Friday, February 3, 2023

today's meditation (Nah.1) Taking Refuge

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Nahum 1:1-15) The pronouncement of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:

2   A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
     The Lord is avenging and wrathful.
     The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,
     And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
3   The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
     And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
     In the gale and the storm is His way,
     And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
4   He rebukes the sea and dries it up;
     He dries up all the rivers.
     Bashan and Carmel wither,
     The blossoms of Lebanon wither.
5   Mountains quake because of Him,
     And the hills come apart;
     Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,
     The world and all the inhabitants in it.
6   Who can stand before His indignation?
     Who can endure the burning of His anger?
     His wrath gushes forth like fire,
     And the rocks are broken up by Him.
7   The Lord is good,
     A stronghold in the day of trouble,
     And He knows those who take refuge in Him.
8   But with an overflowing flood 
     He will make a complete end of its site,
     And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

9   Whatever you devise against the Lord,
     He will make a complete end of it.
     Distress will not rise up twice.
10 Like tangled thorns,
     And like those who are drunken with their drink,
     They are consumed 
     Like stubble completely dried up.
11 From you has gone out 
     One who plotted evil against the Lord,
     A wicked counselor.

12 This is what the Lord says:

     “Though they are at full strength and so they are many,
     So also they will be cut off and pass away.
     Though I have afflicted you,
     I will afflict you no longer.
13 So now, I will break his yoke from upon you,
     And I will tear your shackles to pieces.”

14 The Lord has issued a command concerning you:
     “Your name will no longer be perpetuated.
     I will eliminate the carved image and the cast metal image 
     From the house of your gods.
     I will prepare your grave,
     For you are contemptible.”

15 Behold, on the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news,
     Who announces peace!
     Celebrate your feasts, Judah,
     Pay your vows.
     For never again will the wicked one pass through you;
     He is eliminated completely.


TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
About a hundred years before this, Jonah had gone to Nineveh to warn them that God was going to destroy the city.  They all repented and believed in the Lord, and so the Lord spared them.  Sadly, the next generations, even though they "knew better", didn't have any interest in the newfound faith and went right back to their evil practices.  
Given that the Lord is jealous, avenging and wrathful, we should be so very thankful that the Lord is also slow to anger. good and great in power!  So it is never too late, but why wait.  The good news of peace is that we can take refuge in Him by accepting His free gift of salvation, and He is faithful to protect us for all eternity.  For those who take refuge in Him, He is a stronghold. 

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