“Father of the fatherless”

“Father of the fatherless”

          The other day we were talking about Psalm 10 and how God sometimes seems to “hide” Himself from our view so that the “eyes of our heart” don't sense His Presence as we usually do. He's “there” but we're not strongly aware of it. He's teaching us to walk by faith and not by feelings.

          That Psalm also has one of my wife's favorite verses, one that she told me about many times. You know that her father died when she was only 11 years old. That was in 1949 and he was 39 years old. Minnie's mother was 31 with 5 children and no insurance and no social security and only a rented house to live in.

        When Minnie, age 11, came home from work at the cafe at 10:00 at night, she would sit by her dad's bed and talk to him for awhile every night. They were very close and he had a strong influence on her life. He often told her that the hardest thing about his illness (cancer) was having to leave his wife alone with 5 children to raise and he couldn't be there to help and provide for them. You can well imagine what an intense pain inwardly this would be for a conscientious man such as he was.

           So he told little Minnie that he found great comfort in three verses in the Psalms that promised God's provision for the “fatherless.” One of those verses is Psalm 10:14, “thou art the helper of the fatherless.” And Psalm 68:5 ESV describes “the helper” actually as the Father of orphans and adds provision for the widows: “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” The third Psalm is 146:9 NIV “The Lord . . . sustains the fatherless and the widow.”

         Need I tell you that God, in fact, did those things? He provided and sustained and strengthened that little family. The young widow and all the children worked at whatever jobs they could find and God provided in a whole host of ways. Including the men of the town who, with their wives, had several money-raising projects and then with volunteer labor built that little family a simple house for them to live in and own. 

      They “gathered” and worked with and prepared what God had provided, but it was God who made the provision. As in Psalm 104 where God is providing for the animals and birds: ^“These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.” 104:27-28 ESV

       Psalm 10 starts with a lament, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” But it ends with a praise: “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will listen carefully, doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed.” 10:17 ESV & HCSB

The God Who Hides Himself

              One of the most gracious things God does is to reveal Himself to human beings. The heavens above reveal the glory of God and the sky above shows His creative power. ^“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 Everyone knows that God exists because of what He has created. That's called “General Revelation.” But God in His grace gave us details about His attributes, His character, and His purposes in life by means of words. God spoke words! Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

           How thankful we are that “the word of the Lord” came to [the prophets] in ancient times so that we have God's verbal revelation in scripture. And in the incarnation of Christ when God became Man, He spoke even more clearly. ^“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Heb. 1:1-2 How wonderful it is that we have the written revelation of God in narrative, in poetry and song, and in propositional truth. And especially we are thankful for the revelation of God in Christ who came not only to redeem and save us, but to show us what God is like. “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” John 1:18 ESV

             What is this, then, about God hiding Himself?? Well, that's what scripture says: “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” Isaiah 45:15 ESV 3000 years ago the Psalmist had a similar lament, ^“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” Psalm 10:1 ESV

             There's more to this question than appears immediately on the surface. One of the reasons God “hides” from man—but only one of several reasons—is His hiding when man “regards iniquity in his heart.” Then the Lord will not hear. ^“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Psalm 66:18 (ESV) That's the picture given in Isaiah earlier in the book where God is hiding Himself because of man's sin and refuses to listen to him. God is speaking and tells His people, “ . . . When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” Isa. 1:14-20 ESV

          There's more! God hides Himself from those who are not willing to listen, but He also hides the understanding of the truth from those who seek to come to God arrogantly and in pride and self-sufficiency. Jesus thanked God for that. He prayed, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.” Mt. 11:25 ESV God humbles the proud and gives grace to the humble.

            And later in His ministry, quoting the Old Testament, Jesus answered the critics, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” Matthew 21:16 ESV He was quoting, Psalm 8:2, “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.”

          Scripture tells of a third type of the “hidden God” and that is in the mystery, either undisclosed or undisclosable answers to our questions and curiosity. Isaiah speaks of them, too, in 48:6 “From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known.” The Apostle Paul spoke of ^“the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:26-27

            Mystery in the New Testament means “that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit.” Vines, p. 769 We are privileged to live “this side of the cross” and after the resurrection of Jesus so much more has been revealed than in Old Testament times. But there is still much that we don't know. We will never fully understand the infinite God, but we do have substantial knowledge that is growing and increasing by God's mercy and illumination. We thank Him for what is seen and trust Him for what is unseen.

           Jesus spoke to the disciples in parables and told them, “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Mt. 13:11

When Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am,” and Peter replied with such profound understanding, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus told him,

“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Mt. 16:15-17

            Some things are not given unto us to know. Jesus explicitly said those words to the disciples: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” Acts 1:7 Be thankful for what is not hidden from us. For example:

”We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” 1 Jn. 3:14 “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 Jn. 3:2

^“And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

          “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever. . . .” Deut.29:29 HCSB    Thank Him for what is revealed and trust Him for what is hidden.

