Obtaining Mercy

 

Psalm 138:3 "In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul."

 

Do you wish to see God move?  Are you anxious for Him to work on your behalf?

Then perhaps your situation has not yet reached the point of its greatest difficulty.

 

Psalm 138:7 "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me."

Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Psalm 81:7a "Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee…"

Psalm 91:15 "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him."

 

God seems to show up right when we are in the middle of our troubles, when we are weak and helpless and crying out to Him.

 

"When in the hopeless place, the continued hopeless place, is the very time when He will stretch forth His hand against the wrath of our enemies and perfect that which concerneth us, the very time when He will make the attack to cease and fail and come to an end.  What occasion is there then for fainting?" ~Aphra White

 

When our situation seems at its worst, it is then that we should be filled with great anticipation and hope!

The Father Who spared not the life of His only Son for our salvation will surely come to our aid. 

Our victory is guaranteed when the God of Heaven intervenes!

 

There are times when the emotion of the day threatens to overwhelm our reason.

It's not that there have been great catastrophes. 

There have just been many small irritating events that have filled our waking hours.

On these days we feel overwhelmed.

I'm grateful that the writer of the Psalms penned his thoughts on his overwhelming days.

Psalm 143:3-4 "For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate."

Did you catch that?  David said that his "enemy" had caused his spirit to feel overwhelmed.

It is Satan himself who is behind many of the infuriating, aggravating circumstances that threaten to ruin our day.

All of those little pesky darts that keep hitting, pinching, nipping, piercing our daily armor…they are from the Wicked.

So we need our shield of faith to stop them!!!

Ephesians 6:16 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

But what if our shield is weak?  What if our faith is lacking?

The first mention of faithfulness is in Numbers where God talks about Moses. He says the following:

Numbers 12:7-8 "My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold…"

God equated Moses' faithfulness with speaking face to face with Him and with beholding His "similitude" or likeness.

For us to maintain our shield of faith, we must spend time with the Lord face to face.  We must behold His likeness in His Word.

For days that are overwhelming, we have to run to the Rock so that He can build up our faith!

Psalm 61:1-3 "Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy."

Run to the Lord by running to His Word. 

Let Him shelter you there.  Let Him encourage your faith so that your shield is strong, so that you can thwart the enemy's darts that are hurled against you.

We must remember on days when emotions run high, God's strength runs deep.

We can handle this day.

 

 

My husband is an excellent waiter.

Well, not a "waiter"…as in the person who serves you food at a restaurant;

But rather, a "wait-er".

He has no problem sitting perfectly still, waiting to make his next move.  His patience is really quite impressive.

Me on the other hand?  I am so NOT a good wait-er.

I literally hate to wait.  For anything.  For anyone. 

• I despise waiting.

Even if I'm standing still, and you can detect no movement, I assure you – in my mind, I am not waiting. 

I am calculating how much longer I have to stand here.  I am anticipating my next move.  I am preparing to move.  I am judging the distance I will need to move to accomplish my next task.

I do not wait well.

• There are times, however, when we must wait well. 

God wants us to be physically, mentally and emotionally still to hear from Him.  Until we are perfectly still and at peace, He will remain silent.

For some personalities that is an easy task.  For others of us, it comes only through enforced practice.

In Scripture the first three times we see the phrase "stand still", it is a direct command to the people of God to settle themselves before the Lord and wait for Him to give them their next move.

 

Exodus 13:14 "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever."

Numbers 9:8 "And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you."

Joshua 3:8 "And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan."

C.H. Spurgeon said, " 'Stand still'…ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing Voice…Faith listens neither to presumption, nor to despair, nor to cowardice, nor to precipitancy, but it hears God say, 'Stand still,' and immovable as a rock it stands."

 

• Although I am still not a good wait-er, I am learning.

Often I learn most through times of forced rest and stillness, through pain-filled days when sitting still is the only possible choice for me.

I have found, though, that when I wait properly, I am filled with such peace.  I can hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit speak from His Word so clearly as the other voices fade away.

• I encourage you to cultivate the skills of a good wait-er. 

Practice stilling your heart as you read the Bible.  Focus your heart, mind and body on the Words there, and listen patiently to see what God the Father will speak to your heart.

Do you need to hear from God? 

Stand still…and be a good wait-er.

 

 

"I bear my willing witness that I owe more to the fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord's workshop.  I sometimes question whether I have ever learned anything except through the rod.  When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most." ~C.H. Spurgeon

 

Proverbs 13:24 "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."

 

Hebrews 12:6-7 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

 

Does the Lord have His hand of correction on you right now?

Let me encourage you:  That correction is proof of His love.

God wants the very best for us at all times.  When we stray from His way, He longs to bring us back into obedience and fellowship. 

If His goodness doesn't move our hearts, then He will chasten us, punish us, in love, to draw us back to His side.

The alternative of God's chastening us, His ignoring our sin, is an awful thing.  If He does not take us to task for our sin, the Scripture tells us that we are not His children.

 

Hebrews 12:8 "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."

 

The point of chastisement isn't simply to bring us back into alignment with the will of God.  It also serves to remind us that we are His.

His children are His responsibility, and He used His blessings as well as His chastenings to conform us to the image of His dear Son.

Hebrews 12:10 "For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."

 

I know it is a painful place to be.  I know that no punishment is joyful.   There have been days that I felt I would surely die under His hand of chastisement.  I felt that I couldn't bear another day of His correction.  But God promises that it will do a work in our hearts and that it will bring blessing into our lives.

 

Hebrews 12:11 "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

 

Our heart's response to His chastening should be one of gratitude, submission and obedience.

 

Job 5:17 "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty"

We must not despise God's punishment.  We must see it for what it is: our Father's love in action.