Heralds Digest

  “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up, That I may repay them.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭41‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When William L. Clay says “ This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests ”, he sounded like the psalmist inspiration: No permanent familiar friends, and no permanent envious enemies, only permanent marvellous mercy of God. While David had the experience in Ahitophel, and Jesus Christ had the same experience in Judas Iscariot, frequency of believers’ experiences on the subject-matter is not news. What will always be news for different individuals is how the marvellous mercy of God is being treated, as life happens. Unlike the psalmist who focussed on repaying the mercy of God, many people often pick offense and are ignorant of the Sovereignty of God, through the interchanging activities of both enemies and...

  “Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.” Psalms‬ ‭41‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Everyone knows that problems are solved by contributions and not by criticism. That’s why constructive criticisms are contributions toward solutions to problems in life. And whenever poverty of the basic necessities of life is considered a problem, all resources are channeled towards solving the problem by holy hampers. When the scriptures say “ Blessed is he [holy hamper] who considers the poor ”, it implies that God recognizes the ministry of holy hampers as the extensions of His mighty hands of provisions for the needs of the poor. Unfortunately, it is self-centeredness that turns holy hampers to hurtful hackers in our world. Therefore, instead of priding themselves in the skills to hack into the joy of people with negative criti...

  “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”” Psalms‬ ‭40‬:‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When the Lord says ‘Seek and you shall find ’, the promise embraces the distinction between the quality and the quantity of the seek. While sound seek produces sound find, sick seek equally gets sick find. Naturally, the world is wired by the desire for everything that seems to appeal to the flesh, including right pleasure, right wealth, right standard of living, right position, etc. While there is nothing wrong with this right stuff, the polluted world does not offer any of this right stuff with absolute respect for righteousness. That’s why the scriptures admonished believers to ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness ’; then the right stuff will follow naturally. Likewise, the psalmist declares ‘Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You ’. Only the seeking of God and His revealed righteousness on a...

  “Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men.” Proverbs‬ ‭8‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Reflecting on the preacher’s inspiration on the messiah’s delight in the Father’s Will, believers have nothing more revealing on the essence of human existence. If Jesus Christ as the Son of GOD and His delight lived in pursuit of a delight in fellowship with the sons of men, the redeemed of the Lord should live daily in pursuit of being the delight of God. After all, human beings were created by God in pursuit of His image of love and righteousness. Unfortunately, even after redemption from satanic deception and slavery to sin, we are often distracted to pursue personal agenda against the divine delights. And if Jesus Christ lived to show believers the precepts for the pursuit of this wholesome daily delight, believe cannot be more smarter with today’s distractions and s...

  “He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” Psalms‬ ‭40‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In our world of relativism, truth is like the wave of the sea. Like the path of wave depends on the direction of the wind, the lyrics of songs in the mouth of many people are dictated by popular opinion, economic standards, and political correctness. People trust more in the political and economic platforms that guarantee physical blessing, material wealth, and social relevance. And as these platforms change with time and seasons, relativism prevails on the tenets of truth.  But praise to our God, He puts a new song in the mouths of believers through their relationship with His grace and righteousness. The true trust is not in the material things that God makes; but in the God who makes the material things. When believers tru...

  ““And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, Before I go away and am no more.”” Psalms‬ ‭39‬:‭7‬, ‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Public gaze on people often has diverse motivations, sometimes for promoting productivity; and at other times, public gaze is aimed to hinder progress and performance. For the psalmist, public gaze brought oppressions to him and a defensive retaliation from him, until his focus became shifted to God as the One who is always in control. Yes, the Lord is always in control of all gazes received from our daily engagements in life. Unfortunately, when we allow others to steal the show, we fall into vices and the pitfalls set by the enemies. Anyone who puts his hope in the Lord, against all the gazes received in life, receives God’s grace to run the race. God is both the believers’ Sun and Shield for glory and grace. So, instead of praying for the removal of God’s gaze in moments of scorching from the sun, we nee...

  “ For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” Psalms‬ ‭38‬:‭15‬, ‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Just as earthly activities create a nearness problem with their overwhelming interferences, heavenly activities are obviously far and out of the reach of most believers without faith. Faith is always the key that unlocks the channels to the throne of grace. The challenges in our homes, complaints at workplaces, and confrontations in almost all our social gatherings and events speak constantly for no one to ignore. Unfortunately, no one seems to care to listen as long as everyone is speaking. And most frustrated victims of disconnected helplines and lost hope in earthly activities are either ignorant or uninterested in the heavenly helpline. Whereas, the psalmist cried “ For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God” . Yes, the heavenly helpline is always open, not really f...