WEEPING ENDURES FOR A NIGHT

“So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up.” (2Samuel 15:30)

Although people can weep for joy, most times weeping is a sign of serious distress, pain, unhappiness, helplessness, loneliness, failure, defeat, disappointment and hopelessness. It is extremely rare to find someone who loves God and knows about His care and goodness, who has never wept. Even Jesus wept!

When you read the Bible you will find several examples of godly people, righteous people, many people with real faith and assurance of God’s unfailing goodness weeping because of their great sadness on particular occasions.

David was a king and a very precious man of God. He had his failings but God gave a testimony concerning David: “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:22b) If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, God has the same testimony concerning us. However, as you can see, despite his successes and many amazing answers to his prayers, David still had many moments of sorrow and unhappiness.

On the outside, people can look as if they have got everything sewn up and nothing is missing. However, actually, all of us as children of God will experience various situations that will make us weep because they make us sad. It is important for us to know that weeping is part of our relationship with God. In fact, it is unavoidable, no matter how close we are to God!

However, when we do weep let us also remember that God has not forgotten us and, in fact, He is closest to us when we are most unhappy! Such was the situation David faced as he fled from his son, Absalom that the Bible recorded that “David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up.”

Obviously, as he was going through this painful experience, he was praying his heart out to God. In the battle that followed, God gave him victory. Why? David tells us in Psalm 6:8 - “The LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.” In another Psalm, David noted that “God’s anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

In another Psalm, David prophesied, saying: “He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Psalm 126:6)

When we are sorrowful and distressed it obviously has a great impact on the tender lovingkindness of God. Because He is Immanuel (which means “God with us”), when God allows us to experience pain and disappointment, He is not far away from us: He is actually there with us! He is Jehovah-Shammah (“The LORD is there!”) If we understand this we will use our pain and sorrow as a very strong reason to seek the face of God.

No wonder, the LORD spoke to Jeremiah, the prophet: “My people shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble…” (Jeremiah 31:9

At another time, the LORD told Jeremiah: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded…” (Jeremiah 31:16) Which means you have wept enough over this matter, now brighten up, wash yourself, put on your pomade and powder, your perfume and nice clothes, start enjoying your life again. God is still on the throne. He has heard your voice. Your night season concerning this matter is over. This is your morning, and your joy is here! Amen.

WHEN GOD HIDES FROM YOU...

“Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1)

It can be extremely lonely if you trust in God and you are passing through a very difficult season in your life and it seems that God is far away!

We have been taught that God can stand afar off:

If we are constantly rebellious
Rebellion happens when we deliberately go against the word of God. It means to revolt, it means to say that God’s word is not true or that His word is not right. Once we have formed a habit of thinking that the Bible is not a modern book and that we must not take everything it says as relevant in today’s world, we will soon be rebellious. And it will not be too long before God stands afar off.

If we are constantly falling short of God’s requirement
There are times when we sin but we know and accept that God’s word is both true and right. In that case, we will not be described as rebellious in the extreme sense of the meaning of the word “rebellion”. But the Bible teaches us that if we know what is right and we refuse to act in the right way then we have sinned. Now we know that we are not perfect, and all of us will fall short at one time or another. However, if we have developed a habit for sinning again like we were doing before we knew Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, then before too long we will find that God is standing afar off.

If we doubt God’s love and care
Doubt is the opposite of belief. Of course, occasionally, on account of our human nature we can have doubts about God’s love and care, depending on how close we are to God and whether we are growing in His grace as we should. However, when we have unbelief rooted in our spirit, then we will not believe in things like miracles and we will not really feel we can pray to God with great expectations. When we habitually doubt God, it won’t be too long before we feel God is far off!

However, when the Psalmist says: “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1), it was the prayer of a person who knew he was walking right with God. You know when you are walking right with God – you are not rebellious, you are not consistently falling short of His requirements, and you have strong faith in His mercy and care.

It is not impossible to know how you are doing in your relationship with the Lord. When a child is getting on well with their parent, they know! When you are doing well at school, you know! The same way, when you are walking along with God and growing in obedience and faith, you will know! Therefore when trouble comes and God seems afar off, it can be a most painful experience!

