VICTORY IN THE VALLEY

Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave [Psalm 142]

      The title of this Psalm tells us it was written by David when he was in a cave.  We are not told which cave he was hiding in, whether it was Adullam or Engedi.  King Saul was now seeking to kill him, and David was fearful for his life.  Three thousand men were searching the countryside for him.  It was against this dark background that David penned this psalm.

     In verse 4, we have his sorrowful words, “No man cared for my soul.”  It seems like the man after God’s own heart had forgotten about Jonathan, the king’s son in the palace, who loved David even as his own soul.

     How often we find ourselves in some dark cave of spiritual depression and feel that no one cares for us. Like David, we forget about the King’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us with dying yet undying love.  Peter, writing to those who were passing through a time of trial and testing, wrote these wonderful words, “Casting all your care upon Him: for He careth for you”  [1 Peter 5:7].

     This quaint little rhyme contains much truth.

Said the robin to the sparrow, “I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so. 

Said the sparrow to the robin,  “Friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me!

     The Lord, in His love, never ceases to care for His children.  Look to Him now by faith and trust Him to give you the victory in the valley.

[Rev. Stanley Barnes]

THE WICKEDNESS OF THE SATANISTS

     One of the most wicked of the Judean kings was Jehoiakim.  He reigned in Jerusalem from 607 – 597 BC.  One of his most wicked actions is recorded in Jeremiah 36.  God had given Jeremiah the task of writing a scroll containing the Word of God regarding His judgments of sinning Judah.

     Baruch took the dictation of Jeremiah and read it before the princes, who decided that King Jehoiakim should hear what the Lord had to say. Jehoiakim was in his winter house with a fire burning to keep him warm.  One of the king’s courtiers, Jehudi, began to read Jeremiah’s scroll.

     When Jehudi had read three or four leaves Jeremiah records that the king “cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was upon the hearth”  [Jeremiah 36:23]. Neither the king, nor his courtiers, showed any remorse for the dastardly deed of cutting up God’s Word.

     But Jehoiakim did not escape God’s judgement.  He died in disgrace, “He shall be  buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”

[Jeremiah 22:19].

     Fast forward to last week when the Satanists held a convention in the Marriott Hotel in Boston.  That in itself is somewhat surprising for the Marriott chain is owned by the Mormons.  The Satanic Temple involves itself in ‘unbaptizing’ Christians who abandoned Christianity for Satanism.

     But the worst was the report that a female delegate boasted about tearing up a Bible and pulling pages out of it.  This modern day Jehoiakim will pay dearly for her sin.  “Be sure your sins will find you out”  [Numbers 32:23].

THE WOUNDED PELICAN

     Some time ago, my wife and I had the privilege of a short break at Madiera Beach in Florida.  The white sand and warmth were a pleasant change from the white snow and freezing temperatures of a Toronto winter.  The many birds on the beach took our attention, from the very small sanderlings to the large pelicans diving for food just offshore.

     Pelicans are excellent fishers and sometimes it gets them into trouble. We watched them waiting to snatch the fish from the angler’s line, and that often means trouble.  Not only do they swallow the fish but also the ‘hook, line and sinker.’  The hapless fisherman has a great flapping pelican on his line.  Not knowing what else to do he cuts the line and the pelican flies off – probably to its death from either the hook, or by the fishing line snagging something and condemning the poor bird to a slow death.

     They reminded us how people lust after the devil’s bait, with the inevitable result “that sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.”  But there is hope for the sinner.  A man in Florida cared for the wounded birds and opened the Suncoast Bird Sanctuary, where hooks could be extracted, and birds nursed back to health again.  Today he has hundreds of grateful birds.

     I could not help but think that God has described Himself as “A little Sanctuary”  [Ezekiel 11:16].  The Lord Jesus cares for unfortunate sinners and is the only One who can extract the devil’s sinful hook and give us new life in Him.  Just as a man cared for the wounded birds, so a greater Man cares for the souls of dying men and women.  He urges Christians to be on the lookout for those in danger and to “Rescue the perishing, and care for the dying.”  Are you hooked by sin?

     Come to Jesus, He can give you new life, eternal life.