Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs and a foolish people reviles Your name. Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to the wild beasts. Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. (Verses 18-20)
"I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me, from the least to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their inquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31
"When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and will declare to you the things that are to come." Jesus. (John 16)
I heard this morning, that for the sake of the kids, Tiger Woods might be going back to his wife. A friend joked, "There will be a pre-nup specifying 'no cheating.' It's called the marriage vows." Funny, but ironic, also. The covenant between a man and woman joined in marriage should be enough. But life happens, I guess. The dark places of our land are inhabited with greasy arms that reach out and grab our innocence or delightful mirages that woo us from the real things of life into a greener pasture. Always lurking, the enemy designs a plan to destroy our confidence in God's covenant love toward us, His dove. The death of a loved one, the loss of a life's savings, sickness, accident...the things over which we seemed to have little or no control...can leave us in the dark. There we are much more willing to listen to the voices that say our God doesn't care. We are alone without hope and He is missing in action.
The little dove hops across the forest floor, wounded and flightless. She looks for a place of safety. Flight is her usual recourse from the beasts that would catch her in their jaws. She tries again to lift herself from the leaf-covered grasses as she spies a high branch in a nearby tree. It is useless. Something has gone terribly wrong with her wing. She dare not even coo as the enemy might hear and swoosh down upon her with deadly accuracy. Will God save His little dove? He Who has promised to care for her? Help us because of Your covenant love!
His promise is to be our God and we, His people. He has promised to forgive our sins and teach us about Himself. God, through Jesus, has promised even more. To live inside of us Himself. To teach us from within. Write His ways on our hearts. Speak to us directly from the throne by the Holy Spirit. Actively, daily to talk to His children via His Spirit. That is thrilling! Jesus is more constantly with me than He could even be with His disciples. I have the full counsel of God 24/7. These things my God has promised to me.
So how do we reconcile the wounded dove in the forest with the mighty God within us? The dove now has options. Doesn't need a prophet to guide her through her ordeal because she has the direction of the Spirit. That is God's covenant. It's in us now. This promise. The divine plan to allow us to be in Him and Him to be in us and all of us to be in each other. The same Spirit, promised by Christ on the night before His death, that raised our Lord from the dead now gives us all we need to power through, past or beyond the darkest habitations of violence. The promise is to be with us...God's words written not on tablets of stone, but on our hearts. It doesn't mean we, His little doves (Song of Solomon), won't face the broken wings and the frightening places. It does mean, though, that He will be there with us, in us. We have a Resource the rest of the wounded, struggling world does not. His destiny took Jesus to the cross. But that was only the beginning of His continued work in eternity. So it is with us. Though there be a cross, though it takes us from this earth, there is eternity with purpose, power and joy. The little dove loved by her covenant God will get around, through or beyond because He promised she is His.
Suddenly the dove gets quiet. She looks up past the dewy trees sparkling in the early light of dawn. Fear shrouded her night as she settled down into her feathers behind a knotted, fallen log. Her head was full of voices contradicting what she knew to be true, but they were so loud she couldn't hear the voice of reason. Made her forget for a little while that she is loved. Beating in her breast is a little heart that needs the reassurance that in this time of trying, her God will still be there. "Be still," He says, "and know that I am God." Other tiny wounded birds hop carelessly, aimlessly to their deaths that day, while she rests in the knowledge that, come what may, life or death, she will fly again.
Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. (Verses 18-20)
"I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me, from the least to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their inquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31
"When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and will declare to you the things that are to come." Jesus. (John 16)
I heard this morning, that for the sake of the kids, Tiger Woods might be going back to his wife. A friend joked, "There will be a pre-nup specifying 'no cheating.' It's called the marriage vows." Funny, but ironic, also. The covenant between a man and woman joined in marriage should be enough. But life happens, I guess. The dark places of our land are inhabited with greasy arms that reach out and grab our innocence or delightful mirages that woo us from the real things of life into a greener pasture. Always lurking, the enemy designs a plan to destroy our confidence in God's covenant love toward us, His dove. The death of a loved one, the loss of a life's savings, sickness, accident...the things over which we seemed to have little or no control...can leave us in the dark. There we are much more willing to listen to the voices that say our God doesn't care. We are alone without hope and He is missing in action.
The little dove hops across the forest floor, wounded and flightless. She looks for a place of safety. Flight is her usual recourse from the beasts that would catch her in their jaws. She tries again to lift herself from the leaf-covered grasses as she spies a high branch in a nearby tree. It is useless. Something has gone terribly wrong with her wing. She dare not even coo as the enemy might hear and swoosh down upon her with deadly accuracy. Will God save His little dove? He Who has promised to care for her? Help us because of Your covenant love!
His promise is to be our God and we, His people. He has promised to forgive our sins and teach us about Himself. God, through Jesus, has promised even more. To live inside of us Himself. To teach us from within. Write His ways on our hearts. Speak to us directly from the throne by the Holy Spirit. Actively, daily to talk to His children via His Spirit. That is thrilling! Jesus is more constantly with me than He could even be with His disciples. I have the full counsel of God 24/7. These things my God has promised to me.
So how do we reconcile the wounded dove in the forest with the mighty God within us? The dove now has options. Doesn't need a prophet to guide her through her ordeal because she has the direction of the Spirit. That is God's covenant. It's in us now. This promise. The divine plan to allow us to be in Him and Him to be in us and all of us to be in each other. The same Spirit, promised by Christ on the night before His death, that raised our Lord from the dead now gives us all we need to power through, past or beyond the darkest habitations of violence. The promise is to be with us...God's words written not on tablets of stone, but on our hearts. It doesn't mean we, His little doves (Song of Solomon), won't face the broken wings and the frightening places. It does mean, though, that He will be there with us, in us. We have a Resource the rest of the wounded, struggling world does not. His destiny took Jesus to the cross. But that was only the beginning of His continued work in eternity. So it is with us. Though there be a cross, though it takes us from this earth, there is eternity with purpose, power and joy. The little dove loved by her covenant God will get around, through or beyond because He promised she is His.
Suddenly the dove gets quiet. She looks up past the dewy trees sparkling in the early light of dawn. Fear shrouded her night as she settled down into her feathers behind a knotted, fallen log. Her head was full of voices contradicting what she knew to be true, but they were so loud she couldn't hear the voice of reason. Made her forget for a little while that she is loved. Beating in her breast is a little heart that needs the reassurance that in this time of trying, her God will still be there. "Be still," He says, "and know that I am God." Other tiny wounded birds hop carelessly, aimlessly to their deaths that day, while she rests in the knowledge that, come what may, life or death, she will fly again.
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