There was always time. One simply had to make time, and there was always a lot a man did that was trifling and altogether unimportant.”
–Louis L’Amour (Fallon)
“The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.”
–Psalm 116:6 (NKJV)
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This is the holiday season (holy day–season). Don’t let anyone tell you different; this is a time to celebrate, to remember, to be thankful. We started last week with Veterans Day, now we are onward toward Thanksgiving. The next section of Psalm 66 is apropos to Thanksgiving. Stop! Take time! Remember the things that God has done for you during your life. Think of how He has taken care of you, the times He has protected you, the times He has seen you through troubles and trials. Be a witness to yourself of what God has done and thank Him; be a witness to others telling them what He has done then be grateful.
16 — Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 — I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue.
18 — If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
19 — But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 — Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me! (NKJV)
Remember the Psalm, the refining fire–the trials of life, the dark night of the soul? Now, comes the testimony of what God has done in the midst of all the infirmary, the calamity, and the affliction. “I will declare!” Paul tells us that we are to be “living letters,” in other words as we walk through this world, people should be able to read our lives. They should see the very words of the Holy Spirit written there–“I will declare.”
Verse 18 is a reminder to not keep sin in our hearts, to get it confessed. The NIV states it this way, “If I had cherished sin in my heart,” the NLT, “If I had not confess the sin in my heart.” When sin comes, take care of it immediately. Get to the Lord and get it confessed. Also, it is one thing to sin, another thing to “cherish sin,” to love it. Some sin is hard to break away from, but that does not mean that it is cherished–that is part of the agony of the soul. George O. Wood says, “If sin remains in your heart while passing through the dark canyons, then you will not emerge a whole person. You must deal with your own wrong attitudes and actions.”
But when that is taken care of you will find that God has been with you. He heard your weakest cry, your deepest moan in the dark times, the wail of your heart when the storm came crashing, and I like this, “He has attended to voice of my prayer.” Great is His faithfulness, His mercy is there for us continually. Be thankful, be grateful, count your blessings.
“To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the lifegate that all may go in.”
–Fanny J. Crosby
———————————-
This is the holiday season (holy day–season). Don’t let anyone tell you different; this is a time to celebrate, to remember, to be thankful. We started last week with Veterans Day, now we are onward toward Thanksgiving. The next section of Psalm 66 is apropos to Thanksgiving. Stop! Take time! Remember the things that God has done for you during your life. Think of how He has taken care of you, the times He has protected you, the times He has seen you through troubles and trials. Be a witness to yourself of what God has done and thank Him; be a witness to others telling them what He has done then be grateful.
16 — Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 — I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue.
18 — If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
19 — But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 — Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me! (NKJV)
Remember the Psalm, the refining fire–the trials of life, the dark night of the soul? Now, comes the testimony of what God has done in the midst of all the infirmary, the calamity, and the affliction. “I will declare!” Paul tells us that we are to be “living letters,” in other words as we walk through this world, people should be able to read our lives. They should see the very words of the Holy Spirit written there–“I will declare.”
Verse 18 is a reminder to not keep sin in our hearts, to get it confessed. The NIV states it this way, “If I had cherished sin in my heart,” the NLT, “If I had not confess the sin in my heart.” When sin comes, take care of it immediately. Get to the Lord and get it confessed. Also, it is one thing to sin, another thing to “cherish sin,” to love it. Some sin is hard to break away from, but that does not mean that it is cherished–that is part of the agony of the soul. George O. Wood says, “If sin remains in your heart while passing through the dark canyons, then you will not emerge a whole person. You must deal with your own wrong attitudes and actions.”
But when that is taken care of you will find that God has been with you. He heard your weakest cry, your deepest moan in the dark times, the wail of your heart when the storm came crashing, and I like this, “He has attended to voice of my prayer.” Great is His faithfulness, His mercy is there for us continually. Be thankful, be grateful, count your blessings.
“To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the lifegate that all may go in.”
–Fanny J. Crosby