Thought For Today - May 17 - Cry Unto the Lord !

Thought For Today - May 17
 Cry Unto the Lord!
By: Robert A Searles

    "Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert. Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever." Psalm 28

 Notice a small child, when he wants something, what does he do? He cries and throws a tantrum to his parents or to those who are in charge of him until he gets their attention and makes them become aware of his desires. Sometimes he gets what he cries for and sometimes he doesn't; but the point is, he makes them become aware of his desires. God wants his children to cry unto him with hope and enthusiasm for the things that we need and desire. We are to approach God as dear children. The bible tells us that except we come as little children, we cannot approach God.

    Sometimes small children cry and throw tantrums and nag their parents for things that are good and right for them, and sometimes they nag for things which are wrong and bad for them. It is up to the parent to decide what is best for the children, but the point of all this is that the small child has enough knowledge and faith and confidence in his parents to believe that his parents love him enough so that they will not ignore his crying and nagging.

    God honors our faith and confidence in him as a parent and he wants us to cry unto him and nag him, as it were, for the things that we need and desire, and as a wise God and father , he never ignores us but gives us those things which he knows are good and right for us.  If we want to be built up and prosper, we must regard the works of the Lord and realize that the universe is his. He made it, and he has a perfect right to control it.

    A parent gives a child protection when that child puts his faith and confidence in the tender mercies of his parents. Likewise, God shields us and protects us when we come running and crying to him as a child.  Jesus, in the garden, cried and cried to  God in such agony that he sweat drops of blood. 

Jesus told the story of the man who was asleep with his family, and his neighbor came pounding on his door and nagging him. He had to open the door because of his constant nagging. Jesus likened this to God answering us if we are consistent and constant in prayer.  God answers those who believe in him enough to keep pounding at his door and crying unto him like dear children.

    "And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the Lord because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh." Exodus 8: 12. 

 "And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? And he (Moses), cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them." Exodus 15: 24,25.

    "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth." 2 Samuel 22: 7,8. 

 "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." Psalm 34: 17.

    "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;...." Exodus 3:7. 

 Egypt is a type of the world in which we live, surrounded by sin and corruption. As God heard the cry of the children of Israel while they were in Egypt and delivered them, so he will hear our cry from our surroundings and deliver us.

    "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27: 46. 

 Jesus thought it to be effective to cry aloud with a loud voice to God. In the coming kingdom of God there will be no more need for crying and nagging because our inheritance will be in our hands, and we will be in the presence of God.

"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Isaiah 65: 19.  

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21.4

    While we are still here on earth, waiting for the return of the Lord, and waiting for his kingdom to come, what a privilege we have to come crying to God as his dear children.

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