A Hiding Place!

Psalm 32:7 --- You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

A hiding place. That’s good! A hiding place is a very good thing if there is a storm. You can think of the winds howling and the rain beating down. Hate to be outside then! We read of hurricanes and tornadoes. Everyone runs to find shelter from the storm.

Or what if someone was chasing you!? You know that you could not stand up against this enemy. A hiding place would be very handy!

Obviously when David wrote this psalm, he had something else in mind. Something bigger than a storm; something bigger than someone chasing him.

David wrote this after his big sin. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband murdered so as to cover it up. But he couldn’t hide it. He couldn’t keep this from God’s eyes. No, God saw.

God is a righteous God. He demands that sins be dealt with. He will not just overlook a sin…sweep it under the rug somewhere. David sinned big time. So hw can David say that God is his hiding place? How can David say that God will protect him from trouble?

We get a hint of that in the first verse:

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

That would be great! Sins covered up! Transgressions forgiven! But how can that be?

We get another clue in verse five:

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

The Lord forgave David the guilt of his sin!

You see the biggest storm that we have to face is God. Our sins are against an infinite and holy God. His wrath is described as a storm and as an unquenchable fire:

“Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.” (Isaiah 13:13)

In Revelation we read that “the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (Rev. 6:15-17)

God’s wrath is a mighty storm. There is no way that we could stand against it. We do need a shelter, a hiding place.

David says “You are my hiding place.”

That’s personal. How did this happen? How could David, full of sin, definitely earning God’s wrath and displeasure, suddenly be free of guilt and looks to God as a shelter?

It is because of Jesus Christ. God did punish David’s sins. But He punished them in another. David confessed his sins and God forgave him because God would punish those sins in Jesus Christ.

And if we are to escape that storm of God’s wrath, we must confess our sins and trust in the work that Jesus Christ has done.

What is that work? He took our punishment in our place so that we may go free. That is how we hide in Christ. It is as though He hides us so that we do not have to see or experience God’s wrath. Then He bears God’s wrath for us—in our place!

That’s why David was so excited! That’s why he said, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” That’s why he was so grateful that His God was also his hiding place! David knew the weight of his sins. And now, having that great burden removed, he sings and he praises God. “Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

But we have trouble all the time. Can we count on God to be our hiding place then? Will He protect us from all troubles?

What sort of troubles? We have aches and pains; we have heartaches and disappointments. We have sickness and death. Can God be our hiding place through these troubles too?

Let’s think about that. He has saved us from the biggest trouble—the Day of His Wrath! That means that He can do the big thing. He certainly is able to take care of these small issues. So the question is—Is God willing to help us in the small things of life? Does He care for me in my little troubles? Or is He too busy running the universe?

Let’s listen to what Jesus Himself said, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

You see? God takes care of sparrows. He says you are more important that sparrows. He will take care of you!

So He is our hiding pace when troubles come. And, oh! They will come. We will be sick and weak; but Jesus will be there with us! And when it is time for us to die, Jesus will be there to welcome us home. He will surround us with songs of deliverance! He doesn’t take us out of the trouble; He surrounds us with songs of deliverance and protects us from the trouble.

Remember that Psalm? “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall lack no good thing. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because God is my hiding place; because God protects me from trouble!

This sounds pretty good! Right?

But it is only for those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Those who have not placed their trust in Him will still have to face this great storm, the awesome Day of His Wrath. For those who have not trusted in Jesus, He is not a hiding place. Revelation speaks of people in fear of this Jesus crying out to the rocks and the mountains to fall and to hide them from His wrath—but there is no hiding from Him on that Day. The only way to hide, is to go to Him and confess and then to trust Him. He then will be your hiding place. He then will be your protection against troubles and He will save you from the guilt of your sins. Why? Because of His work on the cross. Oh, Jesus, Keep me near the cross!

A King Shall Reign!

Isaiah 32:1 --- See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.

Isaiah 52:7 --- How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

We have all seen things go wrong. When we were little kids we would say, “That’s not fair!” As we grew up we saw many things that seemed wrong; evil happening and sometimes nothing being done about it. How many times have we heard of some political or judicial decision that seemed oh so wrong? Too often.

Or how many times have we felt slighted, or cheated, or wronged personally? Too often, yes?

