A Song for the Reject

June 4

(Psalm 60:1-12 NIV) "You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry--now restore us! {2} You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking. {3} You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger. {4} But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. Selah {5} Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. {6} God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. {7} Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. {8} Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph." {9} Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? {10} Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies? {11} Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. {12} With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies."

There are times in the lives of people and nations when God must remove His hand of blessing. We stray so far from God’s path that He simply cannot walk with us any further. The Lord loves us, but because He is holy, He has no other choice but to reject us for our aberrant and abhorrent behavior. God is no respecter of persons or nations. When this happens, our land and our lives are shaken and torn apart, for it is God who holds things together. We stagger, and life has no rhythm or balance. When we come to our senses and realize that God is no longer “going out” with us, we have two options. We can blindly continue on down the lonely road to destruction, or we can turn back toward God and appeal to His mercy. Nations, which are as nothing to God, can be blessed when they repent and raise their banners toward Heaven. This goes for people, too. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day