SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2015
10:48 PM
My Worship Time Focus: God’s
Promises for the Future
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Hosea 14:1-3
Message of the
verses: “1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of
your iniquity. 2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity
And receive us graciously,
That we may present the fruit of our lips. 3 “Assyria will not save us, We will
not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ’Our god,’ To the work of our hands;
For in You the orphan finds mercy."”
I want to do a quick review now to show us where we are
at as far as where we started in these last four chapters of the book of
Hosea. Dr. Wiersbe entitled the chapter
in his commentary for the last four chapters of Hosea “Love So Amazing.” Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his
introductory commentary the following words:
“Hosea reminded them of God’s compassion for His people, and he did it
by presenting three clear evidences of God’s love.” We have covered two of these evidences and
are not looking to cover the last one which is entitled “God’s Promises for the
Future.” It is not unusual for prophets
in the OT time to remind Israel of their future and that is what Hosea is doing
in this last section, the last chapter of his book. There are three sub-points under this third
main point and we will look briefly at the introduction to this third main
point which covers the first verse of chapter fourteen in it.
God is faithful to the covenants that He has made with
Israel, now I am speaking of the unconditional covenants like the covenant that
He made with Abraham and then Isaac, Jacob, and then also with David. Paul tells us in his letter to Timothy “If we
are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13
NKJV).”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “God pleads with His people to return
to Him and forsake the sins that were causing their downfall (Hosea 14:1). He had already told them to plow up their
hard hearts and seek the Lord (10:12) and to turn to God for mercy 12:6), but
now He talks to them like little children and tells them just what to do. The Lord gives the promises to encourage them
to repent.” As stated there are three
sub-points which are the three promises that Hosea gives to Israel to encourage
them to repent.
He Will Receive Us
(Hosea 14:2-3): “2 Take words with
you and return to the LORD.
Say to Him, "Take
away all iniquity And receive
us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips. 3 “Assyria
will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ’Our god,’
To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy."”
God had many reasons to reject His people because of the
sinful things that they had done, but God chose to off to them forgiveness. Israel had broken the covenants that God had
given to them, covenants that are found in the 28th chapter of
Deuteronomy.
God did not want them to bring sacrifices to Him for
sacrifices could not take away their sin, but they needed a new heart, a pure
heart in order to be forgiven by the Lord.
David knew what they needed for he wrote about it in the 51st
Psalm, a psalm that he wrote after his sin with Bathsheba: “16 For You do not delight in sacrifice,
otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God,
You will not despise.”
7/23/2015 11:09 PM
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