Restoration (11/26/12)

Shalom,

 

     Please begin by reading Psalm 60.

 

            This Psalm is written during a time of war and trouble for King David.  While he’s fighting against the Arameans in the north, Edom also invades Judah.  Because David knew both victory and defeat came from Yahweh, he prayed for divine aid and blessing.  This man of God trusted in Yahweh’s restoration.  He knew that trusting in his Lord and Master would ultimately bring victory.  He did something many of us struggle to do, take our eyes of the difficult circumstances long enough to seek the Lord’s guidance.

            In the middle verses David speaks of Yahweh’s strength to deliver.  He uses some very clear imagery which the people of his time would easily understand.  Yahweh’s right hand was known as the place of strength and protection for his people.  David knew deliverance was found in that mighty right hand because he had lots of experience in personally receiving that deliverance.  David wrote of this mighty right hand several times.  We find him telling us that it saves, sustains, upholds, and is the place to be.  In Isaiah 45 we find what happens when Yahweh takes hold of our right hand.  In response to this taking of our hand Yahweh says, “I will go, break, give, and strengthen.”  As you can see it’s definitely the place to be.

            The places mentioned in these verses have definite meanings.  Parceling out land means giving allotments.  Just look at how the Promised Land was divided among the tribes of Israel.  Shechem and Succoth refer to cities in the territories of Ephraim and Gad.  They were centrally located in Israel, implying they’re the core areas.  Ephraim as the helmet means a place of defense.  Gilead is on the eastern side of the Jordan River and Manasseh is on both sides.  Judah the scepter is referring to the kingly ruling tribe of which David was a part.

            The references to their enemies have strong implications, too.  Moab as a washbasin points to the menial labor they’d be forced to perform after defeat.  Edom, the ones sneaking in to attack while David’s army was occupied in the north, would be made foot washers.  Foot washing was the lowliest of tasks done by household slaves.  And the Philistines would hear the shout of triumph.  It would be clear to them that attacking would be a foolish thing to do.  Yahweh was going to win, not just make a loud battle cry.  He clearly speaks that none of these enemies can overcome him or his people.

 

            I’m going to use America as an example of how this can work for us today.  Yahweh has placed us the position we hold among the nations.  It’s by the hand of Yahweh we have any success.  It’s all based on our obedience to his ways.  Has our land been shaken in the past several years?  Most definitely!  Is there staggering among our people because of the multiplied disasters?  Most certainly!  Are there some desperate people across the United States?  You know the answer is yes.

            America can only be blessed of our Lord God Almighty if we obey and serve him.  We can’t rely on past blessings to sustain us.  The Israelites thought that was how it worked and used this misinformation to get themselves in deep trouble.  They took the concept of being “chosen” to mean that they could do no wrong.  They felt Yahweh had to take care of them no matter how they lived.  They lost sight of the requirements of our holy God, just as much of the American population has today.  We need to consider our need of national repentance and seek the deliverance of our Lord..

            To be a victorious people, we have to consider the reality of our current problems and failures.  Our vision for victorious living must come from that place of realistic thinking.  Without sinking into despair thinking about the problems we face, we must deal directly with the situations we’ve put ourselves in.  Can Yahweh use our enemies to discipline us just like he did with Israel?  Of course he can.  So our vision for peace must begin with repentance, with seeking our heavenly Father’s face and bowing down in honest acceptance of our portion of the blame.  Are we experiencing the many “natural” disasters that have occurred in the past few years as the beginning of our Sovereign Lord’s judgment?  I’d have to say yes.

            The true people of Yahweh must raise his banner, unfurling it for all to see.  We must champion the cause of repentance, of seeking the cleansing found in the blood of Jesus alone.  We must struggle with the painful reality of the possibility of a national failure if we continue on as we are.  Are you praying for President Obama to have godly wisdom to lead us, for him to be convicted in his heart by a direct touch from the Holy Spirit?  I’m fearful that he may make peace treaties with the wrong people because of his failure to “inquire of the Lord” (Josh 9:14).  I’m fearful he will push aside biblical counsel for what’s trendy and current, or at the very least socially acceptable.

            Is Yahweh’s favor truly resting on America?  Maybe not so much.  Praise him for the grace which keeps him from annihilating us.  There are rumblings of discontent and contention throughout our nation.  There are major political and spiritual divides.  There are people fighting to totally remove the God of the Bible and especially references to Jesus from anything public.  There are complaints of how intolerant Christianity is by the tolerance police who claim we must be tolerant of all worldviews.  We as a people must war in the heavenlies against this sort of wickedness.  We must stand for our rights as citizens and work to ensure that being a Christian doesn’t become a criminal offense.  Yes, it could go that far.

