Psalm 123:1-4
“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.”
I shared earlier about a time I was sinking in the mud flats while hunting duck, I was a teenage boy, Baptist in membership, but not in God’s family. I had never bowed my knee to Jesus, I did not have a relationship with the Lord. As I sank up to my waist in mud, who did I lift my eyes to, it was self and a friend who was hunting with me. My master that day and for many years till the age of 27 was number one, until I came in contact with Jesus through His written word (Romans 10:9-10). Since that day I’ve looked to my master who made the heavens and the earth and everything else.
Jan and I were discussing over breakfast how reading the Scriptures brings to mind things like sinking in the mud flats, or the time I turned on the wrong road and would have been killed but for a couple seeing a car coming at a fast speed, and turning on their lights. That night I stopped about ten feet short of a 20-foot-deep and 20-foot-wide ditch.
As I read these words above about the servant looking to their master’s hand, it reminded me of my visit to Saudi Arabia on business and visiting the Sheikh. First, I was required to spend time with the General Manager before going into the Sheikh. As I thought back on this, the others who were from Saudi were not allowed to go with me into the General Manager but were allowed to go into the Sheikh’s presence.
I had a very nice time with the G.M. he was very interesting and got his college degree in the U.S. as did the Sheikh. He was very thankful to President Bush for helping save the Saudi people from a possible invasion of Iraqi troops. As that visit began, the G.M. ask if I would like a cup of coffee and my answer was yes, black please. The Chinese young man who was his servant, ran and came back very quick with coffee. As I took a sip, I must have frowned because the G.M. ask is your coffee ok and I said it is fine, but a little too sweet. He did not say a word, but just looked at the young man and once more he ran and got a black coffee. I did not know much about these people that come to Saudi to work, but my host told me as I related the story to him, that the young man lives in fear of being put on the street with no pass port and no one will employ him with out one. I was now very angry with myself and I prayed that he would keep his job.
I was also very grateful to God for allowing me to be a United States citizen and to have a Father who knows all about me and what a rascal I can be and loves me anyway.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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