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Daily Devotion: Judges 10:10-15

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Judges 10:10-15    "And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.  (11)  And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?  (12)  The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.  (13)  Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.  (14)  Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.  (15)  And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day."

I confess to you on this Monday morning that the book of Judges can be a sad one to read. The wonderful part of the book is that God remains faithful. He never changes. "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  (23)  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) Yes, His mercies are new every single morning. I see the beautiful blue skies and the sunshine this morning and my heart says, "Thank you, Lord, for your wonderful mercies upon us. thank you for your faithfulness to us."  I know I have drifted from Judges in this paragraph, but my heart is heavy as I think about the manner that the Hebrews dealt so lightly concerning their relationship with the Lord and then realize that we in America have come to the same place. You see after the verses I just placed from Lamentations, the next verse says, "The Lord is my portion."  Is He truly our portion?

Even after the Lord had delivered them time and again, Israel had come to the place of worshiping and deifying things instead of God. It was at that point that God told them to go cry unto their gods that they had elevated in their hearts and minds. "Go, cry unto them and see if they will deliver you. You pray to gods that you have chosen over me, go pray to them. Let them deliver you."  God was grieved and Israel was allowed to go into a time of tribulation.  It seems to me that our nation is in a time of tribulation right now. Evil is called good and good is called evil. Darkness is preferred over light. Things and ideas are placed above the truth that there is only One True and Living God. It seems we are in the times of Elijah when he said to the people, "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him." (1 Kings 18:21) and also in the latter days of Joshua, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." (Joshua 24:15)

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