So to hear that there is a King that will reign in righteousness sounds pretty exciting. A King! This King will reign in righteousness, doing what is right, and ruling with justice! There is coming a time when all things will be right.

But what does that mean for us right now? Is this just a little glimmer of a distance hope? Far away in the sweet by-and-by?

No. This has important meaning for us right now! A King will reign in righteousness.

We first of all have to define who is this King and what is righteousness. Then we can see what it means for each of us.

First this King. Not just any King. This scripture introduces this King as someone new—an unheard of someone. One who will reign in righteousness. That is, no one else does. This is something entirely new!

Who is this? This is Jesus. Elsewhere in Isaiah we read that “to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” (Isa 9:6, 7)

Jesus is King. His government is ever increasing. He upholds His kingdom with justice and righteousness. He was born a King when He came to earth on that first Christmas. He was raised up as a King on that first Easter morning. And we see in the last book of the Bible that He is still a King and will ever more be a King. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True…. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

That’s like no King that we have on earth. This King is God Himself!

Second is Righteousness. What is righteousness? It can be described as doing what is right. Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of God. It implies integrity, equity, justice, straightness—measuring up to God’s standard.

We see that this King is God Himself, so we shouldn’t be surprised that this King would reign in righteousness. Of course God will do it correctly!

Third, what does this mean for us? It means that we are to live in righteousness. We must walk in righteousness. We must practice righteousness. If the King is holy and perfectly righteous in all that He does, there must be not even a trace of unholiness or unrighteousness in all of His kingdom.

Well, there’s a problem, isn’t there? I’m not perfect. None of us are perfect. Yet God’s standard is “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5:48)

This is a big problem! He is a perfect King, reigning in perfect righteousness and promising perfect justice. Oh, don’t you see? That means that each person who did something wrong will have to be punished!

And what is the punishment for breaking this King’s commands? Remember that this King is God. This King is then infinite. So a punishment for breaking His commands is BIG and will last a long time! It is Hell. Hell is serious punishment. We must remember that sin is serious. We can’t lightly brush it aside.

Why? Because a King will reign in righteousness. That means that no sin will go unpunished. He will deal with every single sin and rebellion against His laws.

Okay. That sounds scary! And it is. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But Isaiah writes that it is good news to hear that this King reigns! It is almost as if Isaiah starts singing a song because he is so happy that this King reigns! How can that be? If sins are to be punished and is all have sinned, then how can any human ever be happy and joyful knowing that this King reigns?

It is because of this King. This Jesus came to earth to take our punishment and to suffer our Hell in our place! We deserve God’s wrath, but Jesus endured it so that all who believe on Him might not perish but have everlasting life!

And what’s more, He lived a perfect life so that I can be clothed in His righteousness. I can then stand in God’s presence and not be condemned.

So finally, He is my King! If He is King then there is a Kingdom. If He is King, then there are rules. We then live new lives, walking more and more in righteousness because He made us new and different. We are not saved because we start doing good things. That will never work! We couldn’t ever do enough good to even begin to undo that sins that we have already done. No, Jesus is King and that means that I love His laws and I love His ways.

This also means that I can trust Him. He will reign in righteousness. I can trust Him. I must do what I know is right. How do I know what is right? I read the Bible. In the Bible I see this King. I see His righteousness. I see His beauty. I see that He is trustworthy. I see His commands and then I love to do what He wants me to do. He is King. I am not king! He makes the rules—I follow His rules. I can trust Him to make all things right in the end, because He will reign in righteousness. I needn’t worry about the future because my King holds today as well as the future in His hands.

But this can only be the trust and security of those who have trusted in this Jesus. If you haven’t trusted in Jesus, He still is King. But He will be King over you in an entirely different way. We read in Revelation that “out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. And He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” (Rev 19:15).

This is not the sweet, baby Jesus that we see in Christmas cards. No, this is a King reigning in righteousness, making sure that there is no more rebellion; making sure that all sin is dealt with and punished; making sure that every knee bows and proclaims that He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is King alone. There is no room in His universe for another. He reigns now and He will continue to reign. And He reigns in righteousness. Of the increase of His government there shall be no end. You know what that means? It means that He wins. Anyone who tries to fight Him will lose!

But for those who do trust Him and call Him their Lord and King, this is great comfort. This is great news of good tidings. It is news of peace because you are not at war with Him anymore. It is joyous news because it is your salvation.

