Seven Thousand

 

 Art by Khodchenko Valeriy

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 1 Kings 19:18

The comfortable information God gives him [Elijah] of the number of Israelites who retained their integrity, though he thought he was left alone. . .In times of the greatest degeneracy and apostasy God has always had, and will have, a remnant faithful to him, some that keep their integrity and do not go down the stream. It is God's work to preserve that remnant, and distinguish them from the rest, for without his grace they could not have distinguished themselves. God's faithful ones are often his hidden ones (ps.83:3) and the visible church is scarcely visible, the wheat lost in the chaff and the gold in the dross, till the sifting, refining, separating day comes. The Lord knows those that are his, though we do not; he sees in secret. There are more good people in the world than some wise and holy men think there are. . .

~ Matthew Henry

Grace to the Humble

“ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

The proud resist God: in their understanding they resist the truths of God; in their will they resist the laws of God; in their passions they resist the providence of God; therefore, no wonder that God resists the proud. How wretched the state of those who make God their enemy! God will give more grace to the humble, because they see their need of it, pray for it are thankful for it, and such shall have it. Submit your understanding to the truth of God; submit your wills to the will of his precept, the will of his providence. Submit yourselves to God, for he is ready to do you good. If we yield to temptations, the devil will continually follow us; but if we put on the whole armor of God, and stand out against him, he will leave us. Let sinners then submit to God, and seek his grace and favor; resisting the devil. All sin must be wept over; here, in godly sorrow, or, hereafter, in eternal misery. And the Lord will not refuse to comfort one who really mourns for sin, or to exalt one who humbles himself before him.

- Matthew Henry

Abundant Satisfaction

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. Psalm 63:5

There is that in a gracious God and in communion with him, which gives abundant satisfaction to a soul . . . And there is that in a gracious soul, which takes abundant satisfaction in God, and in communion with him.

~ Matthew Henry.

A Charge Given to Us

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. I Timothy 2: 1-2.

"A charge given to Christians to pray for all men in general, and particularly for all in authority. Paul does not send them any prescribed form of prayer. Paul thought it enough to give them general heads; they, having the scripture to direct them in prayer and the Spirit of prayer poured out upon them, needed not any further directions. The disciples of Christ must be praying people. There must be prayers for ourselves in the first place; this is implied here. We must also pray for all men. See how far the Christian religion was from being a sect, when it taught men this diffusive charity, to pray for all men. Pray for kings (v.2); though the kings at this time were heathens, yet they must pray for them. For kings, and all that are in authority. We must give thanks for them, pray for their welfare and for the welfare of their kingdoms, that in the peace thereof we may have peace. He does not say, "That we may get preferments under them, grow rich, and be in honour and power under them"; no, the summit of the ambition of a good Christian is to lead a quiet and peaceable life. . . Christians are to be men much given to prayer. In our prayers we are to have a generous concern for others as well as for ourselves; we are to pray for all men, and to give thanks for all men. Kings themselves, and those who are in authority, are to be prayed for. They want our prayers, for they have many difficulties to encounter, many snares to which their exalted stations expose them." ~ Matthew Henry

Thank you, Mr. Henry. Thank you for reminding me of a solemn duty which I have as a child of God. It's the desire of my heart that I and my children and their children may lead a quiet and peaceable life. May it be so, Lord Jesus.

My Times are in Thy Hand

My times are in thy hand... Psalm 31:15a

I hate to say this, but I think my brain is in standby mode. My computer is easy to wake up when its on standby, but not so when it's in hibernation, so maybe it's the latter with me right now. I haven't been in the mood for reading any books and the various writing projects which are waiting, all in different stages of development--well, none have been touched all summer. Soon it will be August and you know what that means: time to start getting ready for the next school year. I wasn't the happiest when the UPS guy brought the ABeka books for the coming year. All four boxes are sitting in the sunroom staring at me! Back in June when we finished up with last year, I had a list a mile long of all that I was going to accomplish before the next one.

For some reason, the Lord has not given me the heart for reading and writing right now. I don't know why. But I have been thinking about the above hymn all day, which would, of course, lead me to the verse in Psalm 31. I went to see what Spurgeon had to say about it in The Treasury of David and found the following quote from our friend, Matthew Henry:

When David had Saul at his mercy in the cave, those about him said, This is the time in which God will deliver thee. 1Sa 24:4. No, saith David, the time is not come for my deliverance till it can be wrought without sin, and I will wait for that time; for it is God's time, and that is the best time. Matthew Henry.

I like that one, don't you? If God brought this hymn and verse to my mind, then it was because He wants me to remember that His time is the best time. The day will come when I'll plunge full force into whatever He has for me to do, because He'll give me the heart to do it.

Maybe there is some aspect of your life where this lesson is being impressed upon you, too, as this verse can be applied in many ways. If we sing the first stanza together, then perhaps we'll both feel better. ( The remaining lyrics and the tune are here.)

My times are in thy hand;

My God, I wish them there;

My life, my friends, my soul, I leave

Entirely to thy care.

~William F. Lloyd, 1824

He Adored God in Both

"...Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Job 1:21

I didn't admit it verbally, but yesterday morning I was a bit grumbly in the inner man when the teacher for the Sunday school class above mine called me to ask me to take his class, because he had been up sick with a stomach bug during the night. Now, my first thought should have been concern for him and gratefulness for the opportunity to help a fellow saint (and extra children), but I'm sorry to say it wasn't. My first thought was irritation over the fact that the nice little lesson I had planned for the two sweet girls in my third and fourth grade class was being disrupted by these "older" kids, all of whom I'd previously taught. The lesson for the day was from the book of Job, chapters 1, 2 and 42. I had made up a nice little worksheet, specifically designed with my two girls in mind, and now I was also going to have five other students!

Well, need I say that our dear Lord showed me, once again, that He knows exactly what He's doing. Without going into too many details, suffice it to say that I was blessed yesterday. The story of Job once again touched my heart, and I do think it did the hearts of certain of the older students as well. I could tell. And one of my younger girls--I believe there were certain aspects that did hit home with her. I know that this teacher was affected, remembering those lessons from Job once again.

We all learned or relearned two crucial facts from that patriarch: God allows both good and bad things to happen in our lives; like Job, we have to trust in His providential workings in them all. We also learned that God can sovereignly restore blessings after they've been taken away.

I didn't get terribly deep with the children, but Matthew Henry did minister to my heart with his comments about the above verse (the second half is their memory verse this week). Referring to Job's response to the loss of all possessions, including his children, Mr. Henry said:

"He acknowledged the hand of God both in the mercies he had formerly enjoyed and in the afflictions he was now exercised with: 'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.' The same that gave hath taken away; and may he not do what he will with his own? See how Job looks above instruments, and keeps his eye upon the first Cause.

"He adored God in both. When all was gone he fell down and worshipped..."

Will you and I be able to do the same? And I am thankful for His forgiveness for my initial reaction yesterday morning.