The Heavy Hand from Heaven

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer.Selah

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    or it will not stay near you.

10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
    but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
    and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

David had felt it big time - the heavy hand of the LORD, convicting him of his great series of sins, acting as if God did not see and did not care. But God cares too much to ignore the devastation going on in our hearts. He uses His heavy hand to put the pressure on, and when it seems we are about to burst, He sends a Nathan, or a spouse or friend, or even a child, to give us the opportunity to confess, and find cleansing and relief. Will we ignore that opportunity, like a stubborn mule? Or will we trust Him, and find the joy, love and hope He has in store?

Presumptuous me...

Job 38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Dress for action[a] like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The "Encourgement Session" between Job and his three friends had gone on long enough.   Job had maintained his innocence of anything deserving the disaters that had fallen upon him, while his friends jumped to the conclusion that he must have done something henious. Both were wrong. But before dealing with his ill-advisors, God does address one thing in Job that we are all prone to: presumption.  We presume we have God and His will all figured out, and when things don't go according to plan we tend to presume the worst.  If we don't accuse God straightway, we automatically defend ourselves.  God is our Defender.  We may, and should, like David, call out to Him to protect us, but we don't need to tell HIM how to do it. He Who called the world into existence and made you and me a part of it is well able to decide how and when to do that. Let's not presume anything. 

I don't know; He does.

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.
For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.
Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
nor because thick darkness covers my face.
(Job 23:8-17 ESV)
Job was caught up in a whirlwind of confusion, wondering what was happening to him.  Could it get any worse??? Where was God in all of this? He could net seem to find or see Him; it was like he always just missed Him.  Yet he knew what God is like, and HOW He works, just not always where and when and why.  So He waits, and continues to call into the darkness of not being able to see Him or hear Him.  Keep calling. HE is there. He is listening. He is planning and doing.  In time, we will see.

Truth in the midst of chaos...

You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. (Job 10:11-13 ESV)
As Job continued to wrestle with his circumstances, and hold fast to the fact that his sufferings were not due directly to sin in his life, despite the criticism of his friends, he utters words of truth deeply held: "God made me; He gave me life; He still loves and sustains me."  Even though I don't understand it all, and there are some "secrets" held that I cannot, and probably should not see, He still cares for me.  We can cling to Who He is, what He is like, how He deals with those He loves.

Sometimes Life Hurts...

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said:
“Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A man is conceived.’
Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it,
nor light shine upon it.
Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds dwell upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
That night—let thick darkness seize it!
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
Behold, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry enter it.
Let those curse it who curse the day,
who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.
Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light, but have none,
nor see the eyelids of the morning,
because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,
nor hide trouble from my eyes.
“Why did I not die at birth,
come out from the womb and expire?
Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
with kings and counselors of the earth
who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,
as infants who never see the light?
There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest.
There the prisoners are at ease together;
they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his master.
“Why is light given to him who is in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
who long for death, but it comes not,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
who rejoice exceedingly
and are glad when they find the grave?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
For my sighing comes instead of my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.
For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes.”
(Job 3 ESV)
Job's life has just fallen apart. In two fell swoops he lost it all: his heritage and his inheritance, his children and wealth.  All he had left was a nagging wife. He wished he had never been born. Life hurt - almost too much to bear.  But Job did not give up on life.  He allowed his uneasiness of soul, his flood of emotions, to help him dig deeper into life, and what it's all about.  With all of the "Whys" he asks, and his desire to obliterate the day of his birth from history, there is this sense in which he realizes it's not his call, and there are answers to be found.  So he enters the wrestling arena of the soul, to interact with God, and others, about what is happening, and what we need to learn about life. Sometimes it hurts.

Suspicious Minds...

After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. And David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites. But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”
(2 Samuel 10:1-5 ESV)
David had an open book policy - everything he did was public record. People knew where they stood.  He kept his word.  But not everyone knew or believed that, including these Ammonite leaders.  The suspected David of evil intentions, pretending to show honor, while actually sending in spies.   Their suspicions revealed their own hearts; that's the way they thought, what they would have done.  Thus, their actions and reactions served as an in-your-face rebuke.  This causes an offence that made things escalate.
The same thing happens to us when we always suspect the worst of people we do not really know.  Caution is good; suspicion can go overboard, where suspecting the worst brings out the worst, in both of us.   How do you view those you will see today???

Being Thankful for the Past...

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
(Psalm 90:12-17 ESV)
Social media has been buzzing with people looking back on the past and toward the coming year.  Some posts have mourned over all the "losses" of 2016, while others list many blessings.  We need to consider both, and be thankful for both. We need to learn from both.  The psalmist here asks for a teachable spirit - that we will see and appreciate what God is doing in our lives through both things, including the suffering and lossses.  He wants to see God through it all, and then be able to look forward, finding purpose and direction for what GOD has for him.   The key is HIS joy and contentment in our lives every day - not just one day a year, or a few here and there.  May we have a joyful new year, full of His love and satisfaction.