“You are against Me, your
Helper” (Hosea 13:9). God is our Helper. This is grace. How does He help
us? He is our “Saviour” (Hosea 13:4). “You are against Me.” This is
ingratitude. It’s not only disobedience of a command. It’s rejection of a
love, the greatest love of all, the love of God. If we do not turn to
the Lord to save us, we will turn to someone else, someone who will not
be able to save us - “Where, now, is your king, the one who is supposed
to save you?” (Hosea 13:10). What does God say about others who claim to
bring salvation to us? This is what He says: “There is no saviour
except Me" (Hosea 13:4). It is the Lord alone who “frees us from the
power of the grave” (Hosea 13:14) and “gives us “the opportunity to live
again” (Hosea 13;13).
“At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem”, the keynote of the service was joyful thanksgiving. They gathered together “to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving” (Nehemiah 12:27). “On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy” (Nehemiah 12:43). They sang “songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (Nehemiah 12:46). This joyful thanksgiving is only a foretaste of the greater joy and thanksgiving of heaven: “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). In the city of God, “the glory of God” will be shining with everlasting brightness (Revelation 21:23). The Church of God will be “prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). The beautiful picture of the godly wife in Proverbs 31 gives us an outline of what God is seeking to do in His people. It is summarized in Proverbs 31:30: “A woman who fears the Lord is to be
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