Author - John Spence
For Californians who live on the edge of a desert, rain is as precious as gold. We depend on the winter rainy season to replenish our water supplies particularly in the snowpack in the Sierra. Israel is also one of those places also that is partly desert but gets some rain especially in the northern parts like the Galilee area and also further north in the mountains of Lebanon. Thank you Lebanon!
Moses spoke about the blessing of rain to the Israelites in the words of a song just before they were going enter the promised land in Deuteronomy 32:1-4:
“Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth! May my teaching drip as the rain, my speech trickle as the dew, as droplets on the fresh grass, And as the showers on the vegetation. For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and just is He.” Deuteronomy 32:1-4
This is a very awesome image. You can almost see the water from rain gently falling and seeping deep down into the dry, hard, sun-parched dirt, making it capable of nourishing plants and producing grain and produce and flowers and trees and fruits and vegetables and grass…. like a garden. You can see the dew every morning glistening on the leaves of the grass and plants, protecting them from losing their moisture in the later heat of the day. You can watch the rain be broken up into showers that successively allow the water to be absorbed into the soil and not be lost by runoff.
Moses is describing his “teaching” and “speech” as showers of spiritual rain that God is sending down for the blessing of His people. He describes this as “proclaiming the name of the Lord”. Moses desires that the Israelites will realize how great their God is. He is “the Rock”, “His work is perfect”, “His ways are just”, He is “faithful and without injustice” and He is “Righteous and just”. Not only is He the God of the Israelites but He is our God as well. What a wonderful “Showers of Blessing” these inspired words of Moses are.
Isaiah tells us that God’s word to us has that same effect on our souls as water does to dry land. “‘For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants” Isaiah 44:3
Just as rain brings needed nutrients, God’s blessings give us what we need to thrive. Not only that, but He wants us to feel absolutely drenched with His goodness. His desire for us is to be constantly refreshed, growing, fruitful, and healthy. Furthermore He says He will pour out His Spirit on our offspring and blessing on our descendants.. God showers us with all his blessings- he never holds back or leaves out a few. His blessings are the fulfillment of all his promises. He showers us with his mercy and love every day.
I have always enjoyed this hymn:
There shall be Showers of Blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.
Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead
There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain
There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing
Come, and now honor Thy Word
Mercy for A Sinner
We desperately need God’s mercy. We do not deserve it. The Bible says, ” But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved” Ephesians 2:4,5
It says in Psalm 36:5, “Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds”. He desires to rain upon us as individuals his abundant mercy. One of my favorite hymns is, “Mercy Walked In”, written by the blind Southern Gospel piano player, Gordon Mote:
I stood in the court room the judge turned my way
It looks like you're guilty now what do you say
I spoke up your honor I have no defense
But that's when mercy walked in
Mercy walked in and pleaded my case
Called to the stand God's saving grace
The blood was presented that covered my sin
Forgiven when mercy walked in
I stood there and wondered how could this be
That someone so guilty had just been set free
My chains were broken I felt born again
The moment that mercy walked in
Mercy walked in and pleaded my case
Called to the stand God's saving grace
The blood was presented that covered my sin
Forgiven when mercy walked iin
In Luke 16 the tax collector who went to the temple to pray “was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” Luke 18:12-14.
When we cry out to God as a guilty sinner and put our faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness, He rains his mercy and forgiveness down on us and gives us eternal life. He showers us with His Spirit to guide and comfort and teach us His ways.
Mercy for Our Nation
The greatest need for our nation today is for the mercy of God. We hear presidential speeches so often ending with the expression, God bless America. It has become such a common utterance that it now seems like a cheap tag line with little meaning. In the past God has blessed this nation, in abundance, yet sadly America has progressively forsaken those blessings, while blaspheming the God who gave these blessings year after year.
Over my lifetime I have witnessed a tremendous change in America’s culture. The “Cancel Culture” movement is trying to destroy the history of this country that was built on Biblical principles. Critical Race Theory is being taught in our schools and is attempting to blame one race for all the problems of America and the world. The nuclear family is under attack. Marriage is no longer considered a sacred commitment between a man and a woman but has been expanded to include individuals of the same gender. Laws are bent to benefit the powerful and greed has divided our society into two classes, those who have and those who have not.
All of this is really a rebellion against the God of the Bible as explained in Psalm 2. “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”
Apart from God’s merciful and gracious intervention in America’s moral and spiritual suicide, further darkness will prevail in this land. Too often the modern church has sought ways to nurture friendship with the world, but this has only led to compromise and corruption.
God has presently suspended His wrath toward the USA. God’s mercy is still active so that we can “live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28), and enjoy “rains and fruitful seasons” here on the earth (Acts 14:17).
Another additional and more important reason that God’s mercy is in place is that men may continue to experience his mercy by receiving eternal life through Jesus Christ: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36). Note that the text tells us that God’s wrath “abides” on all those who do not obey the Son. In other words it is currently suspended. Some day God’s merciful restraint will give way to the release of His just and eternal wrath upon all those who resist Him. God is also presently active in restraining evil in our world and country through the Holy Spirit, “He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way” 2 Thessalonians 2:7. So let us continue to pray that God will continue to have mercy on America and the world.
Part 2 To Be Continued in May
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