Good Morning Dear Friends!
Today is the first day of the Democratic National Convention, and as one who believes there will be no completely successful government until the Lord Jesus Christ sets up HIS kingdom on earth with the overcomers ruling and reigning with Him in His throne as promised in Revelation 3:21, I do find myself tending to lean toward whatever strategy of governing looks and sounds most like principles and descriptions of life found in the Word of God.
(I also recommend getting a good concordance, or using http://www.biblegateway.com, and running references on the word "reign" to establish the truth in your hearts that the saints WILL rule and reign with Christ!)
As I was in prayer this morning, I felt quickened in my spirit to read Psalm 144. I recommend that everyone who is going to be watching the DNC with an intent to pray that truth would prevail, also read this scripture because it is replete with "prayer wisdom" for those who are going to engage themselves in prayer and spiritual warfare through this week!!!
144 Blessed be the Lord my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
2 My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
3 Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
5 Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
10 It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
13 That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
14 That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is theLord. Psalm 144:1-15
It is my inclination to let the Word speak for itself rather than to comment on all of the verses in this passage of scripture. However, I am quite struck by the similarity between verses 12 -15, and what has been commonly called the "American Dream", which is to be successful (blessed and prospered) enough that one can enjoy the benefits of their labor to the end that they are secure in their provision , their sense of safety, and especially secure in the reality that the blessings will be multi-generational, and not short-lived. The "current crisis of leadership" is straddled with the burden of disassociating themselves from the exact opposite state of affairs. But...rather than highlight the negatives, I'd like to take these few verses to encourage all who read this blog to understand and stand for the blessings of the Word of God for our country:
12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
Establishing Godly principles starts in childhood. Consider the nurturing it takes to see a plant properly mature, unless it is a wild, unsightly vine, weed tree, or some other undesirable vegetation. Consider the great care that goes into the cleaning and maintenance of a palace! It's a full-time, daily vocation! Society cannot expect good for our children or FROM our children if they are left to themselves without proper attention to both their upbringing as well as their education. Too many are in power who don't truly care about the end product (our children). Volumes could be said on this paragraph regarding all sorts of legislation, programs, entitlements, etc that affect our children's lives, but the clear admonish of scripture is to train them in a hands-on, conscientious manner like you'd care for a king's palace or a prized plant!
13 That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
If we were to see this verse literally come to pass, we'd have a huge mess on our hands, and need to hire sanitation workers around the clock to clean up after these animals roaming our streets. Rather it's speaking of the productivity of business and industry (ALL manner of store). There is an order to it: First the garners need to be full so that the "sheep" (workers) can be productive. Have you ever thought about the plight of the Israelites when they were in Egyptian bondage, under the hard taskmasters appointed by Pharoah? They were forced to labor when the garners were not full. See Exodus 5:5-7.
Who provides for the garners to be "full"? Look at the previous verse. It's those sons and daughters who were rightly raised to be good, productive citizens, and have been properly equipped to become leaders in business!! If you'll run references on words like "trees and plants" in your concordance, you'll find these things most often associated with stability, security, blessing and prosperity! And where are the results seen? "In our streets" which means out in the marketplace of society, and where the people live! Where ever you find the word "street" in scripture, it's speaking of how people relate to life in the society. And both Main Street and Wall Street (small business AND big business) have their roots in the fact that SOMEONE was "raised right" enough to effect the lives of many in a positive way! (And I am working on another blog regarding charitable acts and benevolence and the care of the poor and afflicted and what the scripture has to say on this subject, and hope to have it online within the next couple of days.)
Who provides for the garners to be "full"? Look at the previous verse. It's those sons and daughters who were rightly raised to be good, productive citizens, and have been properly equipped to become leaders in business!! If you'll run references on words like "trees and plants" in your concordance, you'll find these things most often associated with stability, security, blessing and prosperity! And where are the results seen? "In our streets" which means out in the marketplace of society, and where the people live! Where ever you find the word "street" in scripture, it's speaking of how people relate to life in the society. And both Main Street and Wall Street (small business AND big business) have their roots in the fact that SOMEONE was "raised right" enough to effect the lives of many in a positive way! (And I am working on another blog regarding charitable acts and benevolence and the care of the poor and afflicted and what the scripture has to say on this subject, and hope to have it online within the next couple of days.)
14 That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
Now....here comes the government. The "oxen strong to labour" speaks of our elected officials. This is to be their "modi operandi". In scripture, the oxen always refers those who SERVE. I gave myself to some diligent thought processes regarding how different life would be if elected officials truly purposed in their hearts to serve rather than to stay in power by pandering to special interests, lobbyists, or those who can help their political career. Honest public servants (again coming out of that pool of talent in verse 12 that was "raised right" from their youth) will roll up their sleeves and be "strong to labour". This verse of scripture advances the idea that when the politicians are honest servants, the results will be widespread security against criminal behavior or illegal entry into our country (breaking in), as well as a conscientious choice by the citizenry not to "go out". When in your own heart, you start considering where else you'd like to live besides America, you know we've got an overly self-indulgent government in control of our country.
15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord. Psalm 144:1-15
Here is the end result of living by these principles in a nutshell: HAPPINESS!!! I can't help but wonder if our Founding Fathers read this scripture when they coined that phrase, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These scriptures project a strong three-fold cord for a blessed, and prosperous society:
1. Take seriously the role of parenting. It's a "hands-on" job!
2. Garners "filled up" is predicated on the fact that children upon whom a strong work ethic was performed by those who raised them are carrying that attitude forth into the work environment, whether it be in small business, corporations, and all other industry in our society.
3. The government (the oxen), mentioned LAST and not FIRST, are working servants of the people so that safety and posterity can be preserved from one generation to the next!
Father in the Name of Jesus, I ask you to help us return as a nation to this model in scripture. We have gotten so far off track, it's hard to even know where to begin! I ask you to raise up men and women who have been trained from their youth to be selfless, strong, and courageous servants of the people to again take firm hold of the wheel and rudder of this ship of state, that as a nation we might be steered toward the haven of rest and out of the sea of turmoil with the winds of adversity that have been battering us into a stupor of acceptance of man's philosophies and vain deceit that are causing us to careen headlong into the ruin of our country. Let it be so, In Jesus Name, Amen and Amen!!!
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8