The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 9:1-11, “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.
2 I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before You.
4 For You have maintained my just cause; You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, and You have uprooted the cities; the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment,
8 And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
9 The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; declare among the peoples His deeds.”

Have you ever witnessed a crowd scream against a coach for pulling a player from the game? Yet, when that player’s replacement performs with excellence, enabling the team to win, that same crowd turns from vitriol to praise for the coach!

David commences this psalm by giving thanks to the LORD. No doubt his praise of the LORD causes the enemy to stumble and turn away from the battle. David then allows that the LORD has maintained his (David’s) just cause by exercising righteous judgment and destroying the wicked forever! “The very memory of them has perished” (9:6).

At the same time the LORD righteously judges the world in which we live. He also establishes security for those who are oppressed, for those who know the LORD and maintain a true and steadfast trust in Him. Nor has the LORD forsaken those who trust Him. David encourages the people to sing praises to the LORD and declare His deeds among all peoples.

This is a spiritual pattern in which every generation should participate! We owe the LORD honest and perpetual praise! “The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad” (Psa. 126:3).

“Count your blessings; name them one-by-one;
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Psalm 8:1-9, “O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4 What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

Our minds and hearts have been so invaded by “science,” that we seldom think of
God as the Creator of the universe in which we live. Oh, we acknowledge the LORD,
but are tempted to think of Him as having created through science, rather than science
being the uppermost.

The psalmist David seeks to correct our misguided thinking by placing God ahead of
everything! What the LORD has created reaches beyond the capability of our minds.
What little boy or girl has not wondered “Who made God?” And because our feeble
mentality falls short of understanding, we resort to what we call “science” to fill in the
gap.

Note that the psalmist grasps the “grading” of the LORD’s creation. God reigns as the
Uppermost; man is responsible under God for managing the Earth. The difficulties we
encounter is largely due to our displacement. We want to occupy the LORD’s position!
And in that self-misplacement, we have left unattended the position and occupy the
LORD’s assignment for us. We must fall in line with His designation, and acknowledge
Him as Supreme in all things!

As a musicial director would say when things were out-of-order: “Let’s take it from the
top!” Readjustment occurs when we acknowledge the LORD as the Director of the
ensemble. We do that by confessing our sins and begging His forgiveness. Salvation,
like creation, comes from God. We must trust Him in all things. Start by giving Him
your life. That’s the key to unlocking His blessings.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Psalm 7:1-9, “O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
2 or he will tear my soul like a lion, dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands,
4 If I have rewarded evil to my friend, or have plundered him who. without cause was my adversary,
5 Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; and let him trample my life down to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, and arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, and over them return on high.
8 The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.”

When you know you’re in trouble… When you’ve sought every possible means of
extricating yourself from the danger… When there is no conceivable way of escape from your antagonists, seek the LORD’s deliverance and throw yourself upon the mercy of His Supreme Court.

After fully expressing himself and acknowledging the LORD as the Supreme Judge, the psalmist prays that the “evil of the wicked will come to an end” and that righteousness will be established by the LORD God as He judges the hearts and minds of David’s adversaries.

Note especially verse 10: “My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.”
A shield is a defensive weapon. In effect, David says, “If God cannot protect me, I have no protection.” Is that not what we, too, should acknowledge? All too often, we resort to self-defence, when we ought to rely upon the LORD. Whatever we face… however formidible our adversaries are… the LORD is our Supreme Defender!

Do you know Him? Does He know you as one of His? Oh, I almost forgot! He only defends those who are His, but, you can become His through a simple, but sincere trust, acknowledged in prayer. I am praying daily for you to know Him.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Psalm 6:1-10, “O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.
3 And my soul is greatly dismayed; but You, O LORD– how long?
4 Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; save me because of Your lovingkindness.
5 For there is no mention of You in death; in Sheol who will give You thanks?
6 I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.
7 My eye has wasted away with grief; it has become old because of all my adversaries.
8 Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my supplication, the LORD receives my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; they shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.”

Have you done something that was so shameless that you doubted that the LORD would ever forgive you? Have you ever been so grevious over a sin you’ve committed that you have cried throughout the night in sorrow? All sin is serious to the LORD; and all sin ought to be exceedingly serious to us!

This psalm clearly suggests that David has committed a grevious sin in his life. Other passages of Scriptures detail somewhat other sins in David’s life; but this psalm suggests something far more sinister still than those with which we are familiar.

Without question, viewing sin as serious and against God’s will drives the serious believer to mourn its commission as he pleads for the LORD’s mercy. David’s tears may well have been shed for both his sin and the punishment he is destined to receive. When sin is repeated, however, it cannot be denied that the tears we shed are more for the punishment we are destined to receive than for the wrong that has been committed.

When, however, the soul is vexed, we should know that the result of the sin has pierced more deeply than the mind. We certainly ought to be sorrowful for the overt results of that sin; yet, knowing that Christ suffered on the Cross for the sin we’ve committed, should pierce us more deeply still. Dosn’t the parent of the child always
grieve more deeply than the child himself?

As serious as sin is –and as utterly devastating as this sin was—David is enabled to think of the LORD and the praise He deserves. “The LORD has heard my prayer; I am assured that He will do it hereafter; I have, therefore, nothing to fear.” We are, therefore, to know with certainty that He hears our repentant prayers, too. Thus, we are to trust Him in the forgiveness of sin and fear no future retribution.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Psalm 5:1-8, “Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my groaning.
2 Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray.
3 In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.
6 You destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, at Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.
8 O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; make Your way straight before me.”

One of the exciting things about reading Scripture is that those who lived in biblical times were not that different from us today. They lacked the conveniences we possess, but awoke from sleep much like we, not quite awake and murmuring. Nevertheless, they commenced the day in prayer.

The sleeper’s recognition of the LORD, however, is quite positive. The LORD is the servant’s first thought of the morning; and he viewes the LORD as exceedingly righteous! The LORD hates wickedness and despises boastfulness that arises from hatred and deceit.

At the same time, the LORD is possessed of an abundant of lovingkindness, making it easier for the servant to enter His Holy Temple in total reverence. I have to wonder if we are like this servant. Do we embrace what He admires? Do we despise what he loathes? And do we approach Him in total reverence?

Somewhere I read of a liberal pastor, who said there was a time of total silence in their church services: no singing, no music, no audible prayers, no reading of the Scriptures –just quiet, peaceful, silent worshipful thoughts about Jesus and what He has accomplished for us through His death and resurrection. Could we cease the things we call “worship” for a glorious time of spiritual reflection? Could we not “awaken” to a pure worship as we awaken to murmurings from sleep?

Help us, O LORD, to learn how to worship in reverence, as is pleasing to You.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom