SATURDAY 4th
Psalm 105
This is now the 105th devotion, my computer that I am using to type out the devotions says that up to the end of this devotion I will have used 108,784 words, this includes the songs I have included at the end of each one and it is 308 A4 pages. If I remove the songs it comes to 94,208 words. That is an average of 897 words per devotion.
The devotions have been sent out via email or text message to 47 contacts, which are reaching an even larger number of individuals, printed and posted to three more and has been posted every day on WordPress which has had 457 views over the period of time and a devotion has been read at least once in 2 countries, more than once in seven and over 390 times in the UK. The countries reached have been UK, Philippines, USA, Hungary, India, Russia, Pakistan, South Africa, UAE, Australia and Romania
At the same time, the weekly videos which we eventually got up and running have been reaching additional listeners. So the Church may have been in lockdown, in that we have not been able to gather together, but we have still had a voice in the world around us, and along with every other effort that has been made by Churches around the world, the gospel has continued to be shared, the Word of God has continued to be preached and taught and many needs have been met. To God be the glory.
In the Psalm which I have obviously chosen because it is the only chapter 105 in Scripture, it starts by saying ‘Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!’ I trust that when we do return to gather together that we will rejoice when we hear of the deeds the Lord has been doing among his people during what has been a lengthy and difficult time, for in it all God has been faithful, he cannot be anything else, because it is one of his characteristics.
V2 continues ‘Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!’ at the moment it would seem that the ongoing restrictions will prevent public singing, but in our hearts we can sing and rejoice.
The whole subject of this Psalm is of how the Lord has worked out his plan and purpose for the nation of Israel through slavery, exodus, and arrival into the land promised, it is a song that declares the goodness of God, his covenant keeping promises and his fulfilling what he intended to do, through whatever the circumstances may have been in which the Children of Israel found themselves in.
We need to constantly remind ourselves that God is in control, he wasn’t caught unaware when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and through the months in which we have gone down a road that we have never been before, God has been with us, individually, collectively as families, locally as a Church family and universally as the Church which is the body of Christ. He has been continually working out his purpose, as Job says in Job 42:2 ‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.’ God is in control.
Way back as it now seems to be on Sunday March 22nd, the Scripture that I used to commence these devotions was Psalm 147 ‘Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.’ We may not fully understand the way that we have had to go during these last few months, but God knows, we trust him, and as we slowly come out of the lockdown, and as the restrictions will be eventually lifted, we will move forward as a local Church, strengthened and renewed in our determination to be the local Church that he wants us to be as we seek to reach the community around us.
Thank you for your prayerful and encouraging support during this time toward one another as a Church family. As we start a new week, from tomorrow I will be taking a slighter different route with the devotions and will concentrate on bringing some devotional thoughts from the gospel of John.
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with thee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
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