Heralds Digest

http://bible.us/psa26.2.nkjv Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. The prayer of the Psalmist reveals the insufficiency of self-examination.‎ If good intentions had been sufficient, the desire for godly investigation would have been unnecessary. The heart of any good man can play good whenever it is goodly-conditioned. But no good man can accurately predict the response of his heart, prior to its examination in trying times. For example, a good heart understands the value of humility; but it is not necessarily a humble heart, until it is proven with humiliation. The song of trust and obedience to God is appreciated by a good heart in times of great supply; but only a faithful heart can be patient with God in times of unpleasant deprivation. Whereas, the interest of divine investigation is not the provocation of a good heart. Actually, divine investigation helps with the preservation of purity in the heart.‎

http://bible.us/psa25.14.nkjv The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. The activities of men in position of authority often bring fear and oppression, not only to ‎the crooked people in the workplace and society, but also to the contract-keeping people. Unfortunately, the fear of man brings further enslavement into unrighteousness and possible hatred in the heart. Whereas, every contract arrangement with man can actually accommodate the faultless covenant relationship with God. For example, God's covenant of love is workable under the jurisdiction of human labour‎ laws, social services, family relationships and all partnerships. While the fear of man is justifiable to unrighteous men, the Righteous can enjoy God's Providence without the slavish fear. Actually, Divine Providence covers the activities of those who only fear the Lord and keep His covenant.

http://bible.us/psa24.7.nkjv Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Dominion of man over all the elements on earth is the original design of heaven before the fall of man. ‎Unfortunately, sin changes the course of things on earth. Then man will have to struggle to establish some sense of occupation within the space, original designed for his total dominion. Furthermore, man is deceived by his fake security system over the exterior of all of his possessions. Unlike the fake possession strategy, the Psalmist established the dominion of the Lord on all His creation by letting loose the fake security system. The invitation of the King of glory into our life, family and business affairs offers the benefits of a glorious possession.

http://bible.us/psa23.4.nkjv Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Those who are fortunate to have all their senses soundly working and unimpaired may be ignorant of the importance of a guiding rod. ‎For a sheep under the guidance of a Shepherd, physical soundness cannot guarantee profitable guidance, either to the path of green pasture, or away from every plot of great perdition. A stroke from the Shepherd's guiding rod is often hard on the flesh; but the understanding of its goodness is always the source of great comfort. Unfortunately, no sheep can appreciate the Lord's guiding rod, until the Lord is acknowledged as the Shepherd. ‎

http://bible.us/psa22.9.nkjv But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. Confidence rides on the horse of faithful and truthful performances. If God's faithfulness and trust are objectively assessed, ‎the scorecards on the confidence of people in God are likely to vary disproportionately. Even among people of faith, the vote of confidence on the charisma of God is possible to produce some irregularities. However, as the experience and prophetic expressions of the Psalmist suggest, the Creator of life understands that no good and stable character is nurtured mostly with great and superlative charisma. The truth is that God's purpose for each of His creatures is often remote to all charisma - based assessment. Eventually, the Psalmist accepted the reliability of character - based assessment. Even in the wake of uncertain charisma, absolute confidence in God, based on His faithful and truthful character, offers a reliable assessmen...

http://bible.us/psa21.7.nkjv For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Character, the people say, shines out even in the dark. However, a change of character is a matter of the heart, requiring help from above. Good character is molded in man by the Potter, the Creator of heaven and the earth, who will be willing to shape out the best in every man that surrender self to Him. ‎While in the character-molding theatre of trials and tribulation, king David's status suffer in the hands of the enemies. However, his integrity and trust in the Lord remain unmoved. Although the withdrawal of material things moves the status of a man, stable character is guaranteed by the mercy of the Most High.

http://bible.us/psa20.6.nkjv Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven. With the saving strength of His right hand. Miscalculation of the appropriate response time for salvation from the troubles of life often lead to confusion in assessing the priority between strength and speed.‎ God promises answer to His children' call, without stating the response time. But this leaves many of God's children in the state of struggling with these promises. Even David doubted the saving strength of the Lord in the face of unrelenting trials and tribulation. Speedy salvation from troubles, without developing confidence in God's strength, was initially desirable. But God's response time, with confidence in His saving strength, was later preferred. Beyond the guaranty of salvation from troubles, God's response time is required for salvation within troubles.