I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly. See, I do not keep my mouth closed - as You know, Lord. I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart. I spoke about Your faithfulness and salvation. I did not conceal Your constant truth from the great assembly.
Lord, do not withhold Your compassion from me. Your constant love and truth will always guide me. (vs. 9-11)
I was sitting in the high school library at my first teaching job when a trucker delivering food to the cafeteria came in to speak with me. The man was a Christian and had heard from someone locally that I was, too. He knew of a young man, saved by Christ out of drug addiction, who was traveling locally to school assemblies with a "get off drugs" message. The young man would then speak at a local church later in the day for those who wanted to know how he became drug free. Would I be the teacher who got this assembly together for my school? Sure.
After having spoken with the principal and the superintendent of schools, the assembly was arranged with the caveat that the speaker not mention Christ - only drugs. That was the promise.
All of the high school gathered in the gym for the drug awareness talk. It was rousing. The man had been a slave to drugs, as some of the teens listening were, also. A litany of all the things drugs could do to mess a person up were enumerated and castigated. Then: "How can I tell you about drugs without telling you how I got off of them? Jesus Christ delivered me!" Young preacher preaches on! Principal yelling to stop the show! New, young teacher, (me) thinking Uh-oh!!!
"This is worse than bringing drugs into the school!" my principal is screaming at me for tricking him into this assembly. "You can't talk about Jesus in the school!"
"I didn't know the young man was going to do that!" I avowed.
Teen aged students are hearing me being scorned and watching the preacher leave in a rush. But here is the thing. They wanted to know how this young firebrand got off drugs! They saw his courage...and mine, I later discovered...and, since it was the early 1970's, they wanted to stick it to the man. The local Baptist minister allowed us to use his church that night and it was filled with kids from the assembly. The young preacher told the rest of his story. There was an altar call. And Bill and I had close to fifty new Christians to mentor. Because some guy got up in the assembly...maybe not a great assembly...and did not keep his mouth shut.
The principal never did like me after that. Many of those teenagers couldn't stop talking about Jesus, either. Still can't. Some are now preachers giving their time to their brothers and sisters here and overseas. Some are teachers, school superintendents, missionaries and business men and women. Some are even retired and riding around on motorcycles with their wives. Jealous.
When Jesus changes a life, it is really hard to keep it quiet. If I were walking around with the cure for cancer in my back pocket and did not want to share it with a stage 4 cancer victim, that would be cruel of me. Oh, I don't want to offend her. What if she doesn't want to hear about the cure? What? At least give the afflicted a chance to swallow the pill or not.
You know me, Lord...says the psalmist. I can't keep my mouth shut about You. Me, either. He provides for my needs, forgives my sins, leads my path, protects my way, stands between me and the devil, strengthens my heart when I am discouraged, assures my future with Him and heals my body. This is not an exhaustive list, because I cannot live without Him. I breathe Him in and exhale the wonders of His grace. If His love and truth guide me, you better believe that if you are around me for even a few minutes, I won't be able to keep my mouth shut. You know that about me, Lord.
Lord, do not withhold Your compassion from me. Your constant love and truth will always guide me. (vs. 9-11)
I was sitting in the high school library at my first teaching job when a trucker delivering food to the cafeteria came in to speak with me. The man was a Christian and had heard from someone locally that I was, too. He knew of a young man, saved by Christ out of drug addiction, who was traveling locally to school assemblies with a "get off drugs" message. The young man would then speak at a local church later in the day for those who wanted to know how he became drug free. Would I be the teacher who got this assembly together for my school? Sure.
After having spoken with the principal and the superintendent of schools, the assembly was arranged with the caveat that the speaker not mention Christ - only drugs. That was the promise.
All of the high school gathered in the gym for the drug awareness talk. It was rousing. The man had been a slave to drugs, as some of the teens listening were, also. A litany of all the things drugs could do to mess a person up were enumerated and castigated. Then: "How can I tell you about drugs without telling you how I got off of them? Jesus Christ delivered me!" Young preacher preaches on! Principal yelling to stop the show! New, young teacher, (me) thinking Uh-oh!!!
"This is worse than bringing drugs into the school!" my principal is screaming at me for tricking him into this assembly. "You can't talk about Jesus in the school!"
"I didn't know the young man was going to do that!" I avowed.
Teen aged students are hearing me being scorned and watching the preacher leave in a rush. But here is the thing. They wanted to know how this young firebrand got off drugs! They saw his courage...and mine, I later discovered...and, since it was the early 1970's, they wanted to stick it to the man. The local Baptist minister allowed us to use his church that night and it was filled with kids from the assembly. The young preacher told the rest of his story. There was an altar call. And Bill and I had close to fifty new Christians to mentor. Because some guy got up in the assembly...maybe not a great assembly...and did not keep his mouth shut.
The principal never did like me after that. Many of those teenagers couldn't stop talking about Jesus, either. Still can't. Some are now preachers giving their time to their brothers and sisters here and overseas. Some are teachers, school superintendents, missionaries and business men and women. Some are even retired and riding around on motorcycles with their wives. Jealous.
When Jesus changes a life, it is really hard to keep it quiet. If I were walking around with the cure for cancer in my back pocket and did not want to share it with a stage 4 cancer victim, that would be cruel of me. Oh, I don't want to offend her. What if she doesn't want to hear about the cure? What? At least give the afflicted a chance to swallow the pill or not.
You know me, Lord...says the psalmist. I can't keep my mouth shut about You. Me, either. He provides for my needs, forgives my sins, leads my path, protects my way, stands between me and the devil, strengthens my heart when I am discouraged, assures my future with Him and heals my body. This is not an exhaustive list, because I cannot live without Him. I breathe Him in and exhale the wonders of His grace. If His love and truth guide me, you better believe that if you are around me for even a few minutes, I won't be able to keep my mouth shut. You know that about me, Lord.
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