Union Baptist Church

“The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

THREE sentences compose this verse which tells us something about the character of God. In these sentences we have the work, wisdom, and wonderfulness of God.

Work of God. “The LORD God is a sun and shield.” God provides us with both light and protection. The sun speaks of light. God is the great enlightener. Jesus is the “light of the world” (John 8:12). Leave out God and you will walk in darkness concerning the most important matters of life. The shield speaks of protection. The greatest protection God provides for us is the protection of our soul through Jesus Christ. This will protect us from eternal condemnation. No work is greater than this work of God on our behalf.

Wisdom of God. “The LORD will give grace and glory.” That which emphasizes God’s wisdom here is the fact that grace comes before glory. Grace speaks of character. To learn grace and to grow in grace, we often have to experience many troubles and trials. But this will build up our character. Then it is safe to bring the glory. If glory comes before we have the grace of character, it will ruin us. Character is all essential to be able to handle the glory well. Mankind, however, wants more glory; but God says we need more grace. God is right, for God is wise. Grace must come before glory.

Wonderfulness of God. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” This is a wonderful promise from God. It is such a wonderful blessing. But some doubt it, for they complain they do not have all the things they want. There are two reasons for this complaint.

First, the nature of the blessing. Our verse did not say all the things we want; it said “good thing.” But many things we want are not “good” for us.

Second, the nobleness of the blessed. Our verse did not make this promise to everyone but only to those who “walk uprightly.” If you are short on God’s blessing, check your walk. If you want Divine blessing, concentrate on your walk and let God take care of the blessing.

Pastor Kary

“Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12)

HERE is a great testimony regarding the Word of God. The speaker is Job, and he is answering one of his critics who has just charged Job unjustly with evil. In the midst of Job’s speech comes this declaration about the Word of God. In it is the esteem for the Word, the essentials of the Word and the endurance of the Word.

Esteem for the Word. “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” Job so values the Word of God that it is more important to him than physical food. Many despise the Word of God, and others simply ignore it. But Job saw its real value, and he gave it the honor we all should give it. This sort of attitude in people will make them really faithful to church attendance at a church where the Scriptures are faithfully proclaimed. They will not be off doing other things if they so esteem the Word of God.
Essentials of the Word. “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” Job shows the essentials of the Word in that he says it is greater than “necessary food.” Job did not say he thought the Word more important than just some other non-essential thing, but he went farther and said it was more important than even the most essential things of life. Food is indeed very essential. It is “necessary” or our physical body will die. But the Word is even more important. For it feeds the spiritual being, and the spiritual is more important than the physical!
Endurance of the Word. “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips.” In spite of his great troubles, Job had not junked the Word of God. In spite of his great troubles, Job still obeyed the Word and still esteemed the Word above even the essential things of life. Obviously then, the Word of God had not failed Job in trial. Many other things fail us in our darkest hours, but the Word of God will not fail. The Word of God will endure all our troubles and trials. It will never let us down. It will always be of help.

Rev. Dr. Kary E. Harris, PhD.

“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work.”
(Nehemiah 4:6)

THE rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem during Nehemiah’s time ran into some stiff opposition. Daniel had prophesied that the walls would be built again “even in troubled times” (Daniel 9:25), and they surely were. In our verse we have a record of the building during troubled times. This building succeeded because there was persistence in the work, progress in the work, and passion for the work.

Persistence in the work. “So built we the wall.” Too often when opposition comes, the resulting “so” is more like “so we quit.” But Nehemiah and his fellow Jews did not quit working on the walls in Jerusalem when opposition raised its ugly head. They persisted in their work. One scholar translated this statement, “We still built the wall” which expresses the persistent well. One of the most effective ways to defeat the enemy is to keep doing God’s work. Don’t quit when ridicule or other opposition attacks. Keep going.

Progress in the work. “All the wall was joined together unto the half thereof.” During this time of opposition, the people succeeded in getting the wall completely joined together and halfway finished in its height. They made great progress in spite of the opposition. We can make progress even though difficulties abound. God is not weak but can help us in times of trouble as well as good times (Psalm 46:1).

Passion for the work. “The people had a mind to work.” Having a mind to work was another of the important keys to the success of the people in building the wall. Having a mind to work will keep one working regardless of how difficult the task is or how great the opposition is. One of the great needs of our society is people who have a mind to work. Much of the poverty in our land that politicians make so much over is because people do not have a mind to work. The welfare bunch are often lazy, immoral sluggards who spend much of their time lounging before TV, eating junk food, and drinking booze. A mind to work would stop all this nonsense.

Rev. Dr. Kary E. Harris, PhD.