Honor God

“Let the Lord’s people show him reverence, for those who honor him will have all they need. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will never lack any good thing.”  (Psalm 34:9-10 NLT).

I am constantly amazed at the unholy familiarity most have today with the Holy God.  The world uses His name in vain (even some Christians are guilty of the light use of His name as an exclamation of surprise), and even those who profess Him as Lord tend to treat Him with what appears to be a casual attitude.

This Psalm is a call to reality.  Those who know the Holy need to begin to treat both He and His things as Holy.  “Let the Lord’s people show him reverence.”

Now there are tremendous promises attached to this call: “for those who honor him will have all they need. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will never lack any good thing.”  God always provides for the needs of His faithful.  Always.  This doesn’t mean as the false teachers today proclaim that God is going to cause His faithful to roll in the dough, have great health, etc., etc.  What it does mean is that God in His grace will supply you with grace to help you whatever circumstances you may find yourself in.  For instance, He doesn’t promise to heal all of our diseases this side of eternity, but He does promise to give us the grace we need as we walk through the crisis.  He doesn’t promise to give us big houses or fancy cars, but He does promise to provide for us in our needs.

Some reading these words may argue, “But I know Christians who are hungry, etc.”  I do as well.  The promise is not to keep us from such experiences but to provide for us in those experiences.  Early in our marriage, Myra and I lived what we now know was well below the poverty line.  The ministry we were in did not pay much, and even then there were times when funds were not available to pay us at all.  During those days we would sometimes stop along the road-side to collect soda bottles to earn enough money to purchase something for dinner (usually a box of macaroni and cheese).

One dark day as we rode home we found nothing.  We knew we had nothing to eat at home, and as we approached the driveway, not one bottle had been collected.  It seemed as if we were going to go without dinner that evening.  But the promise of God is sure.  As I collected the mail, there was a plain envelope stuck in among our mail.  No markings at all were on that envelope and inside was a $10 bill!  That might as well been a million dollars as far as we were concerned!  God keeps His promises!

What difficulties are you facing today?  May I suggest that that is the problem?  You are facing your difficulties instead of turning and facing God.  Honor Him, reverence Him, thank Him and watch Him work!