The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 143:1-6, “Hear my prayer, O LORD, Give ear to my supplications!

Answer me in Thy faithfulness, in Thy righteousness!

2 And do not enter into judgment with Thy servant,

For in Thy sight no man living is righteous.

3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul;

He has crushed my life to the ground;

He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.

4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;

My heart is appalled within me.

5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy doings;

I muse on the work of Thy hands.

6 I stretch out my hands to Thee; My soul longs for Thee, as a parched land.”

The prayers of David are like refreshing water to a thirsty soul. He does not

claim to be righteous; he allows that only God is truly righteous. Thus, he begs

not to be judged because he knows he would lose. Still, he needs help. He has

enemies, and he is being persecuted to the very depths of his being. He feels

like a dead man. He is overwhelmed, destitute. What can he do? Is there an

answer –a way out of this dilemma?

Ever have an experience like that? I imagine that you have. I know I have. I’ve

been faced with situations so serious that death would have seemed a haven of

rescue. Instead of despair, we need to “remember the days of old.” We need to

look back and recall how the LORD rescued us. We need to focus on Him and

His love, His power, His delivereces!

There are too many to list here, but my life has been spared, when it could

easliy been snuffed out. When trouble come now, I look back on those days

and remember how faithful the LORD was in those situations. He is no less

powerful, no less loving, no less faithful now than then! So, I continue to call

upon Him for help.

One of those situations in which the LORD was faithful to David occurred back

In First Chronicles 21:10-13. David had sinned; Gad, the prophet of the LORD,

came to David with the LORD’s offer. He could either endure three years of famine,

or three months of fighting with his enemies, or three days of pestilence with the

“sword of the LORD” raging throughout the land. David’s answer was: “…let me

fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great.”

The lesson here, of course, is not to sin against the LORD. Yet, when we do

(and we all do!), we should cry out to Him in true repentance. His mercies are

lovingly available to us, just as they were to David. How faithful the LORD is!

Praise His Holy Name!

We continue to pray for you, and humbly solicit your prayers for us,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”