God's Power for Good

 1 Samuel 5-6     Psalm 147    Matthew 15

Sometimes it is symbols that remind us of important things that not only touch in good and positive ways but create fear and trembling. The Philistines had feared Israel because they heard the Ark of the Covenant was with the army of Israel. They were encouraged to go up and fight and when they did that not only one the battle but captured the symbol of God’s power. The thing they didn’t understand was that those symbols were to remind the people of Israel of the power of God and to be encouragement to them. Both armies needed to learn that the ark wasn’t the source of the power but the God who it was to remind all of them of. God has a way of using symbols of faith to remind us that he is worthy of our faith but not to be worship as if the symbol was the source of that power.

The song today reminds us to praise God at all times for it is pleasant and attractive to those that observe our devotion. God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. It is that amazing understanding of God that helps us see the God supports the afflicted and brings down the evils. God is present in our life at all times and worthy of our praise.

Jesus often had to remind the disciples to make sure they kept their priorities in order. While he did this at times by speaking, he often did it by modeling it before them. When confronted by those that had built traditions to meet their needs rather than to point to God, he challenged them to make sure the rituals they created where to point people to God and not for their own sake. It is never about what we put into the body but what comes out of our mouth. It might be good to consider that what we put into our body at times impacts what comes out of our mouths. That includes what we fill our minds with.

In the midst of today’s story, we find a gentile woman that has a faith in God so deep she is willing to challenge Jesus, or is it more for the disciples, to the point that Jesus tells her that her faith has brought about the answer to her prayers.

Once again, we see Jesus challenge his disciples to provide for the people and they struggle with a scarcity view when trusting God results in abundance. Not only were the peoples needs met, even though they didn’t ask for them to meet them, but they had an abundance left over.