So, what’s God doing “hiding” Himself from you at your most needy time?

Well, the picture is pretty clear in the Bible when you check the experiences of those who trusted in God and who seemed to have gone through difficult times with God “hiding” from them:

Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years before God fulfilled His promise. During that time God was preparing their Isaac!

Joseph spent about 17 years waiting to become the great man that God promised Him he would be. During that time God was preparing him for greatness.

David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel was anointed king when he was about 15 years old. For the next 15 years, he went through many lonely “wilderness” seasons before he actually became king. During that time, God was putting the kingdom together for him.

Is God hiding from you? Something great is coming your way – a blessing that is greater than you can think or ask for! Amen.

TACKLING THE FLOOD

“When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19b)

A flood happens as a result of too much rain, rivers overflowing and many water levels rising beyond expectation. In this verse, it is a picture of sudden negative happenings, similar to what Job experienced, brought about particularly by Satan. In other examples, for instance, the experiences of Joseph, it is not directly caused by Satan but attributable to his ability to use people to inflict hardship on God’s people.

God is certainly aware that things happen to us like a flood, determined to drown us, overthrow our hopes and expectations, and destroy our best laid plans. But here is the promise: “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”

Here is the answer to the puzzle that life can bring to us. If you are faced with a problem and you know the solution to apply, then the problem is no longer a problem – it is an opportunity for you to move from “lower ground” to “higher ground”, from despair to hope, from hope to reality.

Are you going through a flood scenario? Then ask the Spirit of the LORD to lift a standard against it on your behalf. Until you ask the flood will persist and may well overthrow you. You ask: “What is the standard that I can expect in my situation?”

The word “standard” refers to the banner and the shield that knights in shiny armour often wear when they take the battle to their enemy. God’s standard, therefore, is everything that you need to resist the flood, to survive the flood and to be blessed despite the flood.

In other words, in the place of the word “standard”, God expects you to name the solution you require for solving your flood, surviving it and staying blessed despite it. You do this typically in conversation with God – heart-to-heart conversation with God which is called persistent praying; you PUSH (you Pray Until Something Happens).

Every flood requires a PUSH. If you are a child of God, you will realise that a baby does not get born naturally without contractions, or powerful pushing going through the muscles of the womb to push the baby out. There is pain, sometimes very intense pain but it is just for a season, the powerful pushing eventually results in the baby being born.

The same way when we are in a flood, we need to PUSH until we see the standard of God that we expect. Whilst going through the pain and discomfort of the situation, we need to sustain ourselves by believing in the expected end – victory, provision, protection, restoration, forgiveness – whatever it is that we strongly expect from God.

Don’t let the enemy discourage you. Don’t discourage yourself. As long as you are walking obediently and faithfully, you will soon discover that every PUSH results in something amazing. May the LORD God Almighty make a way for you today where there is no way; may God clear out the blockage. May God’s Holy Spirit lift up a standard for you above all that you can ask or think. Amen.

DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED...

“Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.” (Numbers 21:4)

Notice the latter part of the scripture: “the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.” They were on the way to their blessing. They were on the way to their victory. They were on the way to their destiny. Yet their soul became very discouraged!

Every time you feel discouraged because of the hardships of life, because of delayed answers to prayer, because your finances are tight or your health is not good, just remember: you are on the way to your blessing, you are on the way to your victory, you are on the way to your destiny.

In fact you are travelling in the right direction as long as you are journeying with God: if you are not living in sin or rebellion; if you are not running away from where He wants you to be; if you are not on your own mission and doing your own thing your own way – you really can say at any time in the face of everything that you face: “I am not alone, God is with me!”

If you face hardships and trials and tribulations when you are going the right direction, it must be that the enemy has seen the blessings ahead of you and he is trying to beat you off the right track! Resist the devil and he will flee from you!

Is it not strange that when you are on the way to something good you are not feeling fine? Listen, even if you are going to die tomorrow because of your illness, even if you are going to go bankrupt because you do not have sufficient funds to pay your bills: relax! Your heavenly Father can dig you out of the deepest hole possible! The grave is not the end of everything, and everyone will die one day if the Lord tarries.

