But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.
Those who hate the lORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever.
But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. Verses 11-16
Promises of victory from the Lord if we will simply walk in his ways. We can't expect victory over enemies if we don't walk rightly.
Luke 17:11-19
As Jesus crossed over the barrier between Samaria and Galilee, he encountered a group of ten lepers. They cried out to him (from a distance) for healing. Jesus sent them to the priests. On the way to the priests, they noticed that they were cleansed. Only one, who happened to be a Samaritan, returned to praise Jesus for his healing.
Lepers, by Old Testament law, were excluded from their communities because of this infection skin disease. So, when Jesus healed these men, he not only healed their disease, he also restored them to their communities.
There was a time when I thought I was going to be excluded from the community of my church. Something had happened to me that I felt sure would result in me being "cast out." But I was received with open arms and much support. To this day, I am still grateful for that.
Hopefully, I was more like the one who returned than the other nine.
Thinking back on recent prayer requests, I find that, yes, I do return to him to thank him when he does answer the way I hoped he would. And I must say that the church where I lead worship is very good about that. Every Sunday morning, we have a prayer time during our morning worship service. Sometimes, it gets a little long, but it is a vital part of our ministry. And while we do have the usual types of requests for healing of various things, we have an almost equal number of praises every Sunday morning. And some of our people are praising God for things that most of us take for granted. It's a real spiritual "eye-opener" to hear someone praise God for waking up that morning. We should all do this. Every day.
Grace and peace, friends!