The Lesson of Psalm 123
Not long ago, God gave Helena a scripture that
teaches all of us an important lesson. It's in Psalm 123.
When we were going through intense financial difficulties, God gave me a
dream that someone gave us £100,000. But in that figure also were the digits
123. (It was a figure within a figure. Please don't ask me to explain it!)
When I awoke I wondered what God meant by the 123. Then He dropped Psalm 123
into my mind. It made sense when I read it.
God wants each person to look to Him far
more, and not just recognise intellectually that He is the Great
Giver and holds ultimate control of everything in His hands, but to lay down
at His feet our self-will and do His will. Then, things will go well and we
will fulfil the wording of verse 2:
As the eyes of servants (slaves) look to
the hand of their masters
[in other words, they
are entirely dependent upon their masters]...
so our eyes look to the Eternal our God...
Abraham did this. He put God first, being
careful to be diligently obedient to all God asked. Abraham's self-will was
replaced through the experiences God took him through, as he surrendered all
to do what God asked. (God asked the hardest thing of him -- to give up the
most beloved son, whom he had waited most of his life for.) Despite the
great love Abraham had for Isaac, God was more important to him than
anything else.
There are many things in life which steal
that prime position in our hearts which God should have.
A young man came to fellowship with us.
Previously, God had spoken to him personally about supporting this ministry.
He told us what God had said to him. It was quite an event for him to hear
from God. He knew it was a special word! He responded to God and gave us a
donation.
Some weeks passed, and he didn't contribute
anything further. (We weren't looking for it for ourselves but to see his
response, because it's as clear as daylight how someone gives money. You
can't help but notice, one way or the other.) Soon, he stopped attending. I
suspected he was finding the word difficult to obey -- and other commands of
God, too, because of his love for money. His selfishness was being
challenged head on. God tests everyone!
Something transpired and one of our daughters
had to contact him via a text message. I used the opportunity to point him
to our book Giving and Receiving and mentioned that there was a
prophetic word (corrective word) there for him on such and such a page. He
came to meet with us again one Sabbath after this and he mentioned how God
had spoken to him even more through what was written there. He cited the
message of Haggai, which was really poignant. Clearly God had reminded him
that it's essential to put the Work of God first, before self. Giving what
God requires is the start of knowing Him. It is elementary! Haggai's
corrective prophetic message berated the returned exiles that they had been
busy building their own homes before they had done their first duty
-- to build God's house. This young man was also putting his own life first.
He
mentioned and explained Haggai's message! We didn't. But did he then relate
that to his duty to fulfil the word which God had previously spoken to him?
He cited the lesson that Haggai had pronounced and seemed to think that he
had fulfilled it! Many Christians suffer from this delusion that, because
it's in their head, they have lived it out, too.
'Faith' without works is dead and useless.
Many don't have faith. They are still living in the flesh.
A few days later Jesus gave Helena a dream.
She saw people bowing down to a money god in their heads. They were all
committing idolatry. The more they did this, the more distant God became to
them. The love of money surely has many in its grip. They worship at the
shrine of their money god.
God is angry when people put money first
before Him!! By putting money
first, they cut themselves off from Him.
When God asks them to love Him more -- and
you can only do that by giving your money up, to Him, so your love for Him
takes the place of your love for money -- they can't do it. It is a cruncher
of a test. Many fail it. Judgement inevitably falls.
God may have to take away from you whatever
you put your trust in, to save you from spiritual destruction. Better to
give it to Him willingly! Until you learn to trust in God and not in mammon
or riches, you can never come to know how wonderful God is.
When He is all you have, then you can only look to Him.
That is the position of the slave in Psalm 123. He has nothing and can only
to look to his master. We are the Almighty's slaves. He wants us to humbly
and submissively revere and obey Him and not look for anything for
ourselves.
Malcolm B Heap,
September 2003
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