Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | May 9, 2013

“Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you …”

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 13:11-18.
 
“11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth;  and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.  12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence.  And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.  13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.  14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.  15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.  16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,  17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.  18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man;  and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”  Revelation 13:11-18.
 
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Today’s Scripture places us in the wilderness.  And, we certainly experience times when we feel like we are in a wilderness taunted by our enemies:  “Where is your God?”  

We need to remember God and hope in God.

“1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice ofjoy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.”  Psalm Chapter 43.

We also need to remember Scripture.  For example, consider “the bookends” of today’s Scripture.  The immediate preceding Scripture is Revelation 13:10:  “… Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”  God will preserve us.  God will cause us to persevere.  The immediate following Scripture is Revelation 14:1:  “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

“Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city.  And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master!  What shall we do?”  So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.”  And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw;  and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”  2 Kings 6:15-17.  

But yet, we may still struggle remembering God and remembering Scripture.  Our faith is not in us or in our memory.  Our faith is not even in our own faith.  Our faith is in God. 

“‘Do not fear, for I am with you;  Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”  Isaiah 41:10
 

And because God preserves us and otherwise also helps us, we persevere.

We may die, but God will cause us to be faithful until death.

But, whether we live or die, we belong to our “faithful Savior Jesus Christ;  who, with his precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil;  and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;  yea, that all things must be  subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes  me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.”  See Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 1.   

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