January 9th, 2009 Bible Blog

Today's Reading:

Psalms 79-81
Romans 8:1-18

My Response:

In our reading today we start out with Psalms 79-80 which we see is a lamentation over a national disaster like the fall of the Northern Kingdom or the Babylonian Captivity. The thing that we see here is that the Israelites knew that it was their unrighteousness that caused this. They knew that they had envoked the wrath of God, and as I discussed last night this was not an easy thing to do. We see this evident when the Psalmist says:

Psalms 79:5
5 How long, O LORD ? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

We must remember that our God is a God of grace, but we should not test the levels of His grace. The nation of Israel continued to test Him and fell because of it. In our own personal lives we do much the same as the Israelites. We know that which God has commanded us and yet we turn away from it. We pursue the passions and desires of our flesh no different than the Israelites did. If we don't turn from our wicked ways the Lord will eventually turn us over to them. This is often times a lonely and humbling place to be, and unfortunately I speak from experience here. I need to be more obedient to God and need to accept His instruction early rather than holding back.

Again we see this evident when we look at Psalms 81 which speaks of the waywardness of Israel. This Scripture I believe helps to further my point:

Psalms 81:12-14
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
13 "If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!

God was looking for Israels obedience and what He got was disobedience. There came a time when He turned them over to it and it led down a path to destruction. But God, in His infinite grace, simply wanted them to return to Him and follow His ways. If they would do that then God would take care of the rest. We as children of God have the same promises. If we will turn to Him and follow His ways then He will provide a way.

My Prayer:

Lord please forgive me of my sins and fill me with Your presence. God You know that the last few nights I have been feeling under the weather and I believe that it is out of exhaustion that I feel this way. I pray Lord that You would bless our sleep tonight God. Dawn and I both need a refreshing and relaxing night to regain our strength and energy. Lord I pray that You would bless us with that.

I love You Lord and I worship You alone. Praise be to Your name and Your name alone. You are the rock that I will always run to. You are my God and I trust in You alone. I submit my life to Your throne and ask that You use me for the glory of Your Kingdom.