Thursday 26 Jul 2012

Thursday Reading: Psalm 66:18-20

Key Verse: Psalm 66:18
18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Devotion:
This may seem like a bit of a strange verse to pick on but if you do what God has ordained and take the whole word instead of just a phrase here and there we then see why these words are used. Just like you may think that some words may sound out of place in a conversation you jump into half way through, jumping into the middle of God’s conversation with us will not help as much as hearing the whole conversation!

This Psalm is about declaring the power and might of our awesome God. He is the one who has done so many things not least of which is creating the world! It also is David declaring that he will continue to offer sacrifices as are required by the law at that time as well as to lift up his prayers to God. But it is not to be a one-sided relationship because that is not going to get us very far. We have to believe in our hearts that He is God and that He has actually done what the bible tells us He has! We have to believe that in our hearts and not to just say that we do.

So when these words are now read it shows us that if we are going to be the ones who doubt, or bring disrepute into an otherwise pure relationship, then we should not expect anything other than an adverse reaction from God. Time and time again we saw how God allowed many things to happen to the children of Israel as they allowed all manner of thoughts and distractions to come between them and God; each time God tried to get them to realise what they were doing and tried to get them back on track in the relationship.

You see; God never shut His ears. God never looked the other way. God never shut His eyes. God continues to listen and to hear our every plea and prayer. God continues to be there no matter what! What better partner should we ever expect than one who will always be there attending to our needs? Should we not therefore praise our God for everything that He has done and for everything that He continues to do after all He does answer our prayers and shows His mercy when we expect everything else to fail?

Points to Ponder:
Where do you draw the line in a relationship?

What would you do if God drew the line for you?