’t know if I’ve shared it before, but it’s certainly worth sharing again, especially in these trying and troubled times. So please read with me. ‘O dear God I feel as though I’m clinging To a rough, swinging rope. Beneath me there is only emptiness. My hands are bruised and bleeding. There is no possible way For me to tie a knot At the end of the rope And hang on. O God, please help me. (And God’s response is:) Frightened child Just let go. I’ll catch you.’

Oh my people, isn’t that the living truth? It certainly is, for whenever we’ve reached the end of our rope, the Lord is always there to catch us! And He allows us to get there because then we realize that there’s no other place to turn than to Him. We either fall into the bottomless abyss or turn to God and desperately cling to Him. It’s a lesson than many of us today need to learn, for we are fighting the idea of turning to God, trying to do our own thing without very much success, and it’s only when we cannot do anymore in our own strength that we finally turn to Him.

But that’s not a very wise way to live my brethren. We ought to turn to God as soon as possible, so that we don’t ever feel like we’re swinging from a rope, with bruised and bleeding hands, staring at only emptiness below us. And then we end up doing like the Bible verses for our poem, crying out: ‘Do not abandon me, O Lord. do not stand at a distance, my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord my saviour.’ (Ps. 38:21-22) That’s the New Living translation. Here’s how the King James version says it as Bruh David writes about sins being a heavy burden. ‘Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.’

Anyway we say it though, it’s still a cry for help from the Only One who can help us when things get real bad and it looks like we’re sinking into the mire of death and despair. And Bruh David for one is not afraid or too proud to call on the Lord for help in his tough situations, as He does again in Psalm 22 – a Plea for God’s Presence – where he cries out: ‘But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.’ (Ps. 22:19) And we all know that Lord helped him numerous times as he went through a lot of trials and tribulations, but many of us are too proud to ask or cry out for help.

And thus foolish pride eventually has us swinging from the end of a rope, headed nowhere but down to destruction. Let’s remember too that pride is possibly the sin that the Lord dislikes most, because it tells Him that we don’t need Him, and according to Cousin Sol, is listed among the seven things that are an abomination to God. (Prov. 6:16-19) Consequently, that’s why our world is also in such a chaotic state, for foolish pride is rampant all over it. And you only have to look at the leaders of today’s nations to see how pride is causing more disaster than anything else, because they all feel they know best, are greedy, power hungry and egotistic, and most have no use or time for God.

And the few who spout some sort of godly rhetoric are mainly paying lip service, because their actions show no godly intent or purpose whatsoever. No wonder the Lord apparently refuses to intervene in our troubles, allowing us the freedom that we so greatly desire to do it ourselves, and create the chaos that’s currently enveloping our world. The big picture of our world certainly looks like many of us dangling from that proverbial swinging rope, hands bruised and bleeding, with only emptiness below us. But our foolish pride still prevents us from crying out for help to the Only One who can help us in that disastrous situation; Almighty God.

That’s why Cousin Sol wrote so much about the benefits of wisdom in Proverbs. ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.’ (Prov. 4:7) Wisdom; the knowledge of something, and understanding; knowing how to use that knowledge properly are the foundation of a successful life. And the great importance of wisdom and understanding is shown earlier on in Proverbs, where Cousin Sol declares: ‘The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.’ (Prov. 3:19)

That means, if our great God used wisdom and understanding to create the universe, then we ought also to be very much interested in them and use them constantly in our lives. Unfortunately though, Satan has blinded the eyes of our hearts to the truth, and thus we keep on falling into nothingness. But for those of us who know the truth, let’s go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

That then makes us duty bound to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…don’t wait until you’re at end of your rope…to cry out to God for help…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Necessity for Christians to Stand Steadfast and Cry out to God for Help when Persecuted for His Sake!

Today’s Scrip-Bit   28 July 2026   Psalm 69:1.

Psalm 69:1.            Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul (neck).

Oh Lord… technology, technology, technology! It’s useful, but it also seems to break down or fail at the most inopportune times. I was already late getting down here, then I spent over half an hour fighting with this so and so computer to begin writing the Bit! It opened quite well and I checked some messages. But when I tried opening Word to begin writing…Hn! No reaction whatsoever. It wouldn’t open anything at all. So, in frustration, I decided to change the batteries in the mouse…Same khaki pants. Then I changed the batteries in the keyboard…Nothing doing. I couldn’t even turn it off with the mouse.

So I eventually turned it off manually…at least tried doing so, but it wouldn’t close because the Google App was open, so I hit cancel to stop the turn off and voilà …the whole screen lit up and the computer began working normally again! And I still don’t know what was wrong. But sadly, every day we’re becoming more and more dependent on the deleted expletive technology, which can break down or fail so completely when you most need it. But as one of my friends likes to say; that’s progress! Ah Lord eh! Hopefully, that is my only frustration for today. (smile)

Anyway, let’s see what the Lord wants us to talk about today, after allowing that most frustrating episode right at the very beginning. And wouldn’t you know, in the Lord’s most intriguing and mysterious way, the Good Library opened just now at Psalm 69 – A Cry for Help, where Bruh David cries out: ‘Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul (neck). I sink deep in the mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away (which I did not steal). O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait (in faith) on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake (because of me): let not those that seek thee be confounded (disgraced) for my sake, O God of Israel.

Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of (for) thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to (became) my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment (a symbol of sorrow); and I became a proverb (byword) to them. They that sit in the gate (sit as judges) speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.’ (Ps. 69:1-12)

Ah friends, I’m sure many of us are in the same boat that Bruh David was in back then; embroiled in a case of undeserved suffering, and mainly from his steadfastness in his commitment to the Lord. But unfortunately that is one of the negative things that can happen to us when we stand up strong for Christ. As He warned in the Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ (Matt. 5:11-12)

Then later on, Jesus again declared to the disciples: ‘And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.’ (Matt. 10:22) Oh my fellow believers, we all know that rejoicing when we’re being falsely accused and negatively treated is not easy to do, but we have to dig down deep and find the faith to bear it, with the Lord’s help obviously. We need to cry out to the Lord, petition Him like Bruh David did:

‘But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord; for thy LOVING-KINDNESS is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily (quickly). Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me gall for my meat (food); and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.’ (Ps. 69:13-21)

Yes my brethren, it can be a difficult life if we insist on standing up strong and steadfast for Christ, but we need to also remember the rewards that come from our faithfulness and steadfastness; salvation and eternal life with Christ, and understand that those rewards greatly outweigh the ‘sufferation’ we might undergo here on earth. And again, it’s not easy, but we need to also cry out to God  and ask for help in our negative situations, and even if He doesn’t rescue us from the situation, for sure He’ll give us the peace and strength to withstand it, for that’s His ever faithful promise.

Now let’s declare our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

So let’s do just that nuh; go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…Jesus desires a lot from us…but look at what He’s already given…a whole lot more…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien