Scripture
Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
~Psalm 142:4, NIV
Quote
Jesus Christ has never been more real to me: here I have seen and felt Him indeed.
~John Bunyan {From Bedford’s jail}
David wrote Psalm 142 while hiding in a cave from the unstable and deranged King Saul. Eventually others will join him but initially he was alone and in Psalm 142, he is feeling lonely. As we grow and mature, we learn not to trust our emotions. In Psalm 57 David saw this cave as a refuge, a hiding place but now he fears that it is a death trap. When you take refuge in a cave, the only way out is the mouth and if the enemy finds the mouth of the cave, you are trapped. As I was reading this Psalm earlier today; I had a couple of thoughts.
David was a highly gifted man and a national hero. After defeating Goliath, he became an iconic figure. His fearlessness and success in battle made him famous before he was twenty years old. Of course you know his later accomplishments which are too many to enumerate. Today, I thanked God for my anonymity. Perhaps for the first time in my life: I praised Him for allowing me to labor in obscurity. I would be one of the most hated men in America if I were in the spotlight. I don’t want the LGBTQ-A to picket my office or Grace Point. Thank God, they don’t even know I exist. Our convention needs a leader like Steve Gaines or Robert Jeffreys but they don’t need a Jack Bailey. I am thrilled to be a nobody.
I had another thought: we all know that David is a type of Christ, God’s anointed Servant and King but I believe he is also a type of the believer. Why did David suffer? Why did God allow him to be persecuted? Why didn’t God save David the moment he cried out for help? As we look back, we know that David was destined for the throne but God did not put him on the throne until he had suffered. I think of two immediate reasons why God allows us to suffer [there are more than two]: first God uses suffering to reveal HIMSELF to us and secondly to reveal us to us. Suffering reveals who God is and who we are. John Bunyan said, “Never in all my life, had I gotten such great insights from the word of God as when I was locked in the Bedford jail; Scriptures that I saw nothing in before came alive and Jesus Christ has never been more real to me: here I have seen and felt Him indeed.”
There is a short poem in STREAMS IN THE DESERT for December 19 that is laced with truth and I want to share it…
He cannot heal who has not suffered much,
For only sorrow, sorrow understands;
They will not come for healing at our touch,
Who have not seen the scars upon our hands.
James Russell will be coming home today LORD willing! I know that Priscilla and Karla will be thrilled in not having to drive to Huntsville in this Christmas traffic.
DBC cooked for the Homeless Shelter in Decatur last night. We had a huge turnout: so many cooks in the kitchen that I left and went to the Funeral Home. Barbara Picken’s brother passed away and his COLS is today.
ATTENTION BELINDA CHILDERS: Grace Point will be cooking at the Shelter on January 7 and I will be speaking: we will need a crew of six.
Just five days to Christmas: unbelievable!
This is the Friday {December 20} blog. I have stopped doing them on weekends but we will, LORD willing, do two next week {December 23-24} and then we will take a break and resume January 2.