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“Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself
Then we will not turn away from you; revive us,
and we will call on your name.”
Psalm 80:17-18 (NIV)
This is a passage of a song (Psalm) of Asaph.
“Let your hand rest.
. . “When we give a person approval or comfort, we literally or
figuratively pat them on the back. When we receive guidance or comfort from
another person, they figuratively, sometimes literally, take us by the hand or
place theirs around ours. I remember a time when our son came home
unexpectedly, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Mom, I had a wreck.” This
was his first, and only, car wreck. His physical act was one of calming me.When people feel led to enter into full-time Christian work,
they have a commissioning service where pastors and other dignitaries lay hands
on the called person.
”. . .on the man at
your right hand. . “ Our Bibles
state the fact that Jesus sits at God’s right hand. Might Asaph be asking God to
give approval of Jesus? Why would He suggest this?
” . . . the son of
man you have raised up for yourself.” This passage points to the Son of Man, Jesus
the Christ.
”Then we will not
turn away from you. . .” Although Asaph commits Israel to something lofty
that the nation cannot stay with, He speaks what he sees as necessary for the
people’s strengthening as a nation and as a people of God.
” . . . revive us. .
.” Asaph asks God to renew Israel’s zeal for Himself—to breathe life back
into the people. When we look at our world, what do we see? People around us
are going out into eternity without a relationship with the Lord Jesus. We, as
Christians, need to get down on our knees and pray for God to pour out His
Spirit on each of us and on our world in order to bring all His children to
Him.
”. . . and we will
call on your name.” Asaph commits his fellow countrymen to pray for
guidance, with thanksgiving. As I reflect on this, we are to follow this
promise made to God. He gives us opportunity to come to him at least daily.
Do you remember your parents telling us we could talk to
them about anything? God is our heavenly Father; we can talk to him about
anything—good or bad. Several years ago, the church I was a part of lost a
pastor. The conference superintendent asked us to pray for the former pastor
and his family as much as we talked about them to one another. Those words have stayed with me ever since.
Our church is holding old fashioned tent revival services this weekend. There will be a series of messages from "John Wesley" and we will have those old fashioned hand fans. Tonight,after the service, there will be an ice cream social. Tomorrow afternoon will be a children's day (VBS). After the second service on Sunday, there will be an all-church picnic.
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