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Forgiveness Sets the Prisoner Free
As refreshment for your spirit read the following from Psalm 86. Then go back and pray them as you reread them.
“Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.
For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me.”
This Psalm is known as the “Prayer of David.” It is notable because David uses the Hebrew word Adonai (“Master”) seven times when referring to God. To ask for the supply David needed and ask for, you need to submit to the Lord as Master. This is an expression of loyalty and devotion. Dare we call Him Master and not obey Him? It is not a title to be taken lightly.
Our holy God is “ready to forgive”. Sin blinds some people to sin leaving them to His readiness to forgive. Failure to call on Him for forgiveness leaves one captive to guilt. Resultantly some think that they must induce Him to forgive, by tears, promises of amendment, religious observances.
You may have fallen a hundred times, and are ashamed to come to God again; it seems too much to expect that He will receive you again. But He will, for He is ready to forgive. Don’t impose on God’s readiness to forgive, neither forget that He is ready to forgive.
We should rejoice in that like David we can say, “In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me….” The day of “trouble” is descriptive of days like we all have. In such days we can call on the Lord and He will hear us.
You will find He is attentive and responsive. He may not answer in the way desired, but He will respond out of His abundant love and unbound knowledge which exceeds ours. It is out of the reservoir of love and knowledge He provides for us.
Because we are forgiven we should be willing to forgive others. In the Lord’s Model Prayer is this maxim: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6: 12).
We are instructed to “…be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4: 32).
The process of forgiving out of gratitude is this. In effect we pray: “Dear Father, I forgive this person as a demonstration of my gratitude for you having forgiven me.”
To forgive means the person you forgive means more to you than the wrong they did to you.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free only to discover the prisoner is you.
Blessing or Judgment?
The Book of Nahum was written to tell of God’s forthcoming judgment on Assyria. Of them it is said, “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked” (Nahum 1: 3). God is patient, but His judgment is inevitable.
“Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him…” (Nahum 1: 6). God says to His faithful people, “I will be with you.” Throughout the book there are statements regarding God’s judgment.
There are indications that God is about to bless America or judge America.
We should faithfully serve Him and pray lest it be judgment for us. His judgment is never a pleasant thing, but always justifiable.
In any society there is a faithful remnant. In America that is a large population. It is inevitable that the good suffer with the evil. How about His people?
There in Nahum, like a placid pool in an oasis amidst a desert storm rests Nahum 1: 7, “The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.” The righteous are not immuned, but they are enabled by God to cope.
There are numerous Bible examples of God disciplining nations. America should not expect to be exempted from God’s judgment as long as our response to His grace period is negative.
Again, consider our options: blessing or judgment. In either case God will be with His people. Living amid judgment is never easy, but even in the storm His grace is always sufficient.
A code of ethics can be designed using the following text. Don’t let your mind stumble over these ageless gems.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous…” (Psalm 1: 1, 2).
There is a biblical process often seen: God warns – – – God waits – – – God exercises judgment. He still does in dealing with people, and nations.
Plug your brain into reason and logic. Awaken sanity, stir the embers of judgment, put common sense to work in your life.
“The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether…” Psalm 19: 9.
God Is Always Good, Things Aren’t
“The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1: 7).
Often overlooked in this promising passage is the expression “the day of trouble.” We all have such days. Sing it with Buck Owens and Roy Clark.
“Gloom, despair, and agony on me deep, dark depression, excessive misery.
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”
Does that sound like your theme song?
The admission regarding the days of trouble are the revelation of why there is hope. “The Lord is good… And He knows those who trust in Him.”
Do you trust in Him? If so, brush off any semblance of an inferiority complex, God knows you. Got it, you are known by God. That knowing means He is aware of you and your condition. Conditions are not always good. God is always good, always.
One of God’s faithful missionaries, Allen Gardiner, experienced many physical difficulties and hardships throughout his service to the Savior. Yet, in it all he found God to be His stronghold. Despite his troubles, he said, “While God gives me strength, failure will not daunt me.” In 1851, at the age of 57, he died of disease and starvation while serving on Picton Island at the southern tip of South America. When his body was found, his diary lay nearby. It bore the record of hunger, thirst, wounds, and loneliness. The last entry in his little book showed the struggle of his shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. It read, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.” Signed Allen Gardiner.
He found in the Lord what not even deprivation could take from Him, peace that passes understanding. If Allen could find that peace in the Lord, surely you can find it no matter what trouble you face.
