Monday 14 Mar 2022

March 14: Psalm 79:8-9

Key Verse: Psalm 79:8
Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.

Devotion:
How many times have you got into trouble because of what someone else was doing; the only real thing you are guilty of is being there at the same time? There are always arguments from both side about who is guilty and how people can be guilty just because they were there with the guilty party at the same time. This is why there are laws and lawyers who uphold or keep those laws on our behalf when we get into trouble or are defending ourselves.

But what about being guilty just because of something in your past which you had no control over? I once went along for an interview at an aircraft design and manufacturing plant but was not allowed to enter the plant because I was born in the wrong country! Yes, it was a civil defence establishment but I was not made aware of any requirement to not being born in a neighbouring country…

We are going to face these sorts of issues in our lives and we have to work with them to get by. Whilst some of the laws we come up against may not seem fair, they are designed to cover the vast majority of cases and not the insignificant one off's. God is a just God and will uphold the law at all times. But He is also just in that He will not see us being punished for something we are not guilty of – at least according to His laws. I’m afraid man's laws have many holes in them and we will get caught out by them from time to time!

Call out to God to ask for help and not just the strength to endure. He is merciful even if He is just and holy. When God does help us, we need to tell people how He is helping us so He gets the correct glory for all He is doing and not just our luck of being able to escape from circumstances.

Points to Ponder:
Do you give God the glory?

Will you stop and take time to see how much God has helped you?