Remember Where You Came From

# 26 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He has set the world upon them. Dust is too kind of a word, the King James says, “raises the poor from the dunghill.” Right or wrong this is how Hannah felt when she was without child. She felt as useless as a pile of dung. In her helpless barren estate, she came to the Lord as a beggar. He heard her prayer and made her feel like a queen! It is His prerogative to do this, and it is in His power to do this, since he is the Creator of all that is in this world. As she stated earlier in her prayer: 1Sa 2:7The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.” Hannah's understanding of who God is, allows her to keep a proper measure of humility before the Lord and we would do well to remember it in our own lives and prayers. Especially in light of the amount of material blessings we have in this land. It's easy to start heading down the road of thankless, god-less, self-sufficiency in the midst of such prosperity. Listen to some verses from Dt 8 that Hannah was likely familiar with, and probably aided her on her journey of humility before the Lord. Dt 8:11 says, “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 "lest-when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 "and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 "when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 "who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 "who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end- 17 "then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' 18 "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 "Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 "As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God. This story of deliverance and provision for the Israelites is your story and my story as well. Let us be like Hannah. Let us continually come to God with thankful, humble hearts for all He has given. The consequences of forgetting His benevolence through ANY means are disastrous. Listen to Rom 1:21, “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Then in v24 we read of the consequences of such foolishness, “Therefore God also gave them up.” How tragic, a thankless people become a godless people and God simply turns them over (gives them up) to the ravages of their own sin. Seek to remain thankful and humble, lest He do the same with you.