The God Of My Strength

Special Note: It is hard to believe but I have double-checked; this is the 500th devotional I’ve written. My gratitude to the Lord Jesus for His grace and my appreciation for all of you overflows my heart this morning. A heartfelt thank you!

Times look bleak do they not? I remember being in college when things seemed as despairing, although I don’t remember the country being so divided as it is today. We do have a national malaise as we did under President Carter, however the culture war is so much more violent today, and I mean in both the physical and spiritual realm. It’s enough to believe it is the end of the world. There are many theories abounding now from 2012 to some theological commentators predicting Christ’s return any day to martial law being declared in America.

It is easy to get wrapped up in all of it.

As I asked on Wednesday, where do you first turn when wondering about the state of things. I was reading the psalms this morning and came across Psalm 43, a psalm which is a wonderful prayer for troubling times such as these:

    “Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! For You are the God of my strength; why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” (Psalm 43)

Is that not the most pleasant prayer a Christian can pray in times of trouble? In this prayer I am asking my soul why it is so downcast when my hope is in God; a God of whom I can still praise in the midst of trying times.

I know this to be true. No greater anguish has overcome my life then the day I buried my only son. Sitting next to the casket and watching the honor guard fold the flag with such military precision cast me into a depth so dark and despairing I thought it would engulf me. But with the reassuring strong hand of my brother and the presence of the Holy Spirit my soul became quiet the more I wept. It was such a strange sensation; the greater my grief the quieter my soul became.

How is that possible? Because the Lord Jesus Christ is the help of my countenance and He is my God. All my hope is wrapped up in El Shaddai, my Almighty God.

When I see such evil succeeding I must remember that God is still on His throne because He is El Elyon, the Most High God.

When at times I wonder will Jesus really reign over this earth, I remember that He is El Olam, the Everlasting God.

God rescued my soul in my great time of need and despair because He is El Shaddai, my God Who is sufficient.

My physical needs have always been met by God because He is Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord our Provider.

I can indeed look upon these evil times and still rejoice because my Lord is Jehovah-Shammah; He is the Lord that is present.

I turn to Scripture for guidance in my life because my God is Jehovah-Rohi; the Lord is my Shepherd.

Jesus is my King in Whom I place all my hope because He is Adonai, the Sovereign God.

God rules over the affairs of man; we are in the state in America today because we have lost our national virtue. We have trusted in the material instead of the eternal. Our nation began as a nation of prayer because our founders understood that the Hand of Providence was upon this nation (that would be the Almighty God found in the Holy Bible for historical revisionists).

May we once again become a nation of prayer. May we once again have leaders who openly worship Jehovah-Elohim, the Eternal Creator.

As you go into this weekend worrying about this and that, please remember the God of my strength. Without Him our nation is nothing; without Him we would never have become a nation. I am going to leave you with a quote from John Adams; it is actually from a letter he wrote to his beloved Abigail in which he details the effects of a prayer that opened the first session of the Continental Congress .

Please reflect on what it will take not only in this country, but more importantly in your personal life to bring back our national virtue. May you have a restful weekend and please remember to go to church on Sunday.

    “When the Congress met, Mr. Cushing made a motion that it should be opened with Prayer…Accordingly the next morning [the Rev. Mr. Duche’] appeared with his clerk and in his pontificals, and read several prayers in the established form, and read the collect for the seventh day of September, which was the thirty fifth Psalm. You must remember, this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duche’, unexpectedly to every body, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer, or one so well pronounced…It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here. I must beg you to read that Psalm.”

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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