Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 38:1-4 1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down on me.
3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.
Read the entire Psalm
David literally feels the weight of his sin. Sin separates and sin harms our bodies. David calls on God for mercy. Give thanks to God for mercy. Acknowledge the reality of sin and praise God for the wonder of His mercy.
Scripture Reading
Haggai 1 – New International Version
A Call to Build the House of the Lord
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. 14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanks to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for Dalton and Hannah. Ask God to encourage them, use them, and guide them as they serve overseas.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
The Temple was incredibly important to the people of Israel – it was God’s sacred dwelling place among them. The Temple was at the very center of Jewish life and it symbolized God’s faithfulness to keep His promises to His people.
Although the Babylonians had destroyed the Temple in 586 BC and carried off the majority of Jews to Babylon, God’s prophets, like Ezekiel, foretold a time when Israel would return to the Promised Land and the Temple would be rebuilt.
Nevertheless, upon their return, the Israelites failed to endure in rebuilding the Temple. As they rebuilt their own houses and went about daily life, they justified leaving the Temple in ruins, saying, “the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord” (Haggai 1:2).
We don’t know the exact reasoning behind this claim – it could have been theological, financial, practical, or emotional. Whatever the reasoning, the Lord made it clear that they’d been hiding their disobedience behind this excuse.
We, like Israel, can be tempted to hide our sin or delay our obedience using a variety of different excuses, some of which may sound reasonable from a human perspective. But we must remember that God is the One who plans, initiates, and directs the building of His church. And we must remember that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and our ways are not His ways (Isa. 55:8-9).
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas of your life where you may be using an excuse, as reasonable as it may seem at first glance, to hide sin or delay obedience. It may be helpful to physically open your hands in surrender as you speak to Him. If He reveals anything to you this morning, turn from your sin and begin to take action toward obedience. Remember that it is God’s mercy to show us our sin so that we might turn to Him – the Giver of Life.