"Never Forsaken" April 6 Readings: 1 Kings 1-2 Psalm 37, 71, 94

Today's Reading - 1 Kings 1-2 Psalm 37, 71, 94

Background

There is a powerful story in today's readings. 1 Kings 1-2 are all about scheming. Adonijah, in his bid for power, plots to undermine Solomon and claim the throne - with the help of powerful palace personnel. But God thwarts the schemes and accomplishes what he promised, putting Solomon on the throne.

I once heard faith defined as "living without scheming." When we trust God we don't have to scheme, plot, and manipulate. We just do right and let God handle things.

Psalm 37 buttresses this idea. Verse 3 says, "Trust in the Lord and do good." When you trust God you do what is right and leave the rest to him. Then, verse 5 states it powerfully.

Commit your way to the Lord;trust in him, and he will act.

Let God be God. Do what is right and trust your way to him. He will act. (Consider this a bonus devotional - two for the price of one today.) 

Devotional - Never Forsaken

I first heard the phrase in a song by Dallas Holm and Praise so many years ago. "I've never seen the righteous forsaken, or their seed begging for bread." I did not realize at the time that it was a Scripture verse, Psalm 37:25.

I have been young, and now am old,
  yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
  or his children begging for bread. 

Two thousand years ago, God sent his Son to the cross to pay the debt for my sins, so that I could be forgiven, redeemed, justified, and given eternal life. That ought to be enough, don't you think? After doing that for me, God ought never to have to do another thing for me as long as I live to demonstrate his love or to earn my gratitude.

And yet, throughout the years, he has been amazingly faithful. Though I have been so shaky, so unfaithful, so half-hearted in my devotion and service to him, he has never wavered in his amazing faithfulness to me.

In our young days, Jenni and I saw his faithfulness almost every month. During our seminary years, we had monthly bills of about $900 and a combined income of around $700, yet never once did we have to beg bread. One time we cooked up our last pot of chili and ate chili for 3 days until it was gone. We ate Cream of Wheat for breakfast. Tuesday night, we had a meal at our church (which, in God's humor, turned out to be a Chili cook-off!). Wednesday morning I ate the last of the Cream of Wheat and went to school. I checked my mailbox and there was a card with a $10 bill and a note that said "My God shall supply all your need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

When we were young, he did not forsake his children.

We drove a Plymouth Gold Duster throughout those years - held together by bailing wire and duct tape - the stories I could tell about the Duster! But it got us through all four years in Texas until I was hired for my first job in Florida. A friend from college helped me move from Ft. Worth to Jupiter and I drove him to the airport. On the way home, the engine of that ol' Duster blew up.

God kept that Duster going until the day I could afford something else!

He has been faithful to my kids. Josh called us one day in St. Louis on the way back to Liberty in Lynchburg, VA. The transmission on the old truck was acting up badly. We started praying and he kept driving - across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. He drove the truck into the parking lot of the dorm where he was an RA and parked it. That was the last time he ever drove that truck.

But our kids have never had to beg bread or hitchhike on the highway!

I was young, and now I'm growing old, but God has continued to be faithful - in spite of mistake after mistake after mistake I have made. This family has never been forsaken by our Heavenly Father.

NO, God hasn't promised us a life of ease and comfort, or a life free of hardship. Absolutely not. Sometimes, bad things happen int he lives of God's people. But this I know. I was young, and now I'm growing old. But in all that time my God has never abandoned me or been anything but a faithful God. Good God. Gracious and kind.

I've never been forsaken and my children have never begged for bread!

Thank you Father, for your faithful provision. First, you provided through Christ for my righteousness, the greatest gift a sinner like me could receive. Then, having given me that gift, you've given me every good and perfect gift along with it. 

Think and Pray

Do you live in faith in God, or do you plot, scheme, and manipulate to get your way? Do you do what is right and good and trust God?
Are you trusting God for provision for your life?