The Lord lives

"The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation! – 2 Samuel 22v47

You can almost sense the anticipation building as you read through David’s praise psalm here. I think there is a lesson even in this for us. When we are caught in our troubles we can get mired in them, but if we are focused on praise and glorifying God that leads to more and more praise. Once we really start thinking about Him and focusing on Him it will lead us to the point where we can be consumed by Him and all He is and does.

‘The Lords lives! Blessed be the Rock! Let God be exalted!’

It is so easy to forget these basic truths when we are looking at all the problems and challenges we face. Time magazine infamously asked the question ‘Is God dead?’ on their cover in April 1966. The debate that Time was talking about goes back to a quote by Nietzsche when he said ‘God is dead, and we killed Him.’ What Nietzsche was saying though is that man was wiped God has out of his life and that man was worse off without Him.

Obviously, man cannot kill off God. Yet, we as His children can often act like God is dead. When things get dark and seem hopeless we can behave as thought God, our heavenly Father, has somehow died and left us without hope.

In the winter of 1864 America was being ripped apart by a long and bloody civil war. A nation which had seemed to love God now must have felt like He had disappeared. The great poet William Longfellow wrote a poem that endured through the year. We now sing that song as a Christmas carol, but it is great reminded of a truth that we are often tempted to forget. One line sticks out in my mind this morning - ‘God is not dead, not doth He sleep.’

Our God is alive. We must never forget that. He is alive and awake and attuned to the needs of His children. Our God is alive. Lets face every day with that blessed assurance!