Verse of the Day - weekend 10/10

Through the Bible - Isaiah 45-50, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-3:5

 

Good morning,

I've mentioned before that Helmut Thielicke's sermons on the Lord's Prayer were delivered in war torn Germany amid the bombings of the Allied forces.  His sermon on "Thy Kingdom Come" was delivered in the choir of a church that had been reduced to ruins in a previous air raid.  In this sermon he stated , "The greatest mysteries of God are always enacted in the depths; and therefore it is the cry from the depths that always has the greatest promise".

 

Thielicke shared how he felt when he returned to his church which had been bombed and reduced to rubble, he felt utterly stricken.  He shared the following story:

"On one occasion when I was absorbed in these gloomy thoughts I was looking down into the concrete pit of a cellar which had been shattered by a bomb and in which more than 50 people had been killed.  A woman came up to me and asked whether I was so and so, since she was not sure who I was in the clothes I wore.  Then she said, "my husband died down there.  His place was right under that hole.  The clean up squad was unable to find a trace of him, all that was left was his cap.  We were there the last time you preached in the cathedral church.  And here before this pit I want to thank you for preparing him for eternity."

 

Two people returning to a place of catastrophe, where the worlds of two people seemingly had collapsed.  But their meeting, by God's grace, brought about a change in their hearts a change in their outlook. 

 

They were speechless at the time but he later said that "God can take our very lack of words and make it a praise.......  That's how God can comfort; that's how he can let His kingdom come."

Having this experience helped them both to press on.

 

This episode was brought to mind this morning as I read Psalm 27, it's where we'll go for this weekend's verse.

Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?

3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.    NKJV

At some point in our personal tragedies and trials we to must come to Him.  We may find that at the same time that God is bringing others to the same place so that we may receive and give comfort to one another.  This may not happen immediately, we may have even walked away from God at some point along the way.  We may not have been the prodigal from Luke chapter 15, but we still come to our senses, and return to the Father, to a place where He is waiting for us.  I was reminded of the song A Place Called Grace.  It's a song that's spoken to my heart over the last several years.

 

A Place Called Grace

So many years I heard it told
The story of compassion
A prodigal son who left the fold
And found no satisfaction
On my knees, Lord, I cried out to You
"I'm so alone
But if there's room in Your house for one more
I'm ready to come back home"

I know there is a place
Where arms of compassion welcome me home
Sweet mercy falls like rain
I know there's a place called grace

So many days I've trusted grace
Yet I have to wonder
How many times my human strength
Has kept me from surrender
The more I learn just to lean on the cross
The more I see
When I fall, I will fall to the place
Where mercy reaches me

If it seems that my courage is strong
There's just one reason
He's my rock when my faith is all gone
He holds me in His arms
Gives me strength to carry on

I'll close with a few verses from the end of Psalm 27:

Ps 27:13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.    NIV

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
Ps 27:1-9

 

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

 

4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

 

6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

 

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, "Seek My face,"
My heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek."

 

NKJV