He Comes Bringing Blessing

December 22

(Psalm 144:1-15 NIV) "Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. {2} He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. {3} O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? {4} Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. {5} Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. {6} Send forth lightning and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them. {7} Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners {8} whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. {9} I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, {10} to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword. {11} Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. {12} Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. {13} Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; {14} our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets. {15} Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the Lord."

Psalm 144 and Christmas remind us of three things. First, another year has fleetingly passed. David says we are like a breath and that our days are a shadow that quickly passes. He is right. Second, peace on Earth is also fleeting. David was a man of God, and a man of war. He trusted God for victory and protection. When Jesus was born, the angels proclaimed “Peace on Earth, good will to men”. But armies still march, and missiles fly because man is sinful. Our hunger for positions of power exceeds our hunger for the Prince of Peace. Silent Night seems like such a remote possibility amongst the killing and the clamor for dominance. But still He comes, bringing peace that passes all under-standing. Third, we are reminded that when He comes, He brings blessing. Blessed are those whose God is the Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem to save His people. Merry Christmas! -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day