LORD God of hosts

Shepherd Of Israel

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Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.  Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Thy strength, and come and save us.
Turn us again, O God, and cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.  Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.  Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.  The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.  She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast Thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?  The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
Return, we beseech Thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;  And the vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.  It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance.
Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for Thyself.  So will not we go back from Thee: quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name.
Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Psalm 80:1-19

My Sins Are Not Hid

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“Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
O God, Thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from Thee.
Let not them that wait on Thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek Thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.”  Psalm 69:1-7  (KJB)

Deliver Me From the Workers Of Iniquity

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“Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD. They run and prepare themselves without fault: awake to help me, and behold.
Thou therefore, O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.”  Psalm 59:1-5  (KJB)

The Time for Wise Actions

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For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.  Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.  Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.  Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; ‘Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! alas!’ and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.  And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.”  Amos 5:12-17 (KJV)

If you will note the way of things as the prophet Amos declares them.  Bribery, the poor cannot get a fair deal.  His word is to “Seek good, not evil” and to “Hate the evil,…Love the good, establish judgment in the gate…”  We live in an era of decay; moral decay and depravity, injustice in the courts, through wrong and at times idiotic rulings by corrupt judges.

“Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.”  It could be that the prudent or wise, need rather than speaking, just need to act on doing the right things.  Something to think about.  There is of course a time to do both.

-T.A.

 

Expectantly Looking for God

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Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.  The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.  He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto Him: he found Him in Bethel, and there He spake with us; even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is His memorial.  Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.”  Hosea 12:1-6 (KJV)

Here are the words of the prophet who is telling the nation of Israel/Ephraim to trust, to expectantly wait for the Lord.  They were to do that by keeping mercy and right judgment.  “Wait on thy God continually” is to expect the coming of the Lord; to trust that He was coming.

For the Christian who is following Jesus today; that message is one we must heed as well.  Jesus told the disciples and us; “Occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13).  Though He says this in a parable, it is still a powerful command to His people.  The command means to be busy living for Christ, as we carry on our daily duties, our labors, and our recreations.  Do so, however, with expectancy of the soon return of the King of kings.  He is coming.

-T.A.