For the week of: Monday, January 15th 2007

"The Banner"

"O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you."
Psalm 88:1

Consider the woes of the Psalmist that he details after penning the
above words:
~ His soul is full of trouble,
~ His life draws near the grave,
~ He is like a man without strength,
~ He is like the slain who lie in the grave,
~ He says the Lord remembers him no more and has cut him off from His care,
~ He accuses the Lord of putting him in the darkest depths,
~ He feels confined and cannot escape,
~ His eyes are dim with grief,
~ He wants to know why the Lord has rejected him and hidden His face from him.

And there are a few more verses after that.

But look back at the first few words of the first verse again..."the God who saves me."  The Psalmist began with a statement of who God is - the One who saves.  All of the complaints, all of the accusations, all of the bitterness and confusion falls underneath the banner of those confirming words - he is the God who saves.

When you read his woes, did they sound familiar to your heart?  Did the waves of familiarity crash down on the deep and hurting places in your soul?

Have you cried out to Him?  Have you shaken your fist at the sky, raised your voice and told Him exactly how you feel?

It won't offend Him, you know.  He understands.  He will listen and I think sometimes He wants so badly to cup His hands around His celestial mouth and yell back, "I'm still here, I'm still in the business of saving my children and I WILL save you.  I will save you form all of the pits and all of the pain and all of the sorrow, trouble and darkness."  But He's counting on you and He's counting on me to
rememeber who He is - he is the God who saves.

Dear Abba Father,  we acknowledge that You are the Creator of the universe, the Alpha and the Omega, the God of power and might. Today we acknowledge that You are the God who saves.  Over all of our burdens, our despairs, our frustrations, our diseases and our pain we write this
banner...You are the God who saves.  We build the foundation of all of our hope on that Truth.  Through the blood of Jesus who binds us we pray, Amen.

Lovingly,
Kay