Heralds Digest

  “In the Lord I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”? For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬, ‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Like the ‘Little House on the Prairie ’ by the Ingalls family of the late 19th century, there are pockets of refuge around the world for those who intend to escape the bustling of distraction. But when the challenges of life invited the Psalmist to take the offer of an escape to his mountain, he realized the unattractive corruption in the best of this world’s places of refuge. The refuge of the world may offer temporary pleasure, wealth, and position of authority, even while faith in the Lord appears to be full of delays, disappointments, and discouragement. However, in the long run, the Psalmist was able to discover for himself that trust in God is the surest refuge from the worst of this world’s wickedness and unrighteousness. Faith in God does not need a voyage into s...

  “Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.” Psalms‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The transformation of a haughty heart to a humble heart is usually not the desired justice by a praying, but fatherless and oppressed heart. However, humility has always become one of the greatest deliverables of any heart that approaches the throne of grace for justice against the men engaged with wickedness in the earth. While God is caused to listen more to the heart’s petition, the supposedly humble heart is prepared and graciously cultivated with greater honesty, deeper understanding, richer meekness, higher integrity, purer love, wider intelligence, simpler trust, and fuller yearning. The moment the God of heaven has heard the desire of the humbled, He begins the preparation of the heart for greater productivity on earth through this ama...

  “Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.” Psalms‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ One thing is clear in times of trouble with the God-believers’ relationship, God always appears a faraway Father. Like the Psalmist, while believers would wish the prideful wicked dead or caught in their evil plots, God is always looking for possible collaboration towards a successful implementation of His redemption plan. Invariably, and even though it never always appears so, God is never a faraway Father but a faithful Father to all, including the victims of wicked practices. He often appears to stand far off to attract His beloved children…to learn how to turn their problems into prosperity, pain into peace, and mess into messages of love by the grace of God. Those who have been drawn as reliable partners by God in times of their troubles have always discovered the right ans...

  “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;” Proverbs‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If there is a pathway to the knowledge of God, it is obvious that the other pathways outside the sacred pathway have nothing to do with the fear of the Lord. Unfortunately, while the wicked and the unrighteous people walk on corrupt pathways with focus and determination, the people of God often walk on the righteous pathway without strong desire. This is because the wise walk can seemingly be slow, and sluggish; and its deliverables are sometimes unappealing, especially when subjected to the world reward system. Whereas, the wise walk demands integrity, discipline, and uprightness from those whose primary desire is the pleasing of God and the pursuit of righteousness. And while reward for wise walk appears vague...

  “The Lord is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭9‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Without careful meditation, it is always easier to focus on the final judgment on unrepentant sinners and evil-doers than reflecting on the danger of forgetting the love and mercy of God in times of difficulty. The reality of life and focus on human demonstration as regards the turnout of events in our lives often lead most people to forget God. Whereas, when the scriptu res ‘The Lord is known by the judgment He executes ’, the righteous people of God should be careful to ensure that He is not made unknown by our forgetfulness. In all of divine demonstrations in a believer's life, there are overwhelming demon devices…lest he is taken advantage of by his own foolishness and misinterpretation of the judgment of God. Therefore, it is important to always acknowle...

  “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” Psalms‬ ‭9‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ A sustainable social system is built on a focused management of measurable metrics or standards, including insecurity, injustice, and oppression. This is always the basis of a mass exodus or migration of people from regions with poor or low standards of living to regions considered as developed or with high standards of living. Unfortunately, even in celebrated regions of the world, there has been no reliable refuge in a human system that is devoid of injustice and oppression. They just come in different shades and turns as the people move with systems. And after the Psalmist reflected on this challenge, he realized that only those who put their trust in God as the reliable refuge can truly find rest in times of trouble. It implies that there is no need for anyo...

  “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” Psalms‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The making of a marvelous person is more than the making of manifold properties and possessions. For the Psalmist to be able to praise God with his whole heart, it was because he realized his being the embodiment of God’s marvelous works, including the salvation of his soul and a total redemption from destruction. Likewise, believers have become the extension of God’s creativity; and the earlier they realize the agenda of the Most High with all the surrounding challenges of life, the earlier the cap of praise is turned on with absolute concentration. Also, the moment the righteous chooses to rejoice in God, rather than the carnal rejoicing in the accumulation of material achievements, he instantly becomes a praise person and not just a praising person. Therefore, a praise person is o...