Daily Devotional – May 19, 2020

Well, good afternoon. This is day 59. 59. I hope this daily count isn't discouraging to you or isn't too much of a downer. Honestly, I would much rather be able to say it's X number of days until we have our freedom restored.

But, well, you know how that goes. You know, I don't know about you, but I was really pretty disturbed by the photo on the front page of our local newspaper today regarding the conservation police shutting down the you know, the the liquidation sale, if you will, at the White Pines Resort.

Supposedly non-essential business was the reason for that, I guess. Well, I don't know. The police, I suppose, were just doing their job, but honestly, I never thought in my lifetime I would see a picture like that.

I never really thought I would see something like that happen to a business and business people in our lifetime. It's really, really very sad. I don't normally do this and I hesitated, but I know a lot of you are very interested in what's going on in the state of Illinois with the governor's edicts and the challenges to that and so forth.

And I just got this update from an attorney friend of mine, and I wanted to share it with you. He says an update on state court lawsuit filed by Representative State Rep. Bailey. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the lawsuit against the governor should be decided this Friday in Clay County Circuit Court.

Last Friday, the state tried to move the case to Springfield through a motion to change venue. The judge denied the motion. Representative Bailey was to file a motion for summary judgment on Monday, and the court set it for a hearing for this Friday.

It would appear that unless the state pulls a rabbit out of a hat, that the circuit court will rule this Friday in favor of State Representative Bailey. The court already ruled last month that the governor did not have the legal authority to issue successive 30-day emergency orders.

Seems like no secret what the judge will do this Friday. Now, he points out that the governor is represented by the Attorney General's office. He says there's a very interesting and important fact that hasn't received much publicity.

Part of the job of the Attorney General is to represent the state of Illinois and state officers in litigation. Additionally, the Attorney General issues opinions on Illinois laws. Those opinions are not binding in the same way as a court order, but the opinions carry legal significance.

On July 2nd, 2001, Attorney General James Ryan, at the time, issued an opinion on the statutory authority of the governor to issue successive 30-day disaster proclamations under the Illinois Emergency Management Act.

It's the same act that we're dealing with today. The Attorney General then advised that the answer is no, the governor cannot make successive 30-day proclamations. Well, now the Attorney General, 19 years later, is taking the opposite view before the court.

Not the best place to be in as an attorney, says my friend. So then he says if the court rules against the governor in a summary judgment, it will be a final and appealable order allowing for an immediate appeal to the appellate court.

Also, the legislature is in session this week, and they could amend the law to clearly allow for the governor to make successive 30-day proclamations under the Illinois Emergency Management Act. I think amending the law is the easiest way to solve the problem for the governor.

He has a supermajority in both the House and the Senate. Regardless, it should be an interesting end to the week with both a court ruling and a legislative emergency session. So we'll see how that comes out.

And I sent you those emails to the Church family yesterday. I told you we were watching for these things, so we'll keep watching. Well, all right, on a lighter note, some of the furloughed workers are finding that they just have a lot of extra time on their hands, which gives them plenty of time to think and ponder things that they've never really thought about before.

The Oddities of the English Language

So one guy got to thinking about the English language. He's grown up with it, used it all his life, never really thought about it. Well, now with all the extra time on his hands, he's got to thinking about it, and it's left him totally bewildered.

He writes this, he says, Then he got to pronouncing the words that end in O-U-G-H, you know, like cough,.

Dough,.

Bow,.

Rough, through,.

Enough, and his head started spinning. And he pondered for way too long the question. It was stimulated by the fragrance of a scented candle that his wife had lit, and he got to wondering, is the S or the C silent in the word.

Scent?

You know, as in fragrance, scent. Well, that led him to observe that the word Q, Q-U-E-U-E, is really just the letter Q with four silent letters following it. And then he wondered, as he watched his wife preparing dinner, he wondered, why does fridge have a D in it and refrigerator doesn't?

Well, he sank deeper into this vortex when it struck him, well, how come I can drink a drink, but I don't food food? Well, then all of a sudden his English language reverie was interrupted by a seven-year-old who came to him asking him for help with his spelling lesson.

