THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL REJOICE (Ps. 68: 1-6)
May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
2 As smoke is blown away by the wind,
may you blow them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
3 But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds —
his name is the Lord —
and rejoice before him.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
The Lord God Almighty in His infinite mercy has declared to us to rejoice in Him as from this month, but we must not take this for granted and indulge in practices that will make Him to change His mind. We are all witnesses to the happenings in our country Nigeria in the past months; we cannot deny the fact that it is the grace of God that has kept us alive. The ground would have swallowed us up but He has decided, like He promised, to see us through the turbulent period, may His name be glorified forever in Jesus’ name. As we have it in our text this morning, the grace to rejoice has been extended to a set of people in particular and not just anybody, it is to the righteous. In verse three the bible says “may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.” We can see that it is the exclusive reserve of only the righteous to rejoice in the Lord. We also need to mention here that the fact that you are born-again does not mean that you cannot become an enemy of God. There are certain things we can do that will make God to turn His back against us. Though there are several of them but for time and space constraint, we shall consider just three of them today. When we ask God to arise and scatter His enemies, are we really sure we are not part of them?
Familiarity with the divine: - some of us are so familiar with the divine that we no longer respect the presence of God. Some have even gone to the extent that they tell lies on the pulpit; some handle the worship paraphernalia anyhow. We also learnt that some even come to church to read news papers in the course of sermon. If not because we are in the dispensation of grace, many of us would have been long dead were it to be the era of Old Testament. There are some born-again in churches that no longer accord any respect for the servant of God, they talk to them anyhow and even challenge them sometimes. Let us consider one or two examples from the bible. In Numbers 12, Miriam opposed Moses the servant of God and she became leprous, also in chapter 16 Korah, Dathan and Abiram challenged Moses and they went down to the grave alive together with other 250 men who pitched tent with them. In 2Samuel 6, Uzzah was slew for not giving due regard to the Ark of God.
Partial obedience to God’s command: - in 1Samuel chapter 15, Saul was instructed to annihilate the Amalekites but he spared the king and fat animals and for that reason he was rejected by God. In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira brought part of the proceed from the sale of their land to the feet of the Apostles and lied that they have brought full and the duo were killed for their half obedience. Some of us our own is in the aspect of tithing. The rule is that we pay ten percent of our income but some are in the habit of just bringing something to God especially when it involves a huge amount. If you really want to rejoice in the Lord, then bring the whole tithe to the house of God. Also when we vow, we must not delay in its payment (Eccl.5: 4-7).
Being double minded: - a double minded person must not expect anything from God (James 1:5-8). When we doubt in our mind, not being sure that God can fulfill what He had declared, we are casting aspersion on the integrity and sovereignty of the all powerful God who created the heaven and the earth.
Mind the way you live your life as from this moment and enter into the joy of the Lord which He has prepared for you. Remain blessed in the Lord.
PRAYER POINTS FOR THE WEEK
Monday: - Give thanks to God for being alive till now IJN
Tuesday: - Whatever is standing between me and my joy, I remove it by fire IJN
Wednesday: - Keep me o Lord within my limit that I will not become conceited and sin against you IJN
Thursday: - Give me o Lord the grace to always fully obey your commands IJN
Friday: - Help us our Father in heaven so that we shall not lose focus in Seed of Life and sin against you IJN
Saturday: - Give us reasons o Lord to rejoice in you in Nigeria from this moment IJN
May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
2 As smoke is blown away by the wind,
may you blow them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
3 But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds —
his name is the Lord —
and rejoice before him.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
The Lord God Almighty in His infinite mercy has declared to us to rejoice in Him as from this month, but we must not take this for granted and indulge in practices that will make Him to change His mind. We are all witnesses to the happenings in our country Nigeria in the past months; we cannot deny the fact that it is the grace of God that has kept us alive. The ground would have swallowed us up but He has decided, like He promised, to see us through the turbulent period, may His name be glorified forever in Jesus’ name. As we have it in our text this morning, the grace to rejoice has been extended to a set of people in particular and not just anybody, it is to the righteous. In verse three the bible says “may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.” We can see that it is the exclusive reserve of only the righteous to rejoice in the Lord. We also need to mention here that the fact that you are born-again does not mean that you cannot become an enemy of God. There are certain things we can do that will make God to turn His back against us. Though there are several of them but for time and space constraint, we shall consider just three of them today. When we ask God to arise and scatter His enemies, are we really sure we are not part of them?
Familiarity with the divine: - some of us are so familiar with the divine that we no longer respect the presence of God. Some have even gone to the extent that they tell lies on the pulpit; some handle the worship paraphernalia anyhow. We also learnt that some even come to church to read news papers in the course of sermon. If not because we are in the dispensation of grace, many of us would have been long dead were it to be the era of Old Testament. There are some born-again in churches that no longer accord any respect for the servant of God, they talk to them anyhow and even challenge them sometimes. Let us consider one or two examples from the bible. In Numbers 12, Miriam opposed Moses the servant of God and she became leprous, also in chapter 16 Korah, Dathan and Abiram challenged Moses and they went down to the grave alive together with other 250 men who pitched tent with them. In 2Samuel 6, Uzzah was slew for not giving due regard to the Ark of God.
Partial obedience to God’s command: - in 1Samuel chapter 15, Saul was instructed to annihilate the Amalekites but he spared the king and fat animals and for that reason he was rejected by God. In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira brought part of the proceed from the sale of their land to the feet of the Apostles and lied that they have brought full and the duo were killed for their half obedience. Some of us our own is in the aspect of tithing. The rule is that we pay ten percent of our income but some are in the habit of just bringing something to God especially when it involves a huge amount. If you really want to rejoice in the Lord, then bring the whole tithe to the house of God. Also when we vow, we must not delay in its payment (Eccl.5: 4-7).
Being double minded: - a double minded person must not expect anything from God (James 1:5-8). When we doubt in our mind, not being sure that God can fulfill what He had declared, we are casting aspersion on the integrity and sovereignty of the all powerful God who created the heaven and the earth.
Mind the way you live your life as from this moment and enter into the joy of the Lord which He has prepared for you. Remain blessed in the Lord.
PRAYER POINTS FOR THE WEEK
Monday: - Give thanks to God for being alive till now IJN
Tuesday: - Whatever is standing between me and my joy, I remove it by fire IJN
Wednesday: - Keep me o Lord within my limit that I will not become conceited and sin against you IJN
Thursday: - Give me o Lord the grace to always fully obey your commands IJN
Friday: - Help us our Father in heaven so that we shall not lose focus in Seed of Life and sin against you IJN
Saturday: - Give us reasons o Lord to rejoice in you in Nigeria from this moment IJN
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