Sunday, April 16, 2017

Psalm 106 - How Soon We Forget

Psalm 106 tells the story of a people who had seen the Lord do wondrous things, then they turned away from Him, then He turned them over to their enemies (or sent disease or destruction of some sort), then they cried out for deliverance, then the LORD heard them and answered them, then they praised Him because He had done wondrous things for them and delivered them and then they forgot and turned away from Him, and then....

It happened over and over again.

While reading this psalm I thought of one of my favorite hymns, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing."
I thought of the words in the third verse.

3 Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee:
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.

We have within us a sin nature that is against God. We see the wonderful things He has done in our lives and yet the world draws us away from Him. John warned us
1 John 2
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Don't be discouraged if you find yourself "prone to wander." The apostle Paul had the same struggles.


15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So what's the answer?

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

As long as we're in our earthly bodies we will struggle with sin. Satan will always be a roaring lion seeking to devour us. The Apostle Paul gives us some great advice in the 6th chapter of Ephesians.
Put on the full armor of God.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 

OK....I've followed a lot of trails on this post. See what God has to say to you from my ramblings.... 
Don't forget what God has done for you in the past...
and Praise the LORD for His mercy endures forever.

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