THE LORD…

Psalms 145:5-9 LXX (146:5-9)

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob;
His hope is in the Lord his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and everything in them,
Who keeps truth forever,
Who executes justice for the wronged,
Who provides food for the hungry.
The Lord frees those bound.
The Lord restores those broken down.
The Lord gives wisdom to the blind.
The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord keeps watch over resident aliens.
He shall adopt the orphan and the widow,
But He shall destroy the way of sinners.

Encouraging Words

So many people believe that those of us who choose to follow Christ are brainwashed or simple minded. That is so far from the truth. As the Psalmist points out here, there are so many characteristics and actions of the Lord our God. The closer we walk with Him, the more we study His teachings, the more we see all these things happen in our lives and the lives of those around us. The truth, His truth, is irrefutable. Glory be to God!

NO SALVATION

Psalms 145:3-4 LXX (146:3-4)

Do not trust in rulers and in the sons of men,
In whom there is no salvation.
His breath shall go out of him, and he shall return to his earth;
On that day all his thoughts shall perish.

Personal Challenge

Another challenge that we are facing in our society today is how much trust, sometimes to the point of worship, that people are putting into rulers and sons of men. Some are political leaders, some are religious leaders, and some are business leaders. They are fallible and no different than the rest of us are. Their time here on earth will come up and they will be replaced by another. We must put our trust in God and rely on His salvation alone. Glory be to God!

Saint of the Week

St. Theophan the Recluse

PRAISE AND SING

Psalms 145:1-2 LXX (146:1-2)

Alleluia; of Aggeus and Zacharias.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I shall praise the Lord while I live;
I shall sing to my God as long as I exist.

Personal Challenge

No matter what is going on in our lives, whether it is good or bad, it is incumbent upon us to be continually praising and singing for our Lord. We do this for all the good that He has done, and continues to do in our lives. Glory be to God!

IN TRUTH

Psalms 144:18 LXX (145:18)

The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.

Personal Challenge

We live in a day and age where the culture has chosen to abandon absolute truth for relative truth. This is causing many challenges in our culture and resulting in perversions of those things that historically and spiritually are absolute truths. By doing this we are seeing misinterpretations of the scriptures, actions being taken in the name of Christ that fully defy his teachings, and churches, sects, cults forming that proclaim Christ as their focus but whose teachings and practices clearly conflict with the teachings and practices of Christ. The Psalmist saw this coming and was telling us then that which is still applicable now, that the Lord is near to those who call upon Him in TRUTH. Whose truth? God’s truth! His absolute truth! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have
mercy! Lord, have mercy!

MERCY

Psalms 144:8-9 LXX (145:8-9)

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are upon all His works.

Encouraging Words

What is mercy? In the context of the scriptures, it is God’s undeserved kindness and compassion toward those in need or distress especially when punishment is deserved. Let’s work backwards here. What punishment is deserved from God? Essentially it is eternal separation from Him because we continually miss the mark of His expectation of us. Are we really in need or distress? We were created to be eternal beings. Because of sin, death cuts our lives short. That is truly a need and a distress. Undeserved kindess and compassion? Only God can overlook our shortcomings and grant us eternal life with Him. Jesus is the gracious and merciful means by which God overlooks our shortcomings and shows His longsuffering grace and mercy towards us. Glory be to God!

WHAT IS MAN?

Psalms 143:3 LXX (144:3)

O Lord, what is man, that You are made known to him,
Or the son of man, that You consider him?

Encouraging Words

The Psalmist asks a very important and profound question here. Why does God care about humankind? For the time that this was written, the concept of God was so much different than all the other religious in existence. Only here does God care about His creation, human beings. Only here does He go out of His way to woo us into His loving arms. Glory be to God!

TEACH ME

Psalms 142:10 LXX (143:10)

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God;
Your good Spirit shall guide me in the land of uprightness.

Personal Challenge

As followers of Christ we strive to follow in this footsteps and ultimately become like Him. A critical component of this is to be teachable. We must be willing to listen to Him, learn from Him, and ultimately abandon our old ways to be like Him. What is He teaching us in this process? To do God’s will. His teaching is not found in the pursuit of knowledge but in the pursuit of Him and His will. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Saint of the Week

St. Isaac the Syrian

HEAR ME, O LORD

Psalms 142:1 LXX (143:1)

A psalm by David, when his son persecuted him.
O Lord, hear my prayer;
Give ear to my supplication in Your truth;
Answer me in Your righteousness;

Personal challenge

There is nothing worse than having your own child turn on you. It is indeed heart-wrenching. David turned to his Lord when this happened in order to seek solace and comfort. Sometimes that is all that we can do. We ask God to hear us. We petition His grace. We seek His righteousness. And we hope for His hand to move the situation toward restaration and reconciliation. Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy! Lord, have mercy!