An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Psalm 74 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.

O God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? ² Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
³Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary. ⁴ Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; They have set up their own standards for signs. ⁵ It seems as if one had lifted up His axe in a forest of trees. ⁶ And now all its carved work They smash with hatchet and hammers. ⁷ They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name. ⁸ They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.” They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land. ⁹ We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, Nor is there any among us who knows how long. ¹⁰ How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever? ¹¹ Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? From within Your bosom, destroy them!

¹² Yet God is my king from of old, Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
¹³ You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
¹⁴  You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵ You broke open springs and torrents; You dried up ever-flowing streams. ¹⁶ Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun. ¹⁷ You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember this, O Lord, that the enemy has reviled, And a foolish people has spurned Your name. ¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever. ²⁰ Consider the covenant; For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. ²¹ Let not the oppressed return dishonored; Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.

²² Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish man reproaches You all day long. ²³ Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, The uproar of those who rise against You which ascends continually.

In today’s text the psalmist makes his plea and his complaint to God for the situation and circumstance the Israelites are in, saying:  The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary. Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; They have set up their own standards for signs. It seems as if one had lifted up His axe in a forest of trees. And now all its carved work They smash with hatchet and hammers. They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name. They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.” They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land. We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, Nor is there any among us who knows how long. How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever?    Was it God who caused the situation? Or, was it the actions and the disobedience of the Israelites?   In Deuteronomy 30:11-20 God said:  “This commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,  by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”   Do we also, like the psalmist, sometimes find ourselves in situations and circumstances that are the result or the consequence of our own actions and disobedience? Have we perhaps not chosen to walk fully in God’s way, yet when trouble comes, we cry out to God asking that He live up to His promises for us?

The psalmist says:  Yet God is my king from of old, Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.  You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You broke open springs and torrents; You dried up ever-flowing streams. Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun. You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.    We too, when we become desperate, acknowledge God’s greatness and His goodness. We remind Him, as if He has forgotten, of all that He has done for us and others in the past. We remind Him of His promises to us and for us. We declare His word regarding our situation and circumstances. We need to recognize that it is not God’s hand of punishment against us that has caused our situation, but rather it is our choosing to walk away from His hand of protection that is often the cause. Perhaps we should remind ourselves of our part, our choice in the matter. Perhaps rather than remind God we should choose Him. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God tells us what we need to do when it seems as though God has left us. He says:  If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.    1 John 1:5-9 says:  God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   God is faithful, even when we have not been. If it seems as though we are removed from God’s hand of protection, perhaps it is we who need to humble ourselves and seek God; turn to Him rather than from Him.

God is faithful to His word and all of His promises to us and for us. Our victory is assured in Christ. He has already overcome everything that can come against us, through the cross. Have you ever heard the saying: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?  That is true for us who believe in Christ.  God says: The commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.    In John 14:15-17 Jesus says:  “If you love Me, keep My commandments.And I will pray the Father, andHe will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth,whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with youand will be in you.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for Your promises to and for me. Forgive me when I turn from You and in Your great mercy and grace redeem and restore the things that have been lost by my walking away from your hand of protection. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to guide me that I may walk with You in Your way.   Amen.