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1 Why do you brag of evil, "Big Man"? God's mercy carries the day. 2 You scheme catastrophe; your tongue cuts razor-sharp, artisan in lies. 3 You love evil more than good, you call black white. 4 You love malicious gossip, you foul-mouth. 5 God will tear you limb from limb, sweep you up and throw you out, Pull you up by the roots from the land of life. 6 Good people will watch and worship. They'll laugh in relief: 7 "Big Man bet on the wrong horse, trusted in big money, made his living from catastrophe." 8 And I'm an olive tree, growing green in God's house. I trusted in the generous mercy of God then and now. 9 I thank you always that you went into action. And I'll stay right here, your good name my hope, in company with your faithful friends. (Psalm 52 The Message Bible)
A blessed Thursday dear Friend for you and yours. May God bless you with wonderful blessings and surprises that you can share with others is my prayer for you! As we pray, let me ask you to pray for The Rev. Milford R. (Zeke) Zirkel, an elder who has served in our conference and its predecessor conference since 1950, was diagnosed with cancer last week and is now in hospice care. The family asks for your prayers. Rev. Zirkel only recently stepped out of the pulpit due to health concerns. He was serving at Aransas Pass UMC until last month. Rev. Zirkel comes from a family committed to serving. His son, Ray Zirkel, serves in Costa Rica. Nephews and nieces include retired DS Carl Rohlfs, retired pastor Rev. Margaret Decker, and the late Rev. Claus Rohlfs Jr. Please also pray for Dena Fritz’s niece Ashley Moore who lives in Corpus Christi. Ashley is having a breast biopsy today and will get results tomorrow.
Also, please pray for a smooth recovery and minimal discomfort for little Autumn Smith (daughter of Amanda and Dewey). Autumn had tubes placed in her ears and her adenoids removed this morning. May God grant these blessings to these dear people, and may God bless you for praying for them. Pray for one another, and pray for the world. And a personal pet request, our granddog, Arnie Cortez, who's been in the family for ten years, jumped off the family couch in Austin and may be paralyzed. He's in a lot of pain as are we, as Saraí, Eric, and Sarita pray and ponder what's best for little man. Please pray God's comfort be with the Cortez'. God is good.
Big Man. Just the sound of that word brings back black and white era movies of a bad guy who is known for the size of his hatred and/or evil. His shadow casts fear. The one true "big man" I knew in my college days was a bus driver in the summer and a tractor-trailer driver during the school year. He was a sweetheart with the kids and myself. I was the site director for a summer gubment program called the Neighborhood Youth Corps. We put on many miles with Big Man at the wheel. This "big man" the psalmist is talking about is the embodiment of the evil of God's own people, Israel. Didn't we just study them yesterday? It's a frequent stop on the OT* Railroad. This Big Man brags of evil and of his schemes; he's armed with a razor-sharp tongue, and quite skilled in lies, a lover of evil, and blatant in calling black white. He thrives on gossip and his vocabulary is limited to four-lettered words. What God has in mind for him is to destroy him, then scoop up the remnants, and throw them up. His roots while hardily holding on to life, will be yanked out and tossed into outer darkness. This talk is all about the evil ones of Israel. The good ones will only be able to watch and worship God in gratitude. Then they'll laugh by saying, "Big Man bet on the wrong horse, trusted in big money, made his living from catastrophe. Bye!" And those who always trusted in God will say, "And I'm an olive tree, growing green in God's house. I trusted in the generous mercy of God then and now." They will remain trusting in God because they know God is with them, having responded always with action when they were in need, and that has kept them near God then and will keep them there now. God's name is our hope, and we stay in company with faithful friends.
Yesterday the prophet Amos asked where our faith was; today the psalmist is asking where our heart is. I pray we can respond and say our faith and heart are in the Lord God. It is God who has blessed us and will bless us by our staying faithful and connected to God.
PRAYER: Awesome God, may our lives never become stories on pages of evil. May we seek to brighten up the live of ours and bring hope to them. Make us shining examples of Thy peace; in Christ Jesus we pray, in Christ Jesus, Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Show someone the joy God has placed in your heart today!
Receive my blessings of hope and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde *Old Testament
