Psalm 89  "Who is like Thee, O mighty Lord?"    You have declared Your lovingkindness to us.  You have established Your faithfulness.  You keep Your covenants through the generations.   You have established Your Kingdom and the eternal King, Jesus Christ.  You rule the sea and the earth.  It is Your creation and is subject to Your commands.  You determined that righteousness and justice would be the foundation of Your throne.  We rejoice in Your Name.  And even though it seemed to the Israelites that You had abandoned them, You did not.  Even in their rebellion and idolatry, You did not forget Your promise to David.   For Jesus is the everlasting Son of David and Son of God.  He endured the cross.  "Blessed be the Lord, forever!"

Genesis 7  The Flood.  Noah obeyed God, doing all that God had commanded him.  He built the ark exactly as God said.  He entered the ark when God told him to enter.  He took his family and the animals into the ark and God Himself shut the door.  That "very same day", the floodgates opened.  That day, rain fell.  For forty days the water prevailed until all life outside of the ark was gone.  Only those inside were saved.  

Life for Noah and his family must have been a true roller coaster.  40 days of rain and 150 more days of nothing but water on the earth. Knowing that the only living things on the whole earth consisted of just them.  They must have sorrowed at the loss of family and community.  They must have grieved over the death and destruction.  Thankful that they were hidden in God's shelter, but wondering about what would happen next.

Father, the world around us is headed to destruction again.  We know that is true.  We know that only those whose lives are hidden in Christ, resting in His salvation, will be saved from the final judgement.  We are thankful for Your provision, for Your Grace.  But we still grieve for those outside Your Ark.  We pray that You would open the eyes and hearts of men and women and children to come to Jesus and be saved, before the day when the door is shut and there is no more time to enter into Your salvation.  May we live in obedience, like Noah did, that others may know the Truth and find You.  Oh teach us to "number our days".... to make our days count for You.  May we abide in Christ and Christ in us that we may bear fruit, that others will come to You and find shelter from the destruction that will come.  In Jesus' Name I ask this, amen.