His knowledge = my comfort & joy!

Last night while watching a detective show, I noticed how those investigating a crime were able to discern when the people they interviewed were lying. Actors did a realistic imitation of the gestures and so on of those who are hiding something but proclaiming the opposite. Some people do have that ability in real life.

Imagine the discernment of God — how refreshing to know that God never mistakes outward appearance for reality, nor is led by the judgment of humans, particularly those who speak falsely. He laughs at our foolishness and ignorant judgements. Imagine God with no sounder discernment than we do and woe to sincere people who others think are hypocrites.

It is a joyful reality to know that God has infinite understanding. One day He will wipe off the dirt of worldly reproaches because He knows the least bit of grace and righteousness in the hearts of his people. He sees even the least saving faith, cherishes it, and will finish the work He has begun, not ever abandoning it.

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. (Matthew 12:20)

When it comes to prayer, He hears more than our words. One of my praying friends began our sessions covering her mouth for fear her words were inadequate, but Stephen Charnock rightly says that words are but the garment of prayer while meditation is the body, and affection is the soul and life of prayer. He points to verses like, “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation” (Psalm 5:1) to point out that prayer is a rational act of the mind. not the act of a parrot. It comes from the heart even though the speaking part is the work of the tongue. God gives ear to the words, but He considers the meditation of our hearts.

Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. (Malachi 3:16)

This too is related to His vast and complete knowledge. He observes millions of sins committed at the same time, by a vast number of persons, to record them in order to punishment. He also distinctly discerns an infinite number of cries, all at the same moment, to register them in order to answer. A sigh cannot escape Him — even though it is crowded among a mighty multitude of cries from others, even though it might be covered with many unwelcome distractions in myself. It is like the believing touch from the woman that had the bloody issue was not concealed from Christ, nor was her cry undiscerned in the pressure of the multitudes. My groans are as audible and intelligible to Him as my words. He knows the mind of His own Spirit (who is prompting my thoughts) even if it is expressed in no plainer language than sobs and gasps.

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:27)
O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. (Psalm 38:9)

PRAY: Oh Lord, such a blessing to read and think these realities about You and Your total knowledge, particularly regarding prayer. You hear the desires of my heart. Knowing You hear me makes up for the many times I’ve felt that no one is listening. Knowing You hear me, I can even say with the psalmist: “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.” (Psalm 6:8–10) And this is the confidence that I have toward You, that if I ask anything according to Your will You hear me. And if I know that You hears me in whatever I ask, I know that I have the requests that I have asked of You. (1 John 5:14–15, personalized) You are utterly amazing!

Peace, peace, there is no peace . . .

 

Judges 20; Psalms 5–6; Jeremiah 34; Acts 24

The noted theologian who wrote “For the Love of God” makes a sobering statement tied to today’s reading in Judges. Chapter 20 follows a terrible incident where the concubine of a Levite is mass-raped and dies at the hands of one of the Jewish clans. The Levite cuts her up into twelve pieces and send her to the twelve tribes of Israel in a gross effort to seek justice. Eleven tribes rally then go against the offending tribe and eventually defeat them.

My devotional book says this: “The sad reality is that every culture is capable of this. The ancient Israelites sink into this quagmire not because they are worse than all others, but because they are typical of all others. A society that no longer hangs together, whether on the ground of religion, shared worldview, or at least agreed and respected procedurals, is heading for violence and anarchy, which, sooner or later, becomes the best possible breeding ground for the ordered response of tyrants—power authorized by sword and gun.”

Reading this alongside today’s newspaper puts deep sorrow in my heart. The freedom enjoyed by many in our nation and others is in grave danger. The warning signs are there in that we no longer are united on many fronts. Pockets of violence and anarchy are already happening. Where will it end? Or will it end?

The psalmist expresses his dismay at the evil going on in his day. He pleas to God and expresses confidence that he has been heard:

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. (Psalm 5:4–6)

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. (Psalm 6:8–10)

When I pray, I want that same confidence yet so far nothing changes. Lack of unity becomes more pronounced and violence increases. I too am saying, “Give ear to my words, O Lord.”

Every now and then it seems as if God will change our course, but then something else happens that reveals we are on a slippery slope. In Jeremiah’s time, the people were doomed to captivity by the Babylonians. Things started to look up when they obeyed God and released slaves, not foreigners but their own people. But they changed their minds and brought them back into subjection. About them God said:

“I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. Behold, I will command, declares the Lord, and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.” (Jeremiah 34:20–22)

After Jesus came and gave His life that we could be set free from sin, one would think that this would bring peace to the world. Didn’t the angels say to the shepherds that it would? But where is it? Those who do not know Jesus are accusing those who do know Him as the problem. Some countries are united only in one thing: their efforts to destroy Christians. The persecutors do not realize that for us, death is our entrance into eternal peace. We may go down protesting abuse, yet how we die matters little for dying is not the end. That truth alone answers the question of peace — Jesus puts it in our hearts.

APPLY: I’m not certain where the slippery slope will take us. If history repeats itself, things don’t look so good. Yet eventually, those who think power is in swords and guns, even those who think that all law and order should be abolished, will discover that they have been wrong. There is a Prince of Peace and when all stand before God, He will be acknowledged:

God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11)

My peace is not about circumstances. It comes from Him as a gift. He is Lord and I bow before Him in faith and in worship.