A Promise and a Warning

 

¹³ “I don’t need the bulls you sacrifice; I don’t need the blood of goats.

¹⁴ What I want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵ Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”

¹⁶ But God says to the wicked: “Recite my laws no longer, and don’t pretend that you obey me.

¹⁷ For you refuse my discipline and treat my laws like trash.

¹⁸ When you see a thief, you help him, and you spend your time with adulterers.

¹⁹ Your mouths are filled with wickedness, and your tongues are full of lies.

²⁰ You sit around and slander a brother – your own mother’s son.

²¹ While you did all of this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you.

²² Repent, all of you who ignore me, or I will tear you apart, and no one will help you.

²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

-Psalm 50:13-23 (NLT)

 

Over and over, throughout the Old Testament, God calls rebellious Israel to repent and return to Him. In the book of Hosea, we find a wife and mother that abandons her husband and children to prostitute herself in the most degrading way. After all the wickedness she has done, God commands Hosea, her husband, to buy her back. This is a picture of God’s great love for us. As Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NIV).

But we must remember, while God is love, He is also a just and righteous God. He must deal with sin and rebellion. Over and over, He warns us; there will be no one who will have an excuse.

In the passage above, taken from Psalm 50, God is talking to His chosen people, Israel; they were to be priests to the nations. We now live in the church age, and I believe this applies to us today, as it did to them then. I especially believe it pertains to the leaders in the church. So many preach feel good sermons while life outside the church walls is in chaos. Too many of us want our “ears tickled,” rather than hear the truth. We seem to believe if we can cherry pick certain passages out of Scripture that make us feel good, it justifies our behavior.

This simply is not true. God requires us to give Him all or give Him none. We either worship Him wholly, or we are doing nothing more than going through meaningless motions.

How many preachers/evangelists are warning of what is to come?

Are they addressing current events in the light of God’s Word?

Do you seek truth, no matter how uncomfortable, rather than feeling good?

Pastors, deacons, bench warmers, we all need to repent and surrender our hearts, wholly to God.

Friend, if you know your heart is not right with God today, don’t wait another minute. Cry out to God now and He will save you.

“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

But, this is not simply a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, it requires total commitment on your part. It means that you accept God’s will for you, even if it means giving up your earthly possessions.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36, NKJV)    

I believe we are living in the last days. What we see daily aligns with what was written in Scripture thousands of years ago. If you don’t believe me, search the Scriptures for yourself. Please don’t wait until it’s too late.

 

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A Prayer For Today

¹ O God, we have heard it with our own ears - our ancestors have told us of all you did in other days, in days long ago:                                                                                                                          

² You drove out the pagan nations and gave all the land to our ancestors; you crushed their enemies, setting our ancestors free.                                                                                 

³ They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strength that gave them victory. It was by your mighty power that they succeeded; it was because you favored them and smiled on them.                        

⁴ You are my King and my God. You command victories for your people.                                                                         

⁵ Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes.                                                                         

⁶ I do not trust my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me.                                     

⁷ It is you who gives us victory over our enemies; it is you who humbles those who hate us.    

⁸ O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.                                                                                                                                     

                                                                             Interlude              

⁹ But now you have tossed us aside in dishonor. You no longer lead our armies to battle.                   

¹⁰ You make us retreat from our enemies and allow them to plunder our land.      

¹¹ You have treated us like sheep waiting to be slaughtered; you have scattered us among the nations.                                                

¹² You sold us – your precious people- for a pittance. You valued us at nothing at all.                          

¹³ You have caused all our neighbors to mock us. We are an object of scorn and derision to the nations around us.            

¹⁴ You have made us the butt of their jokes; we are scorned by the whole world.                           

¹⁵ We can’t escape the the constant humiliation; shame is written across our faces.                                       

¹⁶ All we hear are the taunts of our mockers. All we see are our vengeful enemies.         

¹⁷ All this has happened despite our loyalty to you. We have not violated your covenant.              

¹⁸ Our hearts have not deserted you. We have not strayed from your path.                             

¹⁹ Yet you have crushed us in the desert, You have covered us with darkness and death.                                                                      

²⁰ If we had turned away from worshipping our God or spread our hands in prayer to foreign gods,       

²¹ God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every heart.                                                     

²² For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.                                                                     

²³ Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever.                                      

²⁴ Why do you look the other way? Why do ignore our suffering and oppression?                                                 

 ²⁵ We collapse in the dust lying face down in the dirt.             

 ²⁶ Rise up! Come and help us! Save us because of your unfailing love.        

Psalm 44 (NLT)        

 

As I read this, I can’t help but see how perfectly this fits America. Like the Psalmist, we should likewise cry out to God before it’s too late. We are watching our nation crumble before us and many of us live in constant fear, but how many are truly crying out to God?

My prayer is that God would use these current events to lead many to Himself. Do I wish to see America healed, yes! But what is of most value? What is temporal and what is eternal?