There is an empty promise regarding Santa Clause that finds its fulfillment in the Lord: “He sees you when you’re sleepin’ He knows when you’re awake ….”
Allen knew that “… whoever loves God is known by God” (I Corinthians 8:3).
There have been a few times in my life when the death angel was looking my way with a smile. In the most extinguishing of time I have found God’s sufficiency to be my stronghold. The Lord is good, good to us and good for us. Things aren’t always good, but He is. God is good even in a time that is not so good. The key to overcoming victory is to concentrate on Him and not on the day of trouble.
Whether walking through the broad sunlit uplands of victory and achievement or trudging through the valley of the shadow He is always there.
Things Work Together for Good
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8: 28).
This text virtually shouts:
“Be patient, give God time to be God. He’s working.”
He is most capable of working even the most challenging of events together. He is very adept at doing it. He is capable of managing every aspect of our lives.
First, a disclaimer, not all things are good when considered in isolation. Life is not perfect and easy for the most saintly Jesus follower. Life is contested by evil, adversity, pain, heartbreak, suffering etc. He is able to work all things, not some things together. He works them for good together, not in isolation. That includes even our sufferings working together for our good and His glory.
That includes even in our worldly losses or gains, poverty or riches, reproach or commendation, contempt or honor, pain or ease, sickness or health, and the ten thousand changes of life; work together — All things, even sin itself; because from our falls, God’s children arise more humble and committed. Afflictions are chiefly intended; the worst and grossest, those things that are evil in themselves, to work for good to the children of God who work with Him repentantly.
Those to whom this is applicable are described as those who are called according to His purpose and love Him. Those are Christ followers who love and obey Him, not everybody. Certainly, the Lord does good to all people in some sense. He sends the sun and rain on the just and the unjust, for instance, so that both groups of individuals can have food to eat.
With who or what do all things work together for good? They work together with the Lord as He works, they work together with one another as they interact, and they work together with those who love and serve Him. Again, they work together with us; we ourselves must agree and be active; we must labor and endeavor to get good out of every circumstance.
As things work together they tend to purge us from our corrupt passions and lusts, as gold and silver are purified from their dross in the fire.
Hence, even Plato, a heathen, could say, “Whether a righteous man be in poverty, sickness, or any other calamity, we must conclude that it will turn to his advantage, either in life or death.”
The godly Saint Chrysostom’s dying words are summarily befitting of our lips in death, “Glory be to God for all things.”
“For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (II Corinthians 4:15).
Shake Off the Ashes
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (II Timothy 1:6).
The concept of “stirring up” brings to mind the image of a campfire that needs stirring in order for the flame to burn brighter.
General Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, wrote to his followers: “The tendency of fire is to go out; watch the fire on the altar of your heart.”
“Stir up” comes from the Greek, “ana/zopureno.” The root “zopureno” refers to embers in which the flame has subsided. By putting the prefix “ana” in front it means “to kindle anew the flames of the fire.”
A modern translation reads: “I am reminding you to shake the ashes off the God-given fire that’s in you.”
Are you a Christian who is more like smoldering ashes than dancing fires?
I love to sit around a campfire with friends. I delight in using a long poker and moving the firewood around more often that is necessary. Every time they are stirred the fire burns better. Ash tends to form on the logs and smother would-be embers. When stirred the fire blazes. If fires had personalities they probably wouldn’t like the agitation. However, it enables the fire to do what it was created to do.
For some to grow spiritually they are going to have to reorder their priorities. They will have to stir up their schedule. That means rearrange it. In order to seek first the kingdom of God some stirring has to be done.
Has the ash of complacency taken the place of the fire of aggressive ministry in Christ’s name? Have you come to take the ministry of the church for granted?
Have you arrived at the point where you feel you have done your part and someone else should now take over?
Have the ashes of business take the place of service for the King in your life. Are you more pre-committed to some civic, social, or service organization than to serving the Lord?
Are the ashes of devotion cold on the altar of your heart? It is time to stir up the gifts of God that are within you.
It is a “gift of God” entrusted to you. It is His gift, you are responsible for its use. If, and it is His gift, it is a good gift. Get the drift? You have at your disposal God’s gift for you to use. What are you not doing spiritually that you know you should be doing? If there is such you are hiding your candle under a bushel.
Now is an ideal time to do what you have likely sung: “This little light of mine I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine.”
Prayer, Bible study, and worship are means of stirring up the gifts.
Once done, you likely will wonder why you didn’t do it a long time ago.