In Perilous Times, Do Not Lose Sight of Hope

The Lord is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. - Psalm 9:16 

 Have you ever considered the reputation of God?

That fact that He is known by His justice is a telling sign. 

Before we encounter the love and grace of God, we already understand that He is fair and righteous and truthful. We also know that in the grand scheme of things, poetic justice dictates that their own devices ensnare the wicked. 

If the world already understands this dimension of God and His ways, we have good news for them. Jesus came to brings us, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story.”

That story is that this same God passionately and jealously loves us with a love so deep that mercy and grace flow in unbroken succession from His heart.

Do not wince at the justice of God, for it is His justice that leads us into His arms.

There is great hope for the righteous in that knowledge.

But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. - Psalm 9:18

We have a God whose ways are not our ways and thoughts not our thoughts. He reverses the power of conventional wisdom and defies the accepted truisms of society to make His own order. 

God simply does not forget the needy. He has a bias for them. He will not abandon the afflicted.

For those who are hopeless, He offers hope. Let us proclaim hope daily – first to our own defeated souls, weighed down with the worries and cares of life, discouraged in well doing, spent and depleted.

Then let us proclaim the same message with the authentic credibility of a person who has embraced hope in his or her own life to a needy and broken world.

May hope exude from our pores. May it be the aura that surrounds our lives, the given pitch that tunes our voices, the color of our countenances, and the tenor of our words. The good news of hope is the one word that broken people cannot create from wishful thinking. It is not denial; it is reality.

May we live it and speak it daily.

(Excerpted from Pastor Tom's Musings on the Psalms)

 

 

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.'

God Moves in a Mysterious Way - by William Cowper

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill;
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.