PENTECOST COUNTDOWN: 8 DAYS TO GO!
This post is for May 21, 2020. If this is your first connection to the countdown it will be harder to follow. Begin with the overview prophetic word for this historic Pentecost which is available from the Elijah List, or going back on our Facebook page a few days. Then look at countdown postings #10 and #9 from the last two days.
I have highlighted that the doorway into the “Upper Room” for this historic Pentecost has Psalm 44 and Psalm 77 as the two side posts and Psalm 67 as the overhead lintel. Yesterday, we covered Psalm 44. Today we cover 77.
PSALM 77
You will be amazed at how much overlap there is between Psalm 44 and Psalm 77. It was so clear and strong how the Lord spoke to me about these two chapters being key for this Pentecost. I am understanding it more and more as we go on this journey to and through the Upper Room.
“I cry out to God; yes I shout. Oh, that God would listen to Me!” (NLT) -Ps. 77:1
So interesting how the various Bible translations looked differently at this verse, with some saying God heard David and some leaving it open-ended. I think for this verse the NLT nailed it. David is again in that “searching for more of God” mode and not easily feeling satisfied. In verse 2, David speaks of being in “deep trouble,” of praying, “all night long,” even with his hands lifted to heaven, but not finding the comfort his soul required. In verse 3, he says, “I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing…” Wow, MOANING for God in the night. In verse 4, he speaks of not being able to sleep and being so troubled he couldn’t speak. I love verse 5.
“I think of the good old days, long since ended.” -Ps. 77:5
This, for us, is a remembering of revivals, outpourings, and moves of God. Rehearsing the memory of God at work, of God in power, reminds us of what is available. We have had some ministry friends in town the last couple of days and we have been “rehearsing” the power and miracles of God we’ve seen and experienced since the "Toronto Blessing” touched our lives. My whole life has a “before and after” associated with encountering the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in Toronto, in 1995. I was never going to do ministry and I was never going to travel to the nations, as I had already been a missionary’s kid and a pastor’s kid and thought it overrated :) Been there, done that—and somebody else can do that. But when the Holy Spirit touched me in Toronto and I saw His amazing power, I said to Him, “If you will accompany me with this power and this presence, I WILL go to the nations and I will do the church thing.” I wanted NO part of it without power, but with power the idea became exciting. I called my parents’ spiritual sons in Peru and told them, “I have been touched by the Holy Spirit and power and I want to bring it to you.” My dad’s main spiritual son asked, “You preach?” (as the last he knew of me as a teenager I was somewhat of an irreverent trouble-maker) and though I never preached I said, “Yes, I do!” The Lord told me that I wasn’t lying because He had called me to do so, and so I went with it. I really couldn’t preach—so all I did is read a few verses and then read a statement from my notes that the Holy Spirit would now show up with more power than they had ever seen—and He did. My first trip in a ministry capacity changed my life forever. The first totally blind guy I prayed for left the meeting seeing perfectly and twirling his cane for the blind in the air for all to see. I have pictures of it. Every type of miracle and manifestation of power of God took place on that first trip. I had been poured into by the Holy Spirit and power, and it changed everything. Soon, thousands had been saved and thousands had been healed of every imaginable disease and sickness. Someone with a shriveled leg who had never walked was instantly healed and walked 6 kilometers the next day. More blind people were healed. A lady with no left eye suddenly had a left eye! That will stay with you a while! Fractured bones moved under my hand. Deaf ears opened. On and on, I could keep you with unending testimonies of the power of God at work and the effect of that has now changed even nations. WITH HIS POWER—ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
Here are the questions David asks, or better said “moans,” in verses 7-9.
#1. Is His unfailing love gone forever?
#2. Have His promises permanently failed?
#3. Has God forgotten to be gracious?
#4. Has He slammed the door on His compassion?
Perhaps in some ways David may sound to us like a drama-queen. Like wow, dude, get over it, have a little patience. But this is the heart God loved and this is the key to growing into giant-killing capability. You don’t become too passive in what you are experiencing from God. You don’t just say, well whatever God wants…He is going to do what He wants to do. Instead, when you feel the pull-back or the absence of who He is, you endeavor to go deeper. If He is hiding, YOU are going to go find Him. He is the lover of our soul and so He will do that. In romance sometimes one side pulls back to see if he/she will be pursued—or just be content at the minimal spark. David said as much in verse 10, “This is my fate,” and, “the Most High has turned His hand against me.”…“This is my fate” will leave you in lack of power and presence.
I will close today reading verses 11-14:
Ps. 77:11-14: “But then I RECALL all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. THEY ARE CONSTANTLY IN MY THOUGHTS, I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUT YOUR MIGHTY WORKS. O God your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.”
The rest of chapter 77 is David remembering and retelling all that God had previously done in days gone by. He had arrived at the conclusion we are to arrive at. It is not “My fate” or “Our fate” to just remain powerless. Once it is established this is who He WAS, and this is who He IS—then it is clear. This is who He WILL BE. Acts 1:8: “You shall receive POWER.” He had discipled them perfectly for over three years. He had risen from the dead and further instructed them on advanced kingdom concepts for 40 days—BUT it was not enough. Not enough to be motivated by love. Not enough to be discipled perfectly. He said WAIT—for POWER. Wait actively, wait intentionally, wait expectantly, wait with dissatisfaction at the status quo. That is where we are today. It should be your truth personally, and it is definitely our truth collectively as the church of Jesus Christ. Countdown day 7 is next.