Oh great and glorious Love of God! He is King! He reigns in righteousness! And He has made a way that we can come to Him and approach His throne as His own people. Let us ‘Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus’!

Our Great Hope; God's Great Love

Romans 5:5 --- And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

This scripture speaks about Hope. It speaks about Love. Let’s think about what those mean. What is Hope? What is Love?

First of all, Hope.

Psalm 25 says that “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame.” Psalm 33:18 says “But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.”

But Proverbs 11:7 says “When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes.” Prov 23:18 “There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”

Romans 8:24 says “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” I Tim 1:1 Paul talks “of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.” I Tim 4:10 “we have put our hope in the living God.” Heb 6:19 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

Heb 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

You see? Hope is not something uncertain. It is definite. Do you remember Christmas when you were a little child? You hoped for Christmas morning, didn’t you? Was there any doubt that Christmas would come? No. That was certain—yet you hoped. You looked forward to it. You knew it was coming even though you didn’t know everything that would be there.

That’s a picture of our hope. Our hope is in Jesus Christ and His coming back to earth again. His coming is even more certain than any Christmas morning that we have already experienced. Why? Because He is God and has said that He was coming back. God doesn’t lie. It will happen!

That is our hope. Our hope is in Christ Jesus. Now that leads us to the second part of this verse: “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Love!

Do you see? Hope brings Love. Love brings Hope. They are linked together. Think back to Christmas morning as a child. You were hoping for it. Right? Why? Because you loved it. It had the promise of something nice.

The same is true a thousand times over with our hope in Jesus Christ. This hope does not disappoint. We’ve all been disappointed by something here in this world. But not Jesus. This hope does not disappoint. And we get some of the promised blessings right now. He puts His love in our hearts. We have this hope; He answers it by putting His love in our hearts.

Now let’s think about that love.

Jesus is called our friend. A friend. I have friends. How do you know that some one is a friend? You want to spend time with each other. You like talking with each other. You enjoy doing things with your friend.

But Jesus is better than any earthly friend we can think of. We should be longing to spend time with Him. Do we talk with Him? Pray to Him? Read the Bible? It is the Bible that tells us of this dear Friend.

Our God is also called our Heavenly Father.

Think of earthly fathers. Children love it when daddy comes home. Some of my children still enjoy sitting on my lap. Young children can’t sleep unless they’ve been kissed and tucked in bed by daddy. Children’s faces brighten when their daddy smiles at them across the room.

Oh, how much more with our Heavenly Father! Do we love being in His presence? Do we long for His loving embrace and smile of approval? Are we looking forward to His words, “Well done”?

Finally, Jesus calls the church His bride. Now that’s love, isn’t it! And what are brides doing in the days and weeks before the wedding? Are they bore? No. Are they dreading it? Not if it is love! No, they are longing for the wedding day. They are hoping! And they know that hope will come to pass soon. They look for ways of talking with their groom. They read and re-read notes that their beloved groom wrote. A bride is usually thinking about her groom all the day long. When she is out she will see something and say “Oh, my groom likes that!”

How much more we should be thinking of our heavenly groom!?

Shouldn’t we be looking forward to talking with Him? We can—in prayer.

Shouldn’t we be looking for ways of reading His love notes to us? We can—that’s what the Bible is.

Shouldn’t we be finding out more and more about Him all the time? We can—the Bible shows us Jesus.

In short, if we have this hope, He has given us love. And if we have this love we will long to see Him more and more. And because we have this hope, we will long to be more like He is because we love Him. “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

But maybe you’re thinking: “this isn’t true of me.”

If that’s so, then cry out to God and ask Him to change your heart so that you love Him. God is a God of compassion, but you must cry out for mercy. Jesus spoke to the leaders when He was here on earth. He knew their hearts and He said “I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.” What a dreadful condition. If God’s love is not in your hearts, then the only thing that He will say to you on the Day of Judgment is “depart from Me you worker of iniquity!” That would be no hope—and no love.

But you can make sure of it right now. You can cry out to God that He would set His hope in your heart and pour out His love in you. Then you will long to be with Him and He will give you peace—the peace that passes all understanding. He will give you the strength to face whatever comes your way. Strength even to face death itself—because He is there with you. Isaiah writes:

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

How Great is the Love of the Father!

