SEE GOD AT WORK

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When you, God, went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. You gave abundant showers, O God; You refreshed Your weary inheritance. Your people settled in it, and from Your bounty, God, You provided for the poor.

The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:  “Kings and armies flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder. Even while you sleep among the sheep pens, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold.” When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

Mount Bashan, majestic mountain, Mount Bashan, rugged mountain, why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the Lord Himself will dwell forever? The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into His sanctuary. When You ascended on high, You took many captives; You received gifts from people, even from the rebellious — that You, Lord God, might dwell there.

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. Surely God will crush the heads of His enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins. The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan; I will bring them from the depths of the sea, that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes, while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”

Psalm 68:7-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

One thing is certain about our Almighty God. He saves.

This is the central point of our passage taken from the middle of the 68th Psalm as David praises God for what He had done and what He was presently doing.

It was God who went before His chosen people of Israel and brought them through the wilderness. He provided for His people every step of the way, despite their unfaithfulness and sin, and brought them to their inheritance, the promised land of Canaan where the Israelites settled.

Indeed, God was a God who saved and helped Israel escape death and demise on more than one occasion by protecting them from their enemies.

God was also a God who bore the burdens of His people. Recall all the times, God’s people were in need and God provided a way through what burdened them. From deliverance from Egypt’s captivity to survival through two wilderness wonderings to the final Canaan destination and the conquest of that land from its inhabitants, God was always at work rescuing and preserving His people Israel.

The good news for us today is that God is still the God who bears burdens and saves.

First, let’s consider a passage from Philippians regarding how God bears our burdens:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

This passage has always served as God’s prescription for those who have burdens, anything that would bring stress, anxiety, fear, or worry. And that would include all of us, I think.

The command is so simple and yet we too often mess it up. All we need to do is give all our concerns to God, allowing Him to take care of them in faith and trust. After all, isn’t He God, the One who can do all things? Face it, God has performed greater miracles than taking care of the problems you and I face. We need to keep that in mind when life’s circumstances seem to grow too overwhelming.

We’re to trust in the God who bears our burdens and helps deliver us from them, just as He did the Israelites more than 2,000 years ago. And when we do this, something amazing happens. We find peace, and not just any peace, but a peace that transcends all understanding. It’s a special peace that only comes when we place our full hope and confidence in God. No one else can give you this kind of peace. Not your family, not your friends and co-workers, not some self help book, not even your pastor. Only God can grant it.

Yes, God is a God who bears our burdens. He also is a God who saves.

For this God who takes our stresses and fears and anxieties and worries, replacing them with a perfect peace beyond understanding, is the same God who loved mankind so much that He gave His only Son Jesus as a living sacrifice to pay the price for sin and save anyone who places their faith and trust in Jesus as Savior (John 3:16). Those who do accept the offer of salvation through Christ will find themselves heirs to a rich inheritance, even better than the Promised Land the Israelites enjoyed. For the Promised Land that awaits us when Jesus returns will be free of suffering and hurt and hardship and sin. It will be a perfect utopia, an eternal life spent with God the Father and Jesus the Son. We will worship forever in the light of the Lord’s love and live in the purest sense of joy and praise.

Friends, life is such a rich blessing if we really step back and see God at work.

For He bears our burdens today and brings us a peace beyond understanding and He grants us life eternal and liberation from all of life’s ills in the future.

Truly, our God is an awesome God and worthy of all our praise.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com