14.a. “They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression  They set their mouths against the heavens”

Malachi 2:17  You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Psalms 95:9-10     when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”

Isaiah 43:24     You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.

Jeremiah 15:6    You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.

Ezekiel 16:43    Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

Psalms 73:3-15    For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.  They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.  Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.  Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.  They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression  They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.  Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.  And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”  Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

Ecclesiastes 8:11    Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Do you ever wonder if we are just continually asking things of God and forgetting to honor, worship, and glorify Him?  Don’t get me wrong it is good to seek the Lord with all those troubles and concerns that affect us or the ones we love.  Is it possible in all of this asking we lose sight of honor, glory, and praise to Jesus Christ?  Do we weary Jesus with this continual asking and minimal praise and worship?  Do we spend enough time in His Word to know of His greatness, power, knowledge, wisdom, might, grace, mercy, and love?  Do we spend enough time in His Word so that we recognize that which is worldly and that which is holy, true, just, and right?  Do we put God’s patience to test by confusing worldly cultural beliefs with those of God?  Is our heart astray? Are we always going backward? Are we calling evil good?  Think about this.  Many across our country approve of abortion, protest riots and looting, gay lifestyle, pornography, gay marriage, etc….. Is our country going backward?  Have our leaders abandoned Jesus Christ? Has our country become ice-cold to Jesus Christ?  There can be no compromise in our hearts and minds.  There cannot be room for the cultural beliefs of what is right and wrong to coexist with things of God.  Our foundation, rock, and steadfast truth are found in the Word of God, Jesus Christ’s redemption, and the indwelling Holy Spirit.  When we neglect God’s Word, deny honor and worship to Jesus Christ, and resist the Holy Spirit’s leading, that which is worldly is given space to root and it will easily confuse us in our understanding of what is right and wrong.  Just take a good look at what people are calling right and wrong right now and compare it with the Word of God and what it calls right and wrong.  We will do well to continually worship, honor, praise, and glorify Jesus Christ, studying His Word, and following, trusting, obeying, and relying on Him every day.

Not ashamed

“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Psalms 95:7  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Psalms 48:14     that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

Psalms 67:6     The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

Psalms 115:3     Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Exodus 15:2    The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him

Jeremiah 31:33     For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Romans 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Hebrews 3:7  Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,  where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’  As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”  Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” – When I think about God not being ashamed, it makes me think a bit about my daily actions and thoughts.  some days it seems as though I am only giving a few nods Gods way.  This is not what life of honor, service, obedience, and full commitment should be like.  Trusting in, relying on, clinging to is not only for times of immediate need.  It is a way of life.

Joyful Noise

Psalms 95:1  Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.  Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”  Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Singing and making a joyful noise seems to be an outpouring of knowing your salvation is anchored, you live in the presence of God, you see the magnitude of His creation, you have experienced the Shepherd’s guiding hand, and you have heard His voice and followed and obeyed Him.  Stay close to Him, honor Him, praise Him, give thanks to Him, kneel to Him, and worship Him.

God of Knowledge

“ Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.”

“knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

“Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

Malachi 2:17  You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Psalms 95:9  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”

Isaiah 1:14     Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

Isaiah 43:24     You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.

Jeremiah 15:6    You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.

Ezekiel 16:43    Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

Psalms 73:3  For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.  They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.  Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.  Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.  They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.  They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.  Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.  And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”  Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

Zephaniah 1:12    At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’

Discerning the will of God is a life long process.  Each day we are led into new understanding of serving Him.   Each day we find new mercies and blessings given to us by the grace of God.  This we find when we have a heart desire to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.  However if we do not we will find ourselves like many in the past who have become complacent and turned away from full commitment to Him.  These scriptures today explain the mind and thoughts of man.  You can see the application of the word of God and service to Him being diluted by complacency.  They do not even see that the path they are on is not God honoring.  Let each of us learn from this.  He will reward those who fully delight and desire to serve Him.