Most of us eat every day, some of us too much because yesterday's food
is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do some
of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to keep
us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all
of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to
live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host,
author speaker, Elle David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning.
It is Sunday, January twenty eight, twenty twenty four. Hello,
my name is Elle David Harris. I am your host, and this is
your Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single day, and today
is no exception. We are continuing in our lesson study series through the Book
of Psalms, and our caption for today is the Days of Evil, The
Days of Evil. We'll get in to that in just a moment, but
first I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to please go over
to your Daily Portion dot com. Please join our online community. Also pick
up the Your Daily Portion book. This is a way that we can continue
to build faith and fellowship at your daily portion dot com. Let's go ahead
and pray, and then we will get underway. Father and Heaven, thank
you for giving us this new week and this new day, and for the
privilege that we have to call on your name. I'm praying Father now that
you will deliver us from these days of evil, that you will deliver us
from all things that do not please you. In Jesus name, I pray
Amen and a men again the days of evil? All right? And so
I want to go down to the bottom of the lesson study and read a
quote from the book Desire of Ages before I get into the reading from the
Scriptures, and it comes from page six hundred and seventy one, and it
reads, the honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in
the perfection of the character of his people. Can I say that again,
the honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection
of the character of his people. Can I just say, just for a
moment here, that a lot of times we ask for God to do things
because we desire them, and we should. I mean, He wants us
to ask anything, and if it's according to his will, he will hear
us, and then he will grant the thing that we desire of him.
And so that's important. But at the same time, we see in the
time of Moses when God said he was going to destroy his people because there
is stiff necked people, and Moses said, for thine own name's sake,
do not destroy these people. These are your people, God. And so
what I want you to see in this quote is that the honor of God
and the honor of Christ is involved in the perfection of the character of his
people. So if you're having a problem with patience, then you can call
upon God and say, Lord, in order for me to honor you,
this is not a word play, Brothers and sisters, In order for me
to honor you, would you please please deliver me from this fill in the
blank like if you have a problem with patience, if you have a problem
with gossip, if Lord, it is honoring to you. We know that
it is honoring to you, It is honoring to Jesus. Could you please
deliver me from this gossiping tongue. It is an honor to you, it
is an honor to Jesus' father. Please, will you deliver me from my
impatience. Please make me more holy? Will you please make me a better
father, a better brother, a better sister, a better daughter. Will
you please please teach me how to listen for your voice in a new way
like Enoch did he walked with you. Because it is honoring to you,
it is honoring to Jesus. Will you please do so? And it is
not that God somehow is waiting for us to say the perfect catchphrase, because
the Bible does tell us that we don't know what to pray for as we
ought, but the Holy Spirit moans and groanings that cannot be uttered. So
we are clear on that. But let me just again say that because it
is honoring to God, it is honoring to Christ. Our goal is to
call our attention and to bring it into our prayer time so that we are
in alignment with God. That whatever it is that we ask, whatever it
is that we desire, it is about honoring God ultimately. Okay, And
so the question on the bottom of the lesson, how do you understand this
important truth and what should it mean in your own Christian life? I gave
you you an example, and so we're going to go back up to the
Book of Psalms, the Book of Psalms, chapter seventy four, and read
verse beginning at verse eighteen, and the Bible reads, remember this, that
the enemy hath reproached, Oh Lord, and that the foolish people have bla
hath blasphemed thy name, Oh, deliver not the soul of thy turtle dove
unto the multitude of the wicked. Forget not the congregation of the poor forever
have respect unto the covenant. Or the dark places of the earth are full
of habitations of cruelty. Oh, let not the oppressed return shame. Let
the poor and needy praise Thy name. Arise, O Lord, plead thine
own cause. Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. You see,
so again, the Psalmist is saying here about all of the oppressed, all
of the poor. And you see that citation about or that allusion to turtle
doves. Those individuals who had to offer the sacrifice of turtle doves were the
ones who didn't have the means to bring the larger sacrifice that was prescribed in
the sanctuary service. And so God is saying that the oppressed, the poor,
the needy, and all of these individuals who seem to have been forgotten.
For your own namesake, God, plead your own cause. Remember how
the foolish man reproaches the daily. Please come through for these people. Why
because the days are evil, because your name is at stake, Will you
do what you promised to do? You see, So when we are praying,
we are calling the power of God to bear on the things that he
has already said that he hates. The Psalmist seeks to grasp the great controversy
between God and the evil one. He points to God's unfathomable forbearance as well
as his infinite wisdom and power. The problem of evil in the Psalms is
primarily theological. It inevitably concerns questions about God. Thus, the destruction of
Jerusalem in the Temple is seen principally as a divine scandal because it provided an
opportunity for the heathen to blaspheme God, and I can continue reading, but
I won't. I think you get the point. And so when we see
in the Psalms that there are manifestations of evil like people who are proud continue
to seem to prosper. Now we call into discussion and not as if we
can, as if we can put God on trial, but we call into
discussion God, what does this mean about you? It means? Does it
mean that you are patient? And for it doesn't mean that you are holy?
And then you will at some point destroy those who are destroying others?
What does it say about God? This is what we need to be looking
for every time we read the scriptures. What does this say about you?
God? What does it say about you? And if we were to read
in a book of Psalms, chapter seventy nine, it looks like we won't
have enough time, But I'll read just a couple of verses. Psalm chapter
is seventy nine. We see this message repeated, and I will read beginning
at verse five, and the Bible reads again, how long wilt thou be
angry? Oh Lord? Forever shalt thy jealousy burn like fire. Pour out
thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, upon the kingdoms that
have not called upon thy name, For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste
his dwelling place. Oh, remember not against us former iniquities. Let thy
tender mercy speedily prevent us, For we are brought very low one more verse
verse nine, help us, o, Lord of our salvation, the glory
of thy name, and deliver us and purge away our sins for thy name's
sake. So you see that he is calling. The Psalmist is calling upon
the name of God to do what we know God's character is to do for
his name's sake, not to satisfy us, not to prove anything to us.
But in the days of evil, it is time for God to roar
from his sanctuary and arise and show that he is good. Indeed, have
a wonderful than Thanks for joining us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot
live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of
God. This has been your daily portion with el David Harris, Make it
a great day. Yeah,