I John 3:1 - 3 --- How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

When the apostle John wrote this, he was excited. And now, almost 2000 years later we can read these words and still feel the excitement that John had. In fact, when we think about what these words mean, we should be very excited ourselves.

John starts out this chapter by saying: “LOOK!” “BEHOLD!” “Check it out!” He doesn’t want anybody to miss this. This is very important and very special. So what is it that is so special?

God’s love!

John is blown away by God’s love. He is almost running out of words to describe whole great and grand and big this love is. He says: “what sort of love is this?” This is like nothing here on earth. He says that this love is poured out on us, lavished on us, given to us in an abundant measure!

So, what makes John so excited about God’s love?

It is because he understands what he was, who God is and where he is now going. That is, he sees the past; he sees the present and he sees the future and he knows that he is not getting what he deserves.

Let me explain.

Just like the Apostle John we should look at our past—at who we are. The Bible says that we are all sinners. “There is none righteous—no, not one. There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God. All have turned away and have together become worthless.” Not a pretty picture! But, wait—it’s worse. The Bibles says that all of our righteousness is like a stinky, filthy rag. God looks at the best that we have and says—Yuck! It is filthy!

And just like John we should also look at who this God is. He is holy! That is, He cannot stand to have sin in His presence. All sin is disobedience and rebellion against Him—He must and will punish it.

Whoa! That sounds like bad news. But John is happy and excited at God’s love. How can a holy God, who hates sin, ever love us who are sinful and wicked?

That’s what is so special about God’s love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God gave Jesus Christ in our place. We deserved the punishment, but Jesus took our punishment. And what do we get in return? His righteousness! Now, with that righteousness, we can come to God and God loves us.

Paul wrote about it in this way: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

You see? We did nothing to deserve this. We weren’t good, righteous, cute or important. We were ungodly—yet Christ came and loved us so much that He took our place.

That’s why John is so excited! He escaped God’s punishment. He passed from death to life. There is no greater love in all the world than this. Jesus Christ laid down His life for His people.

But now, let’s bring this around to us. We see that the Apostle John was excited. But what about you? This can only be true if you are born again. But what does it mean to be born again?

It means trusting in Jesus. It means saying to God—“I am a sinner. Please have mercy and save me.” It means loving God with all your heart, mind soul and strength because of the great love that He has shown you. It means loving what He loves and wanting to do things that please Him.

But if you have not made Jesus your Lord and Savior, then you cannot be excited by God’s great love. All that lies ahead is God’s certain wrath and punishment. But that’s why I implore you to repent and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus. Trust in Him and you will be saved. Believe on Him and you will see and know His great love for you.

And let me just say something more about God’s love. It is not temporary. It lasts! His love is eternal. If He loves you know, then He will love you tomorrow and He will still be loving you throughout all eternity. And His love is strong! It can save the worse sinner—so that means it can save each of us!

And look too. He didn’t just save—No! God brings us into a very close relation. We are made to be His children. Children of the most High God! Wow! What a calling! All of His infinite riches are made available to us. And best of all, we can come into His presence.

He is our Father. He cares for His children—He protects His children—He provides for His children—He guides and teaches and corrects His children.

And He is also our Friend—All because of His great love for us. Oh! How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us!

Jesus Loves Me; This I Know

Blessed Assurance—Jesus is mine! O, what a foretaste of glory divine!

We just sang that. And yet another line said “Angels descending bring from above, echoes of mercy and whispers of love.” And we sang that Jesus loves me!

God loves us. O blessed thought. We are given a great joy right here and now because God loves us. He loves me. He loves you. Have you given that any thought? Just how big is this love? “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

Let’s think about this by asking some questions:

1) Who is this that loves us?

2) How great is this love?

3) What is my response?

First. Who loves us? God does. We read in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” This is God the Father. God the Father loves us and gave a great gift to us. God the Father loves me! This I know; for the Bible tells me so!

But that’s not all. Paul writes that “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” It is the Son who loves me! The Son, Jesus Christ, love me. This I know; for that Bible tells me so!

Oh, but that’s not all either! Paul writes that “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” You see? It’s the Holy Spirit that loves me too! This I know; for the Bible tells me so!