Three events for today

          It's Monday morning, our least favorite time of the week. Are you rejoicing in the Lord or just barely awake? Three of the many things that scripture says happen daily will help us get started on the week.

1. Surely this first one is not so familiar to you that you've lost the enormous significance of it! What if this weren't true? But thank God it is! “. . .The Lord's . . . compassions fail not. They are new every morning. . . . Lamentations 3:22-23 And don't forget the context in which those words were written: it was after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Their capital city was lying in ruins and the lament opens with these words, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow [or widower] has she become. . . .” 1:1 In the midst of that devastation “The Lord's . . . compassions fail not. They are new every morning. . . Great is thy faithfulness.” So look for God's compassion for you today; it should be readily apparent. (If you don't see it, ask me and I'll give you some examples!)

2. You're tired. You're old. You're afflicted. And, sadly, you might even be discouraged! So what is God going to do about it today? We're told very clearly of that situation in 2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” God's compassions are new every morning so every day He “renews” us in our spirit and strengthens us and gives us cause for rejoicing in Him. Read the Psalms this morning and you can't help but rejoice.

3. And the third thing He does for us daily is to give us our daily tasks and ministries to other people so that our lives are always significant as we serve Him. And “you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:58 And at least one of the tasks He gives us we are told to do “daily.” “But encourage one another daily . . . so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.” Heb. 3:13 NIV Most people need some cheerfulness and encouragement—so there's your task for today. “A cheerful heart is good medicine. . . .” Proverbs 17:22

Yesterday my daughter sent me a new song (new to me) that fits this devotional. It's sung to a beautiful folk melody which you can listen to on YouTube.

Awake, awake to love and work!
The lark is in the sky;
The fields are wet with diamond dew;
The worlds awake to cry
Their blessings on the Lord of life,
As He goes meekly by.

Come, let thy voice be one with theirs,
Shout with their shout of praise;
See how the giant sun soars up,
Great lord of years and days!
So let the love of Jesus come
And set thy soul ablaze.

To give and give, and give again,
What God hath given thee;
To spend thyself nor count the cost;
To serve right gloriously
The God who gave all worlds that are,
And all that are to be.

Safely into His heavenly kingdom

“The Lord will . . . bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.” 2 Timothy 4:18 ESV

            What a glorious promise to sustain us even in the darkest night! Sometimes we can't see where we're going or what God is doing to get us through the next predicament, but we have the assurance that all is well and God is at work and will accomplish what He set out to do in our lives and will use us for His glory and our good.

          The time of Paul's “departure” has almost arrived and surely he must be getting tired! What a life God led Him through—all the way! Shortly after Jesus Himself confronted him on the Damascus Road and brought him to Himself, Jesus said, “I will show him what great things he must suffer for my sake.” And suffer he did and in the end, Paul wrote, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18 ESV

            Paul was alone, but he was never alone because “the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

           Many times God had rescued Paul from death until He was ready to bring Him safely into His heavenly kingdom. Then God brought him safely through death into life everlasting and the glory of heaven. So shall it be with us.

Steadfastness

		The Faithful Witness in the Sky VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL This album has 2 photos and will be available on SkyDrive until 1/7/2013.

Steadfastness

           A few nights ago when I was in Colorado, I took these pictures of the full moon especially beautiful in the clear mountain skies. Whenever I see an especially beautiful moon, I am reminded of Psalm 89:37 which speaks of the moon as “established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” I saw the beauty of the moon and thought of the stability and steadfastness and faithfulness of the moon and of the power and wisdom of God who created it.

           We, too, have a “faithful witness” in our hearts, the Holy Spirit “who bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:16  But I thought especially of the steadfastness of the moon and the sun and the seasons and the days and the weeks and the years as we speed safely through space on this planet.

           What a contrast to the instability of man, torn back and forth by every wind of doctrine and teaching and “unstable in all his ways,” guided by whim and impulse and lack of principle. I've never seen so many attacks on Biblical teaching and animosity towards followers of Christ. They've always been there historically but I haven't seen as much as I do now. Even some professing believers are “jumping ship” and saying they no longer believe and set out on their own without the stability and guidance of scripture and the Holy Spirit.

         How tragic! and Jesus foretold these days when He asked, “. . . when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:8

             For our part, we simply need to continue steadfast and faithful to what God has called us to, and let none of these things discourage us because we have in our hearts God's promises and the Presence of the Holy Spirit Himself. Listen to this promise and hang onto it!

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:58 Did you catch that? We “know”!--and how do we know? By the “faithful witness” of the Holy Spirit who not only comes to us, He lives within us, the God of Truth Himself.

              If you are a child of God, then you will “endure as seeing Him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27 It is God the Holy Spirit who opened the “eyes of our understanding” to behold the Savior’s glory. “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. . . .” Eph. 1:18-19

       Jesus said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” That’s why He sent the Holy Spirit to us, the “other Comforter.” Christ is here with us because the Holy Spirit dwells within. God is One so wherever the Holy Spirit is, there also are the Father and the Son. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 ESV