HOLY JUDGE, REMEMBER MERCY
2008-07-12

Saturday morning. Getting ready to lead worship tomorrow morning. Actually looking for a song and having more trouble finding it than I thought I would. It's called "I Waited for the Lord." I guess it's harder to find becuase it's a pretty old Maranatha! song. I've found enough though, that I might be able to piece it together and use it tomorrow.


Psalm for today: Psalm 47

Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm!

God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted!
Verses 1-9

Verse 4 says, "He chose our heritage for us." You are wherever you are for a reason. God put you there, and he has a purpose for that in "The Plan."



Now, I'm going back to catch one of the two devotions that I managed to skip somehow.

Day 188

Habakkuk 3:1-6

I'm going to quote this whole passage here, because it's pretty tremendous.

GOD, I've heard what our ancestors say about you,
and I'm stopped in my tracks, down on my knees.
Do among us what you did among them.
Work among us as you worked among them.
And as you bring judgment, as you surely must, remember mercy.

God's on his way again,
retracing the old salvation route,
coming up from the south through Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Skies are blazing with his splendor,
his praises sounding through the earth,
his cloud-brightness like dawn, exploding, spreading,
forked-lightning shooting from his hand--
what power hidden in that fist!
Plague marches before him,
pestilence at his heels!
He stops. He shakes Earth.
He looks around. Nations tremble.
The age-old mountains fall to pieces;
ancient hills collapse like a spent balloon.
The paths God takes are older than the oldest mountains and hills.

The first thing that I take notice of is the prophet, Habakkuk, saying he is "stopped in my tracks, down on my knees."

I tell you this. Any time we stop and look back at the works of God Almighty in history, that should be our reaction! Have you ever seriously considered the works that God performed to get Israel out of Egypt?? And the things that he did for them while they were wandering around in the wilderness? And then the mighty acts that he did as they conquered Canaan? These things should knock us, breathless and speechless, to our knees!

But we are so jaded. We have all of the special effects that Industrial Light and Magic have brought to us in the movies. Nothing amazes us anymore. How sad. Well, I'm still amazed at the things that God can do. Because those aren't special effects. They aren't Hollywood, and they aren't make-believe. They are real. And they deserve my awestruck worship!

The prophet also asks God to "do among us what you did among them." What would that mean for us today? We aren't enslaved by a harsh taskmaster (at least not yet). But there are stories of religious persecution from around the world. There are people who definitely need God's deliverance. In answering that question, we also need to consider how he dealt with "them." "Them," apparently, was Israel. He provided for them, completely. Their clothes and shoes did not wear out, the entire forty years that they wandered in the wilderness. Everything they needed was provided for them.

So asking God to do for us what he did for them sounds pretty good to me. And Jesus tells us that God will do that, if we seek his kingdom first. Oh, sure, we will have to work for a living. Even Israel had to go out and gather the manna. There has always been work to do, and Paul's stern admonishment to God's people was, "If they don't work, they don't eat." (I paraphrased that.) But God provides for us, even through jobs.

Also God's relationship with Israel was very, very intimate. He was up close and personal with them, even if most of it was through one or two people. He spoke to them. His work was visible. I desire that kind of relationship with God today. I would love to hear his voice. To my knowledge, he has never spoken to me directly, but I don't need for him to. My faith is enough that I accept what I have received as from him and move on.

Finally, in his prayer, Habakkuk asks God to remember mercy, even as he is bringing judgment. This is important. If it weren't for God's mercy, we would all have been destroyed long ago.



Father, first of all, I thank you for your abundant mercy. Then I thank you for providing all that I have. I have nothing that did not come from you. Not one thing. As I ask you, along with Habakkuk, to do among us what you did among the ancient people, I anticipate great things. You have spoken to me through these prophets in the last few days. You have spoken great things to me. And I anticipate great results as I obey what you have spoken to me.

Grace and peace, friends.



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