Scripture

But unto Thee, have I cried, O LORD, and early shall my prayer come before Thee.

~Psalm 88:13, Geneva Bible

Quote

One thing is certain about Heman, he is doggedly going to keep on praying even though his prayers have seemingly been of little avail.

~John Philips

I attempted to preach Psalm 88 Sunday night. When I got to my study Monday morning, I picked up John Philips commentary which I should have read prior to preaching the text. He says that Heman was leper. This explains a lot. Verse 15 states, “I have been afflicted from my youth.” Evidently, Heman got leporsy as a boy or a teenager. This kind of thing did happen and in ancient Jewish society. The lepers were expelled from the community and had to live in communes outside the village or population. This would explain his isolation and alienation. Even with this knowledge, it is still a sad Psalm, the saddest Psalm in the entire collection. June will tell you that I don’t like sad movies and once I see a movie going in that direction, I either cut it off or leave the room.

Today I have given some thought to those who were born with afflictions; to those who have spent their life in a wheelchair. Do you think they pray? Do you reckon they pray to walk, or run like those born with a healthy body? I think they do. This is where the gospel of Christ comes in: Heman didn’t have this gospel, we do and it makes a world of difference. Most people are worldly, they focus on the here and now but there is a hereafter. Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed from a diving accident when she was 17 years old. She is paralyzed from the neck down and has spent a lot of her time in a wheel chair. Joni is two months younger than myself: she will be 76 on October 15. She is a highly successful speaker, writer, radio and TV personality. She also is the founder of WHEELS FOR THE WORLD. I have never heard her in person but I have read her testimony.

Now I realize that this kind of success is not going to happen to every paraplegic, but her life is an inspiration to everyone living in a wheel chair, God has used her to encourage others. But this is only one aspect of the hope we have in the gospel. Our greater hope is full restoration. One day Jesus is going to mend all the brokenness, heal all the sickness and raise all the dead. Jarius little twelve year old daughter must have had some kind of infection that caused her to stop eating before she died. When Jesus raised her, He healed her at the same time and she was hungry. The sickness that had taken her appetite was gone. This is our blessed hope. No matter how dark our world may be at the moment, Jesus gives us hope for a brighter tomorrow. You can find hope in no other.

Extra

They have increased our chance for rain; 36% today and 73% tomorrow. If you add them up, we have 109%. Of course, that is not the way it works. We are really dry at 1120 Iron Man Road. I have three holes to dig and I am waithing on a rain to soften the ground.

Let’s pray for Charity Clark today. She has been in lots of pain this week. Let’s lift her up today. Pray also for Lincoln who has surgery in a week are so. My this month is flying by just like all the rest.

Have a good day and thanks for reading the blog.

Good news, Jason found the old cassette tape of the Adrian Rogers sermon. Now we have to find a way to convert it to digital.