The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 44:17-21, “All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten Thee, And we have not dealt falsely with Thy covenant.

18 Our heart has not turned back, And our steps have not deviated from Thy way,

19 Yet Thou hast crushed us in a place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or extended our hands to a strange god;

21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.

When people are charged with crimes they did not commit, they plead their case before a judge.

When he has heard all the evidence, he makes the decision as to how to dispose of the case.

David in the verses above is pleading his case before the LORD. He notes to the Judge that some

devastating things have fallen upon him, yet he has not forgotten the LORD his God. We have things that seek to undo us as well; we just must not forget God, and we must not forget His Word that serves to guide us in His way.

Sometimes –perhaps, always—when we seek to call upon the LORD, the circumstances that occasion that prayer continue to supress us instead of going away. We’re still abandoned in a lonely place, as David cries, and we’re “covered with the shadow of death.” Where is the LORD? seems to

be David’s cry.

He then reasons within himself, “If we had forgotten the name of our God – neglected God in any way — or had we extended our hands to a strange god –served a foreign god, — wouldn’t God find this out?” Certainly, He would. Why then, do these adverse circumstances still prevail? David may not fully understand the “why” in all of his trials, but he concludes on a positive note when he says,

God “knows the secret of the heart.”

So, remember that whatever befalls you, the LORD knows whether it is because of what you have

thought or said or done, or whether the circumstance that has befallen you is not your fault. In either case, He knows your heart; and He knows whether your heart is aligned with His. Is it?

Our prayers are with you, and our LORD’s love and power will see you through,

Nana & Dado III

(Rose Marie & Gene)

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.”