Let’s review. God loves us; this we know! The Father loves us; this we know. Jesus, God’s Son, loves us; this we know. And the Holy Spirit loves us; this we know—for the Bible tells us so!

That’s pretty amazing really. God loves us. But just how big is this love? We use this word “love” in a lot of different ways, don’t we? I say that I love my wife. I also love my children. But I also love going to the beach. I love a good sandwich or a plate of spaghetti. But it should be obvious that I don’t love spaghetti the same way that I love my family. Right?

So what is this love that God loves us with? How great is this love?

It is HUGE! “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (I Jn 3:1) He calls us His children! It’s that big. We weren’t His children. In fact, we were His enemies.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6 - 8) “The sinful mind is hostile to God.” (Rom 8:7)

God loved us so much that He died for us while we were still hating Him. That’s how much He loved us.

Why did He have to die?

So that we would not die. That’s why. You see each of us in our sin had to be punished. We sinned against God. This was not a small thing either. This is against GOD! He is infinite and any punishment would have to be equally big. But there is no way that any of us could ever stand up under that punishment except it be spaced out for a real long time—that is, forever. That’s what hell is. God giving sinners the punishment that they earned—forever.

But God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit loved us. And they brought salvation for us. The Father planned it; the Son came and carried it out and the Holy Spirit brings it to our hearts. That’s how much He loves us. Jesus came and took our place and our punishment.

That is a big love. A very big love. And what should our response be?

Believe.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Believe. God gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. You see? Our response is critical. Either we believe and are saved, or we don’t and are condemned. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” (Jn 3:18). It’s not enough to kind of agree; not, you have to believe. Trust Jesus to love you and to save you completely.

Then you are changed. Not that you change yourself. No, God changes you. So now you have new desires and new loves. You have a love for God and His ways instead of being His enemy. Now you love the Bible, because the Bible tells you about His love for you. You look at the Bible as though it is a love letter from God to you. And you now have a thankful heart. Thankful for His great love.

You must remember that this love is only for those who love Him and have believed on His name. For those who trust in Him. Otherwise you are condemned and He is angry. You are in danger of punishment. But for those of us who have trusted in Jesus, we can take great comfort in His love for us that will not ever fail.

Yes. Jesus loves me. God the Father loves me. The Holy Spirit loves me. This I know. Now let’s sing that song again and really enjoy it because this great God loves us!

The Unseen Commander

 

Before me was encamped the enemy.
  His hosts were ready and prepared for war.
  I cried to my Lord and my Captain for
A plan of counsel to leave them with no plea
Except their ultimate destruction. But he
  Responded, "Wait." "Wait?!" cried I, "Whatever for?
  The enemy is arrayed right now for war
And you say 'Wait'? "Yes," said he, "by this tree."

So I waited there amid the trees of balsam
  And wondered what my Lord had thought to do.
  The enemy began to march. "I'm through,"
I thought; when there above me stirred a calm.
      He was marching in the tops of the trees
      And said: "Rise up. I've given to you your enemies!"

---II Sam 5:22 - 28

- D. Benning

A New Psalm

Psalm 151

My Lord and my God, in the midst of mine adversities Thou art with me. When the host of those who despise Thy Name assail me with the babblings of their mouth, Thou art my Comfort and my Stay. When my soul is disquieted within me, I cry out to Thee, and Thou, O God of my salvation, calmeth my troubled spirit with Thy grace and loving kindness.

Let me always sing the praises of Thy matchless Name. Thou, who wast from time immortal, changeth not nor doest Thou fail. The glories of Thy Righteousness are shown forth in the firmament. Thou, who can but speak a word to destroy us, hath been long-suffering in Thine unbounded grace.

O Lord and King, we come before Thee, humbly bowed on bended knee. Thy worthiness is made known in Thy Love for us, the unworthy. Day by day we plead for mercy. Day by day we receive it from Thy bountiful hand.

O Lord, my God and my Savior, let me always uphold Thy precepts and with my mouth proclaim Thy goodness. For the Lord is Lord; He alone is God, neither is there any on earth or in heaven besides Him. Worthy is He of all laud and honor both now and forevermore. Amen!


- D. Benning

Big Problems-- Big Response

Acts 16:19 - 33----

When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

That’s a lot of problems, isn’t it? Paul and Silas were just going about doing the Lord’s work and problems came to them. They were busy doing everything right and a whole boat-load of problems showed up for them. Big problems. And they got worse, too!

