2. The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people

Genesis 41:29  There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt,  but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt.

1 Samuel 5:6    The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

Isaiah 24:20    The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it,

Exodus 9:3   behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.

Psalms 32:4    For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

Acts 13:11    And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.

Isaiah 5:7-30     For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!  Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.  The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.  For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”  Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!  They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.  Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.  Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her.  Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.  But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.  Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.  Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,  who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!  Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,  who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!  Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.  Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.  He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come!  None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap broken;  their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind.  Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue.  They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds.

Is their a living God, sovereign over all, who judges mankind and at times places His mighty hand heavily upon them?  Is there a living God that sees all thoughts and intents and actions of mankind?  Is there a living God that warns man?  Yes there is and it is not good to turn deaf ear to His warnings.  We easily claim His blessings and promises but rarely think of His warnings and discipline.  His warnings are out of love to keep us from doing harm to our soul and that which does not honor and glorify Him.  Pride, lust, greed and placing something other than God first in our life are all warned against.  When warnings are not taken to heart, or the heart and ears are hardened to not hear His warnings, and repentance and returning to Him is desired, the hand of God will be upon us.

This side of eternity it is a good thing to have the hand of God upon us and lovingly trying to turn us away from our wrong paths in life.  It is a very sad and dreadful day when we pass from this life into eternity without taking heed to His warnings.

Tomorrow I will start to post excerpts from a sermon Johnathan Edwards gave  July 8, 1741; “In the hands of an angry God”

Give God Praise

“I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”

“giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Psalms 57:7  My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Psalms 108:1 My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being!  Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!

Psalms 112:7     He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.

Proverbs 1:33   but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.

Proverbs 3:25  Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,  for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

Luke 21:9    And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Romans 5:3   Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Luke 21:19   By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Isaiah 26:3  You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

Psalms 118:8  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

Awake my soul and give thanks to God!  Awake my heart and mind, trust God and take refuge in Him! None of us are immune to having issues and when you think about it our attention and reliance on God seems to jump up to a totally higher level when trials and troubles come into our lives.  The thought that comes to mind; why is there another level to our attention and reliance on and in God during these times?  We would do well to be in attention and reliance of His presence every moment of our day.  Granted there are times of blessing and times of trials.  However, shouldn’t there be a high level of attention and reliance in times of blessings.  We easily understand crying out to our rock and refuge in times of trials.  We should just as easily sing out praises in times of blessings.  Singing and shouting out heart felt praises is a sure sign that you are not just seeking God when trials come but rather see His hand through out each day.  I was speaking with someone yesterday and reminded them of how their attention to signs of a stroke potentially saved the life of my sister.  He immediately said trust me on this – God made me see this and moved me to take action.  He alone allowed me to see this.  This was over 15 years ago and it is still fresh in his mind how God allowed him to see the signs.  He is still giving God praise because of this.  Everyday we have opportunity to see God’s hand at work and give Him praise.  Commit to seeing how many things you can give praise to God about today!!!

Why are you afraid?

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

“And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”

Psalms 46:10  “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress

Psalms 27:3    Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

Hebrews 13:6   So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Luke 21:9  And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”  Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

Luke 21:25  “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,  people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Matthew 21:21   And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

Luke 21:33   Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

2 Peter 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

There is much in the world that does not make any sense at all.  We hear the news all the time of things happening around the globe.  Some of this surely would bring fear if there is no God.  Surely we have right to be afraid.  But that is not what His word tells us.  He says there will be signs. In Hebrews it says “the Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me.  In Psalms it says “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.” We are told to trust in Him alone who is our fortress, refuge, and hope.  My wife and I were listening to a pod cast the other night and the man speaking said what is the worst that can happen to you in trusting God?  You die and go to heave to be present with Him forever!!!  Though there are troubles around us we have nothing to fear – God is bigger than any of them.  He is sovereign and has purpose for each of our lives.  Nothing will thwart His purpose and plan.  Place your trust and faith in Him.  Do you want to grow your faith? Do you want to have confidence to face whatever may come?  Spend time in His word daily.  Pray to Him.  Humble serve, honor and obey Him.  Truly desire to know Him.