Posts Tagged: Old Testament Kings

“THE GOD OF GREAT REVERSALS”

On May 9, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I was reading Psalm 113 this morning, during my devotional time, when I noticed an intriguing comment in the NIV Study Bible (page 1141).  “This psalm highlights the Lord’s character and nature, especially his ability to accomplish great reversals.”

Have you ever had “a great reversal?”  There are certainly bad reversals that are huge.  I have had a few of them in my lifetime.  Some (no, most) have been caused by own bad choices.  Such reversals are painful.  But, as someone has said, you can learn a lot more from 10 minutes of real pain than from ten years of pleasure.  Still, pain is pain.

But there are also good reversals that are quite large.  You lose a job, and immediately find one that you love that also pays more.  You lose a close relationship, but come to realize that it was not healthy for you, and that your present relationship is exceedingly good for both of you over the long haul.  You are pretty sure that you have a life-threatening health issue, but find out that it is something that can be treated by a course of antibiotics.

The Bible has stories and teachings that deal with both kinds of reversals.  Kings in the Old Testament start off well, and then go off the rails.  Slaves are liberated, and then start complaining and remembering “the good old days”—when they were slaves!

But then, there are also a lot of great reversals that are also good.  Joseph is sold into slavery (by his brothers, no less), but eventually is second in command in Egypt.  Eventually, he is even reconciled with his brothers—sort of.

Daniel is thrown into a pit with hungry appetites, but strangely enough, they are fasting that particular night.  Come the morning, Daniel walks out of the lions’ den unscathed.

The New Testament is full of reversals as well.  Saul (a.k.a., Paul) hounds believers in Jesus to the death, but Saul himself is stalked by the Hound of Heaven, until Saul is run down on the road to Damascus.  Paul now became a leading proponent of the very Jesus he had despised.

But the greatest and best reversal of all was Jesus himself.  Tortured, crucified, dead, and buried.  A few days later, Jesus was alive.

Now, that is a grand reversal!  What great reversal do you need in your own life?

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