GOD IS GRACIOUS BUT THE PEOPLE STILL SIN

PROCLAMATION

“The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram.  So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before.  But they did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam …”  2 Kings 13:5-6 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

While Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah, the southern kingdom, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, the northern kingdom.  Joash did that which was right in the eyes of The Lord but Jehoahaz did evil in the eyes of The Lord following the sins of Jeroboam and worshiping the golden calves. (2 Kings 13:1-2)  This caused The Lord to be angry with Israel and He allowed them to be attacked and captured by Hazael king of Aram. (2 Kings 13:3)  King Hazael severely oppressed Israel to the point where King Jehoahaz called on The Lord God for help. (2 Kings 13:4)  God heard his prayer and He graciously sent a deliverer for Israel and freed them from the king of Aram.  However, after they were freed and returned to their homes, they continued to worship the golden calves created by Jeroboam.

APPLICATION

Frequently we find ourselves in trouble because of our own sinful choices and we turn to The Lord God for His help.  We make promises to Him while we are in the midst of our troubles saying, “ Lord, if you will just get me out of this, I will do such and such.”  He hears our plea and answers our prayers, but all too often we are ungrateful and quickly return to our sinful ways instead of thanking Him and following Him.  We forget all about the promises that we made to Him.  That is why He said, “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven …” (2 Chronicles 7:14)  Most of us can easily identify the sins of others but we don’t seem to see our own sins. (Matthew 7:3 and Luke 6:41)  We all need to recognize that we have fallen short (Romans 3:23) and ask for forgiveness.  And, we need to thank Him for getting us through the storm, as well as do a better job of following Him and obeying His word.

MAY GOD BE GRACIOUS TO US AND BLESS US

Proclamation:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us; so that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.  May the peoples praise You, God; may all the peoples praise You.  May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.”  Psalm 67:1-4 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm of praise and thanksgiving was written by an unknown human author under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalmist begins this song by, asking The Lord God to bless us with His unmerited mercy, through the riches of His grace let the face of Jesus, The Christ, shine on us and grant us His gracious presence and His love. (Psalm 67:1)   He asks that God’s way, His method of salvation, the way for sinners to Him through Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, (John 14:6) the way of the gospel, be known throughout all of the earth. (Psalm 67:2)  Let all of the people in all of the nations of the world praise The Lord. (Psalm 67:3)  Let all of the people rejoice and be glad.  Lead us and guide us as a shepherd does His sheep. (Psalm 23:1-3)

Application:

This psalm is a song and a prayer, a prayer that we should pray for all of the believers in the world.  We should pray that The Lord God would be gracious to us, show us His loving kindness, and grant us His mercy and unmerited favor.  We should thank God for His Son Jesus, The Christ, who made a way for us to receive salvation and eternal life.  For this we should rejoice and praise His holy name.

HAVE MERCY ON ME AND GIVE ME STRENGTH

Proclamation:

“But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.  Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant Your strength to Your servant and save the son of Your maidservant."  Psalms 86:15-16 (NIV)

Explanation:
Because his enemies have gathered together and are after him, King David knows that God is compassionate, gracious, full of love, and full of faithfulness, so he asks The Lord to have mercy on him, and to grant him His strength.  He wants God's attention, salvation, and protection because of his special relationship with Him.

Application:
As believers we also have a special relationship with The Lord, and we know that He will never leave us or forsake us, regardless of the situation or circumstance. (Deuteronomy 31:6)  We know that if we call on Him, He will hear us and answer us. (Psalms 34:17 and Proverbs 15:29)  We want God's salvation, deliverance, and protection from whatever negative position that we find ourselves in, and He will help us.  All He asks of us is that we would humble ourselves, and pray, and seek Him, and turn from our sinful ways, then He will hear us, answer us, and help us. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Wait On The Lord And Be Blessed

"Yet The LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.  For The LORD is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him!"  Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)

These are the words of the Prophet Isaiah, written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the impatient people of God to remind them that The Lord God wants to be gracious and compassionate to them.  However, The Lord is a God of justice, and their disobedience must be punished.  Their impatience will not cause God to bless them any sooner.

At times, the people of God do things without first consulting with Him.  At other times, we just disobey Him.  Such actions warrant and receive punishment. (Isaiah 30:12-14)  The same is true now as it was then.  Blessed are those who take things to The Lord in prayer and then wait for His reply or take action.  He knows when one of His children has been wronged, and He will take care of the evil doer. (Proverbs 20:22)  Sometimes He will even let the believer see the evil doer get punished. (Psalms 37:34)  But when we are the ones that have done wrong, He waits patiently for us to learn the error of our ways and ask to be forgiven.  We hinder our own blessings.  The Lord wants to bless us, we just need to wait patiently for Him to do it in His own time frame.  While we are waiting on Him to bless us, it would not hurt to praise Him as if it was already done. 

We Need To Demonstrate Acts Of Faith

"I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, 'The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.' "  Ezra 8:22 (N IV)
This what the prophet Ezra told the king when he led the people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.  Because he feared they would encounter enemies along the way, he led the people in fasting and praying for God's protection.  He did not want to confuse the king regarding his faith in God, so he did not ask for solders to accompany them.

Our faith is frequently tested, to see if we put more faith in man, or in our own resources, than we put in God.  We tell people that we have faith in God, and sometimes we are tested to see if we really do have faith in Him.  We know about faith and we talk about it, but we need to follow the FACTS of faith with ACTS of faith.