Heralds Digest

  “But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me! Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me.” Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭19‬, ‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The building of physical strength is recommended in preparation against bullies; but the real battles of life can hardly be confronted with physical strength. When the psalmist cried out for the nearness of the Lord, he was hoping for the invisible spiritual strength from the prayer-answering God against the trigger-happy attackers in his life. Therefore, the saving strength is the building of courage and perseverance by confidence in the presence of the Lord, even when surrounded by the enemy. Actually, it is the presence of the enemies and the vilest of wickedness that makes the saving in the Lord’s strength so precious. And after the righteous has put on the saving strength, the heart can proudly declare “ But Me, O Lord, I will not be far from you; O My Strength and Saviour, who has...

  “All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”” Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Hope delayed is not the same as help denied. Sometimes, like the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ with His lot to suffer and die for humanity, help despised is actually freedom extended to all of mankind. While the pain of the suffering of Christ was excruciating, the praise of His sincerity and submission to the Will of the Father stand out, even from the mocking lips of sinful men. Fast forward to over 2,000 years after the penalty of sin was fully paid by Christ, multitude of sinners who have received redemption and freedom from sin can now understand why the Father denied the Son in order to deliver the world from the bondage of destruction. Even today, the deranged dissidents can be quick to draw believers’ attention to the reality of being a delayed devotee. Where...

  “Therefore You will make them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces. Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power.” Psalms‬ ‭21‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The redemption story is always a powerful source of praise for those who are redeemed by the demonstration of the Lord’s strength and power. For the children of Israel, after the Lord’s demonstration of His strength and power over the Egyptians at the Red Sea, everyone of the redeemed sang the precious praise unto the Lord. And while it is always unfortunate that many people still end up in destruction around the redemption story today, the divine plan remains a call to repentance. The psalmist acclaimed “ Therefore You will make them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces “. Even today, God’s arrows are turning many away the vilest of offenders from their wickedness into God’s righteousness. Therefore, let the redee...

  “Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.” Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Looking straight ahead in life’s project is easy when the metrics of progress are making sense; but real life stories do not always have the privilege of such smooth metrics. Focus on the positive sides of progress is often distracted by threats, negative attacks, victimization, and the challenges of life. Therefore, the scriptural admonition to “ Let your eyes look straight ahead ” is only possible by faith and holding on the promises of God. Even when the children of Israel had been released to escape Egypt after God’s several manifestations of wonders before Pharaoh, they couldn’t look straight by the Red Sea on their own, particularly when they were being pursued by the Egyptians. But after the Lord said to Moses, “ Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward ”(Exodus‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬), t...

  “His glory is great in Your salvation; Honor and majesty You have placed upon him. For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭21‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The glory of the kings of this world is manifested in their authority, influence, and privileges. Unfortunately, some kings are easily carried away (but not king David!) and fail to see a great glory that is greater than the greatest of the glory of earthly kings. While by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, king David could see the special salvation with King Jesus, the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the days of His earthly ministry couldn’t see the exceeding gladness and glory in the presence of Jesus.  Even though “ …He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes ” (Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭29‬), they still failed to bow down to His great glory. Likewise, when we ...

  “We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” Psalms‬ ‭20‬:‭5‬, ‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Apart from the limitation of seeking salvation from the chariots and the horses in this world, like human intelligence, financial capabilities, political acumen, and social networking, there is something about their offerings of salvation that drags down the hearts in an uncomfortable bondage. Whereas, there is absolute freedom in the salvation from the Lord; because it is offered in the unrivaled name of the Lord. Salvation from elsewhere will often appear to be nearer, faster, and quicker; but it is always unreliable, compared to the special name of Jesus. Whenever the righteous agree to join hands together to call upon the name of the Lord, in any unpleasant situation or harassment at home, workplace, and about life’s proje...

  “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.” Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While ignorance is not a tenable excuse in human judicial parlance, the ignorance of some human’s crafty practices and deceitful intelligence will be an excellent excuse for those who are fully guided by the commandments of the Lord. As acknowledged by the psalmist, certain human intelligence can lead man into presumptuous sins, like the misinterpretation of life’s events and facts based on human knowledge and personal experiences. For example, king Saul misinterpreted the praises of the young David by the women in Israel as the pride of David. It was a presumptuous sin on the part of Saul that led him into greater transgressions, like the destruction of God’s prophets, several assassination attempts, and the eventual suicide that consumed him. Whereas, and as the psalmist has learnt by exper...