God Sees, God Hears

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Comfort, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Divine Sovereignty, God, Kindness, Love, Omnipresence, Pandemic, Security, Strength

“The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry” (Psalm 34:15, ESV).

            David’s praise turns from God’s deliverance to His gracious provision.  God blesses and cares for those who seek Him (vv.9-10), and following God is the way of life (vv.11-14).  God sees His people and hears them when they cry out; God cares about our needs and hurts, and can carry us through all the struggles of this life.

            Our trials are never out of God’s sight, and our cries are never beyond His hearing.  His omnipresence is the greatest comfort to His children, because we know that our heavenly Father has us in His care, whatever we go through.  Turn to Him with your needs and fears, and take refuge in the Almighty.

Tuesday Tea-ology, 11/17/20

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Authority, Bible, Christianity, Divine Sovereignty, God, Gospel, Grace, Love, Mercy, Scripture, Theology, Truth, Tuesday Tea-ology

Today on Tuesday Tea-ology, the Finality of God’s Word. As Jesus said, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35, NIV).

His Steadfast Love

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Christianity, Compassion, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Faith, Faithfulness, God, Grace, Love, Pandemic, Trust

“Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalm 33:22, ESV).

            Having observed the power of God the Creator (vv.1-9) and the sovereignty of God over the wicked and the righteous (vv.10-19)—a matter of judgment upon the wicked, but of salvation for those who love the Lord—the psalmist completes Psalm 33 with a declaration of trust and dependence upon the Lord (vv.20-22).  God is our hope, and we rest ourselves in His compassion and mighty power to save.

            Take refuge in the steadfast love of the Lord.  In trouble, in temptation, in failure and danger, this is our hope—the wondrous compassion of God.  God’s love is steadfast, faithful, unfailing; He has compassion on those who call upon Him, and lifts up the weak and the brokenhearted.  Rely today on the Lord, who is kind, and able to save

Steadfast Love

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Christianity, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Faithfulness, God, Hope, Love, Pandemic, Peace

“I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place” (Psalm 31:7-8, ESV).

            These verses follow David’s declaration in verse 6 that he is loyal to God, and has enmity towards idolaters.  The people of God trust in God, and find the Lord faithful to His own.  Thus the emphasis follows naturally upon God’s “steadfast love” and faithfulness.  He redeems His people from danger, and gives them peace.            

God sees the suffering of His people.  God cares for His children, and lifts them up in His way, in His time.  When you are bearing a heavy load, lift up your soul to the Lord; entrust your cares to Him, and wait for His deliverance.  May the redeeming love of God Most High bless His people with peace.

Joy Comes with the Morning

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Christianity, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Hope, Kindness, Love, Mercy, Pandemic, Peace, Redemption, Salvation

“Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.  For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.  Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:4-5, ESV).

            Psalm 30 lifts up praise to God for His wonderful mercy.  David reflects gratefully on God’s gracious deliverance in the past, in protection and healing and salvation from death (vv.1-3).  The following verses urge all of God’s people to join the praise, with a focus on the gracious character of God (vv.4-5).  The latter half repeats these same themes, recalling God’s deliverance and rejoicing in His kindness (vv.6-12).  Verses 4-5 set the focus of the whole thing firmly on the divine mercy.            

God is loving and merciful.  In the midst of trouble, God’s people can still praise Him and declare the wonders of His grace.  Marvelous is His mercy, wonderful His love.  When we have turned away into temptation and sorrow, we can return with good hope, and find welcome again in the loving arms of our heavenly Father.

A Merciful Father

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Christianity, Compassion, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Faithfulness, Father, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Love, Mercy, Pandemic

“For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in” (Psalm 27:10).

            The psalmist David’s confident exultation from verse 5 continued in the joyful exuberance of verse 6, but turned in the next few verses to supplication.  He pleaded with God for a merciful answer to his cries (v.7), citing that he seeks the Lord (v.8), and imploring God to receive him (v.9).  Though he pleads, there is still a sense of certain hope based on the character of God.  God is faithful and trustworthy, full of mercy and compassion.  Thus the comparison in verse 10, that even if a father and mother forsake their child, the Lord mercifully receives those who call out to Him.            

God is faithful to His children, and full of compassion and love.  God mercifully receives all those who cry out to Him.  He is the standard of fatherly love, next to which even the best of human parents fall short.  Turn to God when you are in trouble.  Return to God when you fall into temptation.  Trust in Jesus Christ, and look to your heavenly Father to lift you up in His mercy and grace.

The House of the Lord

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Christianity, Comfort, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Eternity, God, Hope, Love, Pandemic, Peace, Security, Strength

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6, ESV).

            This verse ends Psalm 23 on a note as expansive and hopeful as the beginning.  The shepherd imagery has been supplanted by the imagery of hospitality from the previous verse; but the theme of God’s provision remains the same.  Spiritual blessing is emphasized, especially with the introduction of “mercy,” the particular kindness of God to the undeserving.  The final image secures the theme of this psalm beyond temporal provision, looking instead to eternity with God.            

Those who belong to God have a confidence that lasts beyond the boundaries of this life.  God is eternal, and the salvation He gives means a welcome to eternity with Him.  You can turn to God for your needs today, and tomorrow, and all the days you walk upon this earth; and you can turn to Him with your need for hope beyond this earth, for your heart’s longing for a home and a Father forever.  God is gracious and kind; our ultimate need is to dwell with Him, and that is the promise of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Not Abandoned

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Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Faithfulness, God, Hope, Jesus Christ, Love, Pandemic, Redemption, Salvation

“In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame” (Psalm 22:4-5, ESV).

            Psalm 22 is another psalm that begins from a place of desperation.  David cries out to God from a sense of abandonment, that God seems absent (vv.1-2).  But, even in the midst of this feeling of dereliction, he knows that God is the Holy One (v.3).  He reflects, then, upon God’s reliability and deliverance in the past (vv.4-5).  From there he will press his plea with God.  Perhaps the standout feature of this psalm is that Jesus chose the first part of the first verse to put into words His cry of dereliction on the cross.         

    God has shown His mercy and faithfulness in the past, and we can trust Him with our present trials, and with our future.  The ultimate display of God’s compassion is the saving death of our Savior Jesus Christ, who bore our sins upon the cross.  He took on Himself our abandonment, so that when we cry out to God we find mercy and grace.  Look to God in your struggles and doubts; He is strong to save.

Steadfast Love

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Bible, Christianity, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Faith, Faithfulness, God, Hope, Love, Pandemic, Salvation

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.  I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:5-6).

            Once again, these verses come as something of a reversal at the end of the psalm.  But this time it is a very short psalm, and so the passage from desperation (vv.1-2) to supplication (vv.3-4) to hope and praise (vv.5-6) is rather tight.  David endures grief and scorn, and God seems distant; but, rather than despair, he calls out to God for deliverance.  His confidence enables him to glorify the God of his salvation, whose mercies do not fail.

            What is the believer’s confidence, when God seems distant and trouble seems triumphant?  God’s love persists.  We stumble and fail, but God always accomplishes His purpose, God is always true to His word, God guards and redeems His people.  If we know this, can we find the depth of hope these verses describe, to cry out to God not only with requests and longings, but with joyful praise in His gift of salvation?  God is faithful.

Tuesday Tea-ology, 08/25/20

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Christianity, God, Love, Salvation, Trinity, Truth, Unitarianism

What’s Unitarianism, and why is it so important that Christians believe in the Trinity? Find out on today’s Tuesday Tea-ology!