WEDNESDAY, MAY 19

Scripture: Psalm 89:1-4

How foundational and how strong is this covenant that enables us to demand covenant justice?  Much of the New Testament seems to promise Priestly blessing.  In Psalm 89:3-4 we find, “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ‘Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.’”  Jesus came to sit on the Throne of David.  He is the son of David and of His Kingdom, there will be no end.  So the anointing for justice is supposed to grow or manifest in every generation.  Has the church manifested the justice of God in our generation?  How has our generation represented God compared to the generation of one hundred years ago?   How are we doing compared to our forefathers?  A hundred years ago, Mordecai Ham was ministering and doing a crusade.  This is the account of the twenty-four hour period where the enemy came against him in that crusade.  Out of his own words you find out what the enemy did, what Ham did, and what God did.  Then ask yourself again the question: how are we doing in our generation?

On that second night it seemed all ‘hell’ broke loose as the moonshine crowd stole up around the church, after we had begun the meeting, and threw rocks at us. They unharnessed the horses, cut the saddle straps and stole everything they could carry off.” Ham went out and confronted the ringleader, who proceeded to pull a knife on him. “Put up that knife, you coward. If you were not a coward you wouldn’t pull a knife on an unarmed man. Now I’m going to ask the Lord either to convert you and your crowd or to kill you.” “Do as you damn please,” he snarled at me as he stalked off. I prayed, and that bully was dying the next morning. They called for me to go and pray for him, but he died before I got to his bedside. On that same day a neighborhood sawmill blew up and killed three others of the crowd. That night I announced from the pulpit that I wanted everything that had been stolen the preceding evening brought to the church on the next night and that the Lord might kill any person who tried to keep something that didn’t belong to him. Twenty–four hours later I took inventory and announced that we would pray because one saddle was still missing. Some fellow in the congregation jumped up and hollered, “You needn’t pray; it will be here in a few minutes.” And it was.

Why is it that a hundred years ago a Baptist minister could pray, and the enemy was dying the next day?  Today, we bless the enemy instead of asking God to put them in the grave?  How is it God answered Mordecai Ham a hundred years ago?  Maybe he knew Jesus the Judge and we do not.  Maybe Ham was not burdened by our tradition.  If we were first Spirit-led and second praying the right prayers, would we see the same results?  Maybe Ham got a quick response because he wasn’t blessing the enemy, but demanding covenant justice!  Maybe Ham got results because, unlike us, he was not nicer than God.