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I Haven Never Seen the Righteous Forsaken
“I’ve been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread”. Psalms 37:25
Jesus will take care of His Chosen people.
Let’s take a little trip back in time. David the Lord’s anointed one to the throne of Israel and his men went to battle the enemy. David was victorious. As he and his men were returning to camp, they began to do as all men do, brag about the battle. They told David now great a leader he was and they gave thanks to God for the victory. As the men returned to camp they were met with a deafening silence. The cries of joy were not to be heard from the women and children of the conquering army. All they could see was the smoke and ashes of their burnt camp. While David and his men were fighting the enemy on the one side, another enemy had come from behind and captured all the women and children. Isn’t that just like the enemy, when we have come through our greatest victory, he tries to destroy us through our children or spouse! Now these same men, who just moments ago were praising God and David for an easy victory were now blaming David because their women and children were gone. Their grief was so much they wanted to stone David. David, also was distressed for he had lost two wives. The difference was that David encouraged himself in the Lord. Instead of stressing, he went to intercessing! After his intercessory prayer, David took his men and conquered the enemy returning all that they had lost.
“I’ve been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread”. Psalms 37:25
Let’s take a look at Job. We all know the story of Job; how he was a rich man and the Lord allowed all that he had to be taken away. Job’s three “friends” and his wife told him to curse God and die. By the way, if your friends are only your friend during the good times and not the bad, then are they really friends? I don’t know about you but I won’t stay around a person who is always negative. A person who always has a wrong attitude is on the wrong altitude! Sorry, I got on my soap box. Back to Job. Job could have been discouraged, he had every right to be dismayed and he had every right to blame God. After all wasn’t it God who allowed this to happen? Despite all these things Job said “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away”. But Job didn’t stop there he continued “Blesseth be the name of the Lord”. Job held fast to his belief and love for God. As a result God restored to Job two-fold all that he had.
The bible tells us that He will put no more on us than we are well able to bare. I can still remember a dear sister in the church saying, “ There are times when I have thought that God has over estimated my ability to bare”. Can I get a witness? There are times when you pray and the only sound you hear is a pinning dropping on carpet two blocks away. Remember Daniel who prayed continuously three times a day and could not get an answer. Finally the angel of Lord appears and says “I heard you when you first prayed”. Sometimes when you pray it takes patience to hear an answer. Rest assured like that old song; “God is an on time God, he may not answer when you think He should, but He will answer right on time.”
I’ve got a secret that some of you may already know. The quickest and best way to reach God is through praise and worship! I’ve been studying and preparing some lessons on The Tabernacle in the Wilderness, Revealing Jesus through the Tabernacle. Awesome study, makes you sit back and be amazed. This study makes you understand the versus in the Bible where it says “line upon line, precept upon precept”. All must come by the Brazen Altar (repentance), proceed to Brazen Laver (water baptism) before we can come to Most Holy Place (Jesus). But before you get to the Most Holy Place (Jesus) you arrive at the Golden Altar of Incense. Incense is a type of praise and worship, so in order to get to Jesus we must praise and worship Him.
Now a couple of things about the Golden Altar of Incense, 1) the incense was to continually burn and never go out, 2) the altar was made of pure gold.
One job of the high priest was every morning and evening was to add new incense to the altar and to stroke the fire. Remember the incense was to continually burn and never to go out. Our praise and worship should be continual and never stop. The incense was a sweet smelling and pleasing scent. You know the Outer Courts of the Tabernacle was not a pleasant smelling place. Think about it a minute this was the place were the blood sacrifices were offered. Has anyone ever been to a meat packing plant or meat market where the animals are butchered? Trust me, it is not incense! In Exodus 35, the bible says the aroma of the incense would come out of the Holy Place and fill the camp. You can always tell God’s people by their praise and worship! We also notice that the Tabernacle was not the only place where the incense burned. When the camp of Israel was on the move the incense was burning. The sweet smell of praise and worship was always with the camp. As we go about our daily lives, then praise and worship should follow you. The people around you should notice the sweet smelling incense of your life around them.
The altar was made of pure gold. When my kids were young, we went on vacation in Colorado. While there, we went 2000 feet underground to tour a gold mine and at the end of the tour we were given a small piece gold ore. To be honest the gold ore was ugly. It was just a piece of rock with very small gold flecks embedded in the ore. That little piece of ore could not be used to purchase anything, there was no value to that rock. In order to make the gold ore valuable, it has to be taken to the furnace and heated then the gold melts and comes out of the rock. Only when the heat was applied did the pure gold come forth. Does anyone see where this is going? Until the “heat” of trials and testing are applied to our lives the gold will not come. Through our trials, testing and temptations we will come forth as pure gold. That is the reason for our trials. We need the heat to separate us from the world.
“I’ve been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread”. Psalms 37:25
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