If This Is a Word for You Accept It and Receive It and Embrace It in Your Heart and Mind!

Whatever you may be going through know that as you look to Almighty God and pray with sincerity and go on continuing to pray, that He will give you that strength and anointing that He has given to seeking disciples down through these past two thousand years. If God does not remove the burden, we know that He will give us the strength to carry that burden. Jesus was so often confronted with the unknown in His Humanity and no more so that when He rides down the Mount of Olives. Now, we all face various very real and sometimes very heavy burdens and this all flows from my recent study of Psalm 120. Do take time to read it carefully and prayerfully and allow God to speak to you words of encouragement and strength. The Psalmist here has something very specific in mind. He has had to face lips that are full of lies and tongues that were flowing with deceit. Now, that is not a light matter when such reality confronts us. Jesus had to face both these when He underwent that inquisition. This man has obviously been the victim of lying and deceit. We can identify with that. It is always good to get away from that type of thing and that type of person. The writer of this Psalm is in emotional pain and expresses it. He called out, and he got it all out into the open. He releases it and he does not bottle it up. He does not pretend that he did not have these feelings. He is a victim of all this, but he handed it all over to God. Jesus Christ frequently expressed His feelings. The writer turns away from the lies he has heard and approaches God and His truth. The more disillusioned we become with the world the more motivated we will be to pursue the Christian way. Lies and deceit are commonplace. That is a painful fact we have to accept. That is not being negative. It is just being realistic. But God has sharp arrows which he aims at those who persist in lying and deceitfulness. Our Psalmist is making his way to Jerusalem to worship and he renounces all that and walks away from it. People's words can be like sharp arrows piercing our hearts, and there are times when God's sharp arrows and His judgments, actually touch those who touch and hurt us. The picture presented to us here in this Psalm is that of a barbarian society which was strange and hostile, and not what God intended man to be. People were warring against the Psalmist, and he knew he was a man of peace, and he is looking to see God at work in things present. His pain and upset is leading him from placing too much confidence in people to confidence in God. Think of where we have to be balanced, and how we have to be balanced in so many various areas of our lives. No matter what happens when you are walking on a tightrope it matters not off which side you fall, you still fall, and this is why we must never be too hard and harsh or too soft and compromising, and that is where we so need the Holy Spirit. Think of that day when they thrust a coin before Jesus when challenging him about paying taxes. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. There are challenges about a demanding faith. Would you wish it to be undemanding? Surely not! Jesus Christ gives us that perfect balance of wisdom and courage equally, in this alien land. Jesus knew this Psalm. This was His hymnal after all. Jesus knew there was no exit from the way of the cross, and in His distress on the Cross Jesus called out and got it all out in the open. Jesus tasted distress. If we are going to make an impact we need to do so wisely as well as courageously. Grace and truth come from the Lord Jesus Christ. This Psalm gives us vision and hope, as God writes His law upon our hearts. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the ability to respond in obedience - that long obedience - what a magnificent phrase - but it challenges us in every area of life. This may be a word for you today or it may be a word for you tomorrow, but it certainly is a word from God, for you, and for me! Accept it and receive it and embrace it. Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.