The Bible doesn’t say that being a Christian will make your life easy. The Bible never says that following Jesus will make your whole life happy and fun. No where does it say that being a Christian means that you have no more pains, problems or concerns. No. You may get more problems. But you have the joy of the Lord to go through the problems and overcome them.

Look at what Paul and Silas did. They were beaten and thrown in jail. They didn’t feel good. They ached. They could have felt discouraged. They could have said, “Oh, look! All our efforts are getting us no where!” But instead, they were tied up in prison—but singing and praying and praising God. In the middle of all their problems and pain and suffering and discouragement, they rejoiced.

What about us? What about you? What do we do when problems come? Can we praise God even in the midst of the troubles? I would venture a guess that few of us have had it nearly as rough as Paul and Silas did.

But noticed that there is never a place that is not opportune to pray! They prayed not in a church, but in a dungeon! We can pray and praise God anywhere! In the Psalms we read that David said “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” (Ps 63:6) We should be quick to go to praising God. We should be quick to retreat to that great rest of prayer.

Notice also that there is never a time when it is not good to pray! They prayed, not at the typical hours of prayer time. No, they prayed at midnight. They couldn’t sleep so they prayed! Rest did not come so they praise the Lord and Maker of Heaven and earth! We should be so quick too—ready to pray and worship at all times.

Paul later wrote: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Always be joyful!

Pray continually!

Give thanks in all circumstances.

Paul and Silas prayed and sang loudly! All the other prisoners heard them and listened.

But, you say, “That’s hard to do. I can’t!”

Well, you’re partly right! You can’t. But God can. Paul also wrote that “I can do all things through Christ who strengths me.” It is God who gives strength.

If you do not have that strength, you need to call upon God. Cry out to Him.

Let’s look at the next important part of this passage. The jailor is scared. Of course, there was a big earthquake! Of course, he’s thinking that all the prisoners have escaped and he’s in big trouble. But he also has been listening to Paul and Silas. In fact everyone in the prison was listening to these men. They were very vocal about it. The jailor, too, was listening. He was used to hearing moans and groans. He probably heard his share of shouting and cursing and swearing. But he had never heard prayer and singing from his jail before.

The jailor knew that these men were in big trouble. He knew that they were in pain. But what he couldn’t figure out was why they were still joyful. Joyful and rejoicing? He knew that he had no such joy. He knew that he had no such hope and only a very dismal future.

So as soon as the jailor had a big trial and a big scare, he ran to these men and begged them: “What must I do to be saved!?”

This is what we all need to ask. What must I do to be saved? I need salvation. I have no joy, no hope, no future. What must I do to be saved? And then being saved, I will have great joy and great hope!

And the answer is as simple today as it was then. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!”

This is what the angels announced at that first Christmas. Remember? We just sang ‘Angels we have heard on high….’ These angels said that “For unto you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord!”

Paul said: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

You will be saved because Jesus is the Savior!

You will be saved because Jesus is the Christ—He is the One that God promised to send.

You will be saved because Jesus is the Lord!—He is God! He is completely able to save you. All you need to do is believe on Him. Trust Him. Cry out to Him. Pray to Him and say, “I am a sinner. Have mercy on me. Save me, oh Lord Jesus Christ.” —And He Will!

So call upon Him and ask Him for salvation. Call upon Him and ask for strength. He is able. This is Jesus who came into the world on that first Christmas about 200 years ago. This Jesus came to save sinners. Knowing that should make you happy! That should give you great cause for rejoicing. Jesus loves me! Jesus saved me!

And then rejoicing comes easy. Praising Gods comes easy! Praying to this wonderful Lord Jesus Christ comes easy since it is such a joy to talk to Him.

And wouldn’t it make you kind of excited? Like you have to tell someone else? Like it is the most important thing that has ever happened to you and you just have to tell someone? That also is part of this rejoicing. That is what Paul and Silas were doing too.

That’s why we’re going to sing, “Go Tell It on the Mountains”! Because the shepherds went and saw Jesus and they were so excited that they had to go tell everyone else about it.

We should go tell everyone else about this Jesus too, if we have believed on Him—then He has saved us!