If truly heaven is beautiful, and we are going to meet with the Lord Jesus, there is no fear in death. In fact, He tasted death for us so that we will never die! We will fall asleep and we will wake up very refreshed and beautiful on the other side. We will find ourselves in the company of many, many children of God – a big wonderful and blessed family! A big time reunion! A party time that never ends!

Moreover who owns the gold and the bronze and the silver? Is it not your heavenly Father? If you are doing the right things in His presence and your finances are wobbly: have no fear, He has already named a day when you will be rewarded for all that you do for Him! He is a marvellously good Father and He is never forgetful of the generosity that you have shown, your commitment is never hidden from Him, your prayers never go unnoticed! He cares about the flowers and the birds! He cares for you! God cares!

Listen when you are discouraged, do the following things:

Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done!

Think of people who are in a worse situation in life and pray for them.

Find ways to be a blessing to someone, despite your own situation. Doing good always comes with a warm feeling of satisfaction and hope.

Remind yourself life has not ended for you: you are still alive and do something that brings you fun and laughter!

Soak yourself in the Word of God, soak yourself in the work of God, and let His praise fill your heart and spirit.

Be lifted up, you are on the way to your success! Today’s troubles are the best signs that something good is ahead of you!! Amen.

WHEN YOU ARE DISCOURAGED

“Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.” (Numbers 21:4)

The journey from Mount Hor would have been an easy journey, if the people were given help by the people of Edom. However, as we read in the story, the Edomites refused Israel to pass through their territory. Therefore, they needed to go round the land of Edom which made the journey longer.

Before this event, they had already had tough times concerning lack of drinking water, and basic provisions such as food and meat. They had fought the Amalekites, and had heard the disturbing news about giants waiting to swallow them up in the Promised Land. The last thing they wanted was a long, rough journey round the land of Edom!

Notice this: discouragement doesn’t always come at once – it usually develops from negative experiences which continue to pile up until we feel overwhelmed and helpless. Often, we are discouraged because our expectations have not been met despite our faith in God. Sometimes, it is all due to our ignorance about how God uses all our experiences to bless us. We are so human and our pain can be very real. People may remind us of the passage in Isaiah where God declares that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. But even such a reminder may only make us feel the pain more, not less!

David knew God very intimately and had experienced great favours from God. Yet, in many Psalms, he continued to plead for God’s help in so many overwhelming situations! In a particular Psalm, David cried out: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” (Psalm 42:5)

Elijah felt so discouraged in the face of bitter and unrelenting opposition that he asked God to take his life! “And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" (1Kings 19:4)

Is there a remedy for discouragement? Yes, there is!

When you are discouraged remember God’s previous acts of mercy in your life. David prayed: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits…” (Psalm 103:2)

When you are discouraged, keep repeating an applicable verse from the Bible to encourage yourself in the Lord. There is always a promise of God for every problem that we will face in life. “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” (1Samuel 30:4-6)

When you are discouraged, try your best to attend all Church meetings because the Lord will find a suitable occasion to speak to your situation and change things for you! “They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” (Jeremiah 31:9)

When you are discouraged, do not bottle up your feelings. Speak to your Pastors. God has given them a charge to be concerned for your welfare, to pray for you, to advise you and to support you through the situation: “So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper." (2Chronicles 20:20)

David said: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” (Psalm 42:5). May God restore to you the joy of salvation and strengthen you with His unfailing love. Amen.

DRAW NEAR TO GOD HERE...

“…Then the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here." (1Samuel 14:36)

When Saul became the first king of Israel, he faced implacable enemies in his neighbours, the Philistines. Throughout his reign he did not find the opportunity to make peace with these sworn-enemies and he actually died in a battle with them on Mount Gilboah.

There are occasions when we face very difficult situations – there are problems that people face which have persisted for a long time, pinning them down and making progress difficult, if not impossible. Sometimes such problems manifest in our health, sometimes it is in our finances, sometimes it is in our marriage, sometimes it is in our family (misbehaving children, difficult parents, hard siblings, chaotic extended family issues, etc). Sometimes we even face problems together as a Church, or in our Church!

