O Lord our God, But By Thee Only Will We Make Mention Of Thy Name. - Part 2083

"And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered Me, nor laid [it] to thy heart? Have not I held My peace even of old, and thou fear Me not?" (Isaiah 57:11)

"Help, Lord; for the God-ly man ceases; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things: who have said, "With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is Lord over us?"

In another place, the psalmist asks the Lord directly -- "Why stand Thou afar off, O Lord? Why hide Thou Thyself in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhors. The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. Indeed, God is not in all his thoughts.

Thus, his ways are always grievous, and his judgments are far from above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffs, and as we know from our society around us, he hath said in his heart, "I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity." And yet, his mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. 

And he sits in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent; his eyes are privily set against the poor. Likewise, he lies in with secretly as a lion in his den; he lies in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draws him into his net; he crouches and humbles himself that the poor may fall by his strong ones. And as the scriptures state, "he hath said in his heart, God has forgotten: He hides His face, He will never see." (Psalm 10:1-10)

But as we know, the eyes of the Lord searches the entire earth, looking for hearts who are focused on Him, displaying the same mercy and grace as He has toward others. From the very beginning, the Lord is King forever and ever, and He hears the desire of the humble who prepare their heart. It is in this context that God had to become our Saviour, so that the fatherless and the oppressed would be set free, and to heal the broken hearted. His promises forevermore true. 

As the prophet foretold in advance of God being manifest in the flesh -- "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ..." (Isaiah 61:1)

Jesus repeated the same good news gospel message when He -- The Word made flesh dwelling among us -- walked this earth. He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised ..." (Luke 4:18)

Yes, saith the Lord -- "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise," saith the Lord, "I will set him in safety from him that puffs at him." (Psalm 12:1-5)

How do we know this to be true? Because the Lord is our Rock and our fortress, our delivery -- our God, and when we call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, good things happen, including that we are saved from our enemies. Plus, as we who believe in God our Saviour also recognize -- the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. His Word is preserved forever. 

"O Lord our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us: but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy Name." (Isaiah 26:19)

Meditate on these things this day, and let the Word flourish in your hearts, knowing that there is nothing going to happen to you that the same Lord who bowed the heavens and also came down, putting darkness under His feet hasn't already parted the waters so you can safely walk through. Abide in Me, Jesus said, Abide in Me!

Stand in the offering plate.