 

            We can be filled with praise and thanksgiving that our Creator is more interested in restoration than in judgment.  Even if we have to face judgment as a nation, we can be assured that restoration is the plan of Yahweh.  Judgment is the reaping of what we’ve sown.  It brings desolation and fruitlessness in our lives.  Because we’ve rejected the guidance and holy standards of our heavenly Father, we deserve to reap the bad fruit which results from our bad behavior.  And even if we can find forgiveness in the blood of Jesus, we may still have to pay some of the consequences of our sin.

            Yahweh has always had a plan of restoration, to get any people back on course to enable them to receive a proper spiritual inheritance.  In fact, our Lord’s intention in restoration is to do more than bring us back to our original place or condition.  He intends to multiply and increase our blessings.  He intends to bring us to a better place or condition.  He has a desire to bless above and beyond what we can think of imagine (Eph 3:20-21).

            Our nation has got to be facing a great curse.  How can Yahweh not judge and punish us for our continuing crime of abortion?  The death of millions of innocent lives can’t be ignored forever by the one true and just Judge.  What some consider a “right” is a terrible spot and blemish on our nation.  The spilling of all this innocent blood must be dealt with, and I fear the mighty right hand of Yahweh is moving in our direction.  Christians must arise in prayer and give a strong effort in fighting this terrible injustice.  We must make a stand.  Our voices need to rise in speaking against this injustice.

            To overcome abortion we can’t depend on man or political solutions.  Verses 11-12 speak this very clearly to us.  “Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.  With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.”  There are no political action groups or judicial appointments which can bring us a truly godly resolution of this problem.  We must place our confidence in Yahweh alone, not any man-made organizations.  These groups may do good work toward ending abortion, but only our heavenly Father can set us free from this burden.

            All this takes dedication, a strong desire to see the holiness and righteousness of Yahweh manifested here on earth, here in our local area, and across our nation.  Our Great and Mighty God has a plan to overcome abortion and all the other sin problems in our country.  Are you willing to seek his face and obediently follow his orders?  Are you willing to go against the flow of society and proclaim his righteousness and truth to people who choose to deny his reality?  We must become a holy army, dedicated to fighting for Yahweh’s causes instead of constantly asking him to bless our causes.  If we step back because we think the problem is too big, we deny the power of the Living God.  Remember, over 55 million babies have been murdered since abortion became legal.  That’s really big, but our God is bigger, and he wants us to be his representatives on this earth.

 

            One of our great problems in dealing with these kinds of issues is our western mindset.  We tend to compartmentalize our lives into physical, mental, and spiritual.  We try to separate them instead of viewing them as a unified whole.  What affects us physically also affects spiritually, and the same goes in each and every direction.  Our Lord wants us to sanctify all these parts at the same time according to 1 Thes 5:23.  We can’t look at everything as an either/or proposition.  We can’t allow evil in one place because it supposedly doesn’t affect in another.  We can’t say we’re not involved in abortion because we’ve never dealt with it in the real world.  Abortion is an American problem.  Every American is involved.  Do a word study in your Bible about how our heavenly Father feels about the mistreatment of the weak.  He cares and so should we.

            The ministry of Jesus was one of wholeness.  He would often say, “Your faith has made you whole.”  He did this because sin affects our whole being.  Sin isn’t just a blemish on our spirit, but it can also affect us emotionally and spiritually.  We have to get past thinking that we can separate these interconnected parts Yahweh gave to each and every one of us.  We need to allow the Savior, the Deliverer, to minister wholeness to us as individuals.  Hopefully, this can eventually lead to our nation turning to him in repentance.

            We must pray and seek the Lord God Almighty for restoration.  We need it personally and nationally.  We must understand that ministering wholeness is our business, too.  Trying to fix individual problems is often only dealing with symptoms instead of the root causes.  We must cry out like David did, “Restore us!”  We must return to the place of repentance, the place of maintaining a solid relationship with our Lord and Savior.  We must answer the high calling of heartfelt prayer and action which can bring Heaven to earth.  Every nation and people group on earth needs to repent for not following Jesus with their whole heart.  Some have to repent for turning their backs on him and his ways.  Some need to repent for never accepting his Lordship.  Get your individual life in alignment with Yahweh, and then work to help others find his peace.

 

            Blessings & Peace,  Mike