Scripture
Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.
~Ecclesiastes 7:8, NLT
Quote
Don’t judge the PLAY before it is done: the last act crowns the Play.
~James Culross
One of the many things I love about the Psalms is that they deal with every human emotion. In Psalm 142 David is feeling very lonely and dejected; he prays, “Hear my cry LORD, I am very low.” When David was forced to flea Saul’s wrath, he did so in such a hurry that he had no provisions and no friends to accompany him. For awhile, and it must have seemed like an eternity to him, he was all by himself. Later friends would join him and eventually, he had an army of 600 men plus his family. But on the day he wrote Psalm 142, he felt alone and it seemed that he was alone. David was human and circumstances got him down. Dr. Jack Taylor asks a man how he was doing and the man said, “OK under the circumstances.” Dr. Taylor said, “What are you doing under the circumstances; you need to live above them.” I agree with Jack that we need to rise above the circumstances but this is easier said than done. I am prone to let circumstances get me down.
If you read Psalm 2 in the MESSAGE, you get a good idea of the last scene or act in God’s play known as human history. Jesus will inherent the earth. Our big Brother, so to speak, the Elder Son, the Only Begotten will get it all. Our Heavenly Father loves Jesus and He will see that He is vindicated. Notice the progression of the Psalm…when the rulers of earth reject His Anointed. God laughs at their pride and presumption but toward the end of the Psalm, God is not laughing. The last verse reads like this in the NLT… Submit to God’s royal Son, or He will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—for His anger flares up in an instant. But what joy for all who take refuge in Him! God is patient with us: let us be patient with Him. We must wait upon the LORD. In the end, Jesus wins!
What is this? Five in a row without getting on politics. It could be a record. Joe David and I had a good visit with Vellene and Tracy B. These two ladies have something in common–both are incredibly strong. I begged Vellene to let us bring her some food or snacks: she gave me an emphatic No! She didn’t studder. When Vellene says no, she means no. Tracy was sitting on the couch. We talked for 15 minutes are so. She is praying for extra time with Gracin and we are joining her in that prayer. She went to HH for a radiation treatment yesterday evening.
Have a great day!