Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from Psalm 25 verse 5, “You are the God of my salvation; for you, I wait all day long,” (NRSVB). David states in the opening address to God in this Psalm, “Unto you, O Lord, do I bring my life. O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or my hope in You be disappointed,” (Amplified Bible). After David has brought his own needs and anguishes to the Lord, he calls on God and states, “Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed.” We learn from David that in coming to the Lord, bringing our anxieties and fears, desires and needs to the Lord; we have to wait on God’s good time, for he will bring it to pass. We have to look out and see how his deliverance unfolds in our everyday lives. What we are asking in our prayers from the Lord for ourselves, we also have to ask for our neighbour, wishing them the same grace and gifts that we desire for ourselves. In the closing verse of the psalm David states, “Redeem Israel, O God, out of all her troubles,” Psalm 25 verse 22, (Amplified Bible). God hears our prayers, and he listens to the intercessions that we make on behalf of others. In the New Testament understanding of the word “Israel” it can be expanded to all who believe and call on the Name of the Lord. Our prayers and the desires that we harbour for peace and harmony within ourselves, in our families and communities, our churches and our countries, can only be fully realized when the whole world unites and earnestly desires all nations and people to live in peace and stability. God has given humans the remarkable ability to look within themselves and contemplate their lives and thoughts and to devise plans that can benefit the people of the world. Sadly, this ability can also be used to devise plans to harm the world and her people. Let us continue to wait on the Lord and bring the world and her people to him, for he will not disappoint us.
Lack of listening and hearing has been a stumbling block in the way of many good relationships and sound plans. Ultimately, this lack will lead to misunderstanding, doubts and distrust. Many a heart-ache could have been avoided if the art of listening and hearing has been cultivated. “We know that he hears us,” says the Apostle John, in his First Letter, Chapter 5 verse 15, (NRSVB). This is gospel to our hearts and minds and restores our joy in the conversation that we have with God. It is not a one way conversation, it is a dialogue. God listens to us and he brings the desires of hearts, as they conform to his commandment of, “love the Lord, with all your heart, and your neighbour, as yourself,” to pass. God listens to us because he loves us. Little baby “babbling” is beautiful to hear, even though it is not language in the complete sense of parts of speech and sentence construction. It is heard and listened to and interpreted, and the baby experiences the joy of loving communication and interaction. Sometimes our ideas and thoughts, our anxieties and hurt feelings, and all the doubts and fears about the things around us, may come across as incomprehensible to others. However, to our Lord it all makes perfect sense and he continues to interpret our words and makes our prayers and desire unfold in his time. His plans and purposes are too marvellous for us to be able to rephrase fully in human language. He gives us the interpreter, the Holy Spirit, as his gift of grace, to interpret to us the words and the deeds of the Father. God does not need the Holy Spirit to interpret our words and make them understandable to him. However, we need the Holy Spirit to make God’s words and his works clear to our human understanding. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of true meaning, the Spirit of Truth.
Father, we thank you that you bend your ear to us and listen to our prayers, Amen.