The child was writing this sentence, they're over there in their car. And the dad just had to walk outside. Well, do you remember the last thing that Jesus said on the cross before he died? He said this, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

And then he breathed his last. Now when Jesus said that, he was actually quoting from a psalm, a psalm of David, specifically Psalm 31 verse 5. But when David said that, he offered that commitment of his spirit into the hands of God for a much different reason.

Jesus committed his spirit to God the Father because he was about to die. David committed his spirit to God because he was yet to live. Now, we're not exactly sure of the circumstances for David's writing, Psalm 31, but verse 21 speaks of his being in a besieged city.

So that leads many to think, and most probably, to think that he was in the city of Keilah that ended up being besieged by Saul. Well, here's the background to that story. Saul, you remember, was the king of Israel.

But because of his serious disobedience, God made it clear to Saul that he was going to be replaced. And then later, God clarified through the prophet Samuel that David would eventually be Saul's replacement.

Well, as one can imagine, since Saul had the power of the throne, he certainly didn't want to relinquish it. The more things change, the more they stay the same, don't they? Well, anyway, Saul was determined to eliminate David and secure the throne for himself and for his sons to follow him.

So Saul chased David all over the place in an attempt to kill him. Well, at one point during this cat-and-mouse game, David and his men, they heard that the Philistines were coming to attack and destroy this small fortified city of.

Keilah.

So they, David and his men, went to Keilah. They defeated the Philistines, delivering the city from the hands of the Philistines. Mission accomplished, a great success. And so, David thought, you know, they would rest a little while and have that sense of security in the city of Keilah, just kind of settle down there for a bit.

Well, that was fine until Saul got wind of David's whereabouts, and he set out to capture David and kill this rival to his throne. Well, then David got wind that Saul was headed his way. What should he do?

And in this psalm, David actually admits that his first response was a response of panic and questioning whether God even knew anything about it. He says this,. Well, fortunately for David, a man of faith, he didn't really linger long in that state of fear and panic and bewilderment.

Instead, he turned to the God who had promised him the kingdom. In you, O Lord, he said, do I take refuge?

And.

Knowing what God's ultimate plan was for him, he could then confidently pray, in your righteousness, deliver me. I mean, after all, if Saul were going to succeed in Saul's intentions of killing David, then God's plan for David would be thwarted.

Well, David knew that, really, I mean, deep down, he knew that that wasn't possible. So he prayed, in your righteousness, deliver me. And then he said, in you, O Lord, do I take refuge? Now, he could pray this prayer, in your righteousness, deliver me, because David actually had a history to look back on and a promise to count on.

I mean, think about David's history and God's deliverance in the past. God had delivered him from the hand of Goliath when he was but a lad. God preserved David through numerous battles as a leader in Saul's army.

That was, of course, in friendlier days between he and Saul, and God had already rescued David numerous times from Saul's murderous intent, and here he was, in this place, and God had continuously, through these months and months of Saul endeavoring to kill him, God had given David some good intel on Saul's movements, leading David to places of safety and guiding him away from danger.

So David could write in this psalm, for your name's sake you lead me and guide me. You take me out of the net they have hidden for me. So David then summarizes this history of deliverance and promise in this way.

He says, You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. So with all of that past deliverance and the future promise as a background, David utters those words that Jesus eventually repeated, Into your hand I commit my spirit.

In other words, while the threat heading his way was very real, and the danger was palpable, and panic and fear were justifiable, David knew that he was in good hands. Are you? Are you in good hands? Do you have that confidence?

You know, Jesus promised his sheep, those who followed him, those who trust him as their Savior, Jesus promised his followers, he said, that his sheep have eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one is able to snatch them out of his hand, and that no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

So listen, if you're a follower of Jesus, you're one of his sheep. You are in good hands. You are. And to whatever extent you feel afraid, intimidated, outnumbered, in danger, you can say with David and with Jesus, Into your hand I commit my spirit.

A Prayer for Confidence and Rest in God

I'd like to close today with a prayer I recently came across, and I thought it was very timely for for this particular meditation on Psalm 31. Let's pray. Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness, keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with a free heart those things which belong to your purpose.

This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen and amen. All right. Well, I hope you have a good rest of your Tuesday. The Lord will give you confidence and rest and trust in him in whose hands you are.

Have a good day. May God bless.