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Listen, Shepherd, Israel's Shepherd - get all your Joseph sheep together. Throw beams of light from your dazzling throne So Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh can see where they're going. Get out of bed - you've slept long enough! Come on the run before it's too late. God, come back! Smile your blessing smile: That will be our salvation. God, God of the angel armies, how long will you smolder like a sleeping volcano while your people call for fire and brimstone? You put us on a diet of tears, bucket after bucket of salty tears to drink. You make us look ridiculous to our friends; our enemies poke fun day after day. God of the angel armies, come back! Smile your blessing smile: That will be our salvation. (Psalm 80:1-7 The Message)
Have you ever said or done something wrong, and someone walks away? It's a terrible feeling isn't it? Yesterday in our Bible study we were studying the life of Paul and we came across the verse, "Don't let the sun go down on your anger," and we talked of how this has saved many a marriage. My thought is that if one spends one night on the couch in anger, away from one's spouse, a second night becomes easier, and by the third night, other thoughts about moving out or away from the marriage might enter in our heads. Here, the psalmist is saying that because of Israel's actions, God had walked away from them. They realize God is their shepherd and as a result of their own actions, the sheep have scattered; only God can bring them back together. Because God's light is no longer present among them, they're in darkness and need God's light to once again shine in their lives. The verse says, "God, come back! Smile your blessing smile: That will be our salvation." Our own actions have brought about this diet of tears that we're on; we're at the point of ridicule from all of our enemies, come back!
God did come back. It was in the form of a baby, born in the prophetic little town of Bethlehem; and from there all prophecies in their scriptures were fulfilled, and we had and have, our Messiah, our Lord and Savior. Though it may seem at times that God has moved away from God, it's us that have moved. I have always loved the illustration of the older couple riding in a car when they see an older vehicle with two young people sitting side by side (the two-headed monster as was said of those couples), and the wife says, "Remember when we used to do that? Why don't we do that any more?" The husband replies, "It wasn't me that moved away!" And so it is with us, we are the ones who choose to move away from God; God stays in HIs place and enters in wherever He is invited.
We should invite God to be even closer today than He was yesterday.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to stay on the path of righteousness. Help me to live in ways that bless You and Yours. I pray that I might stay in the light of Your smile. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Let your smile reflect God's smile today in the lives of those around you!
Eradio Valverde
Prayer Update: I spoke with Rev. Scott Bradford yesterday and he was still in some pain. He will have more mobility today and so please pray that God be with him as he faces a minor procedure to give him mobility; and for complete healing. Blessings for your prayers!
