Psalms 5:2
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto Thee will I pray.
We live in a time when we are at a loss simply raising a family, keeping a marriage, making enough money, or staying minimally healthy. Smart merchants market and peddle self ‘helps’ of all sorts in a supermarket fashion. Maybe that's why the prophet said, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Adonai.
We live in a time when we are at a loss simply raising a family, keeping a marriage, making enough money, or staying minimally healthy. Smart merchants market and peddle self ‘helps’ of all sorts in a supermarket fashion. Maybe that's why the prophet said, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Adonai.
Jeremiah 17:5
When faced with trouble, we have to make a conscious effort to not turn to these tempting empty schemes and focus on: unto Thee will I pray.
God constantly rebuked Israel for leaning on the ‘arm of the ‘flesh’—Egypt--for its protection. God was not enough for them. When things went wrong, they went to idols for their care and sustenance. Eventually. it wasn’t even enough for them to be ruled and sustained by the God of the universe alone through His judges. They wanted a king--a physical, visible and tangible person to rely on, and then eventually also to blame when things went wrong. They did not want to be solely dependant on God.
Today, it is an act of great faith to make the Lord our first call when in need, It takes faith to put aside all the ‘self-help’ books and videos, the teachings of specialized ‘gurus’ that vie to help us fight against the ailments that plague us . Addiction, depression, financial instability, psychological and physical disorders, problems with our marriage, problems with our children; the list goes on and on. It is not that we can’t gain some helpful information from these other sources, but as believers, shouldn’t God be our first shot?
When we ask the Lord first, not only does He help us, but He shows us what we may have done wrong, where we may have disobeyed His Word, either in thought or action. If we call on the Lord first, we will understand how we got into such a mess in the first place by leaning on our own arm of flesh and putting trust in man, and we will learn to amend our ways. Maybe that’s what we fear.
Lord, help us and make us helpable. Teach us and make us teachable. Train us to make You our first call for help in our day of trouble. Give us receptive hearts so that we can learn to amend our ways and live closer to Your will and Your Word.
When faced with trouble, we have to make a conscious effort to not turn to these tempting empty schemes and focus on: unto Thee will I pray.
God constantly rebuked Israel for leaning on the ‘arm of the ‘flesh’—Egypt--for its protection. God was not enough for them. When things went wrong, they went to idols for their care and sustenance. Eventually. it wasn’t even enough for them to be ruled and sustained by the God of the universe alone through His judges. They wanted a king--a physical, visible and tangible person to rely on, and then eventually also to blame when things went wrong. They did not want to be solely dependant on God.
Today, it is an act of great faith to make the Lord our first call when in need, It takes faith to put aside all the ‘self-help’ books and videos, the teachings of specialized ‘gurus’ that vie to help us fight against the ailments that plague us . Addiction, depression, financial instability, psychological and physical disorders, problems with our marriage, problems with our children; the list goes on and on. It is not that we can’t gain some helpful information from these other sources, but as believers, shouldn’t God be our first shot?
When we ask the Lord first, not only does He help us, but He shows us what we may have done wrong, where we may have disobeyed His Word, either in thought or action. If we call on the Lord first, we will understand how we got into such a mess in the first place by leaning on our own arm of flesh and putting trust in man, and we will learn to amend our ways. Maybe that’s what we fear.
Lord, help us and make us helpable. Teach us and make us teachable. Train us to make You our first call for help in our day of trouble. Give us receptive hearts so that we can learn to amend our ways and live closer to Your will and Your Word.
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