This is where we can catch the wisdom of what the priest was saying to Saul and his army generals in 1Samuel 14:36. Saul saw the enormity of the problem before him in the Philistines and thought he had a chance to jump upon them and kill them all. Therefore, he said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them." His generals agreed with him, they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." But the priest saw things differently: the challenges that we face in life are a great opportunity for us to draw closer to God.

There are many things around us which whisper loudly, “Let us draw near to God here!” Churches are a big voice reminding us to draw near to God here. The various sad stories that we read about or see on television, they cry out loudly to this nation to draw near to God here. The word “here” in that scripture refers to any situation that we face and we feel we have got the answers sorted out or we feel perplexed by their enormity or complexity – that is where and when to draw close to God!

A nation that is clever in its own eyes, and people that feel so secure in their own cleverness will always end up, in the course of time, great losers! It may take years, it may take generations but the Bible warns us repeatedly that those who ignore the Creator of the universe will no doubt face very adverse consequences in the course of time.

The wise Teacher says: “Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.” (Ecclesiastes 12:6) Elsewhere, the Psalmist says: “For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish…” (Psalm 73:27)

Now, we know God loves the world so much that He gave up His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for all of us and if we put our faith in Him and walk in His footsteps as God’s redeemed people, we will not perish. The cross of Jesus speaks loudly and eloquently: “Draw near to God here!”

The great hymn says it all: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Saviour, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer; In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, thou wilt find a solace there.”

The Bible says, Jesus is our great High Priest, always making intercession for us before the throne of His Father. May I plead with you today: "Let us draw near to God here, at the foot of Jesus.” May the LORD God Almighty answer you wonderfully today. Amen.

HELLO, IS GOD THERE?

“O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.” (Psalm 16:5-9)

The closer we walk with God, the stronger our faith in Him. Most of the psalms written by David came as a result of his deep involvement with God. David was certainly a man like us, he had his own weaknesses, his own trials and tribulations. However, David stuck to God through thick and thin. In the key text before us today, David is providing us with certain clues:

God is the portion of his inheritance and his cup
David inherited his faith in God and his knowledge of God from his parents. There are many good things that Christian parents can pass down to their children, none is as precious as their faith in Jesus Christ. It is important for us to involve our children very early in life in things pertaining to God. Of course, there will be children who will reject their inheritance, however, the fault will not be ours if we showed them by example and training that faith in God lasts a lifetime and endures beyond the grave. There came a time in the life of David that he developed a personal relationship with the God of his parents, he began to drink personally from God. God became his cup, God became David’s life-giving drink!

David depended upon the counsels of God
You may not believe it but the Bible that David had was grossly incomplete: his Bible had only seven books, from Genesis to Judges. Yet David depended upon these seven books for wisdom and instruction concerning God. All that he learnt about God came from these books. What would have happened if David had the Bible as we know it today, complete with the words and examples of Jesus Christ and His faithful apostles? There were many other books in the days of David, many scientific books, many fashionable books, many gurus, many liberal thinkers, many positive thinkers, many other religious experiences apart from the one true faith in the God of Israel. David made a choice: he depended upon the counsels of God. No wonder, the Bible says, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” Even for some Christians today the Bible is not relevant. David knew differently: the word of God is life and it is spirit. Those who truly depend upon the word of God in season and out of season will affirm that God’s word is the best anchor in life, the lamp that lights up their way and directs them away from destruction.

God was the most important person in David’s life
David said, “I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.” David had many important people in his life, his parents, his wives, his children, his courtiers, his peers. However, David knew that the most precious relationship any one can have is their relationship with God. Anything and anyone that wants to snuff out that relationship is the Devil’s ploy to make you lose your ground and your connection to the Life-giver, the Life-restorer, the Most High God. David fought off every distraction, he set his gaze upon God, and he won every battle.

Hello, is God in your life? Is God there in your heart? Hello, is God there at all?