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Every Thursday we have "The Call to Pray for our Nation." Last night one of the scriptures we prayed was Psalms 37:28 which says,
"For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
We were led by Holy Spirit to pray regarding the Sure Mercies of David. In that revelation you find God's covenant of sure mercy that He made with King David. It basically reveals this. The mercy of God is revealed when God helped David by destroying his enemies. If you' like a great teaching on the Sure Mercies of David I'd recommend my friend and mentor's book, The Sure Mercy of David by Al Houghton.
This morning I began examining the Hebrew word translated "cut off." I was shocked by what I found. It is because that word is directly related to covenant.
Wow, that got my attention. It's because we find that word used in Psalm 89:3 where God "made" a covenant with My chosen.... David. It's the same word translated "cut off" in Psalm 37:28. In Psalm 89:14 the scripture says "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.... My mercy I will keep with him forever, and my covenant shall stand firm with him. This is where the "covenant of sure mercies" came from (Isaiah 55:3 and Acts 13:34).
As long as King David honored God's covenant, the mercy of God, enacted by covenant would display God's mercy by cutting off David's enemies.
First Mentioned
The very first place in scripture we find karat is in Genesis 9:11-13. It says, "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off (karat) by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
The covenant of God "cut off" evil and delivered the righteous.
David & Goliath
In 1st Samuel 17 we find the testimony of David who faced Goliath. Goliath had cursed and defied the armies of the living God. David was jealous for God. He cries, "Is there not a cause." Then David declared his trust in God and his faith saying in 1 Samuel 17:45-47, " Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."
Then he ran to meet Goliath and prevailed over him with a sling and a stone. 1 Samuel 17:51 "Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off (karat) his head with it.
And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled."
So, David used the enemy's own sword to cut off his head. In scripture the Word of God is likened unto a sword and the picture I get is God is going to use the very words of our adversary to entrap and destroy them. It's like "my body, my choice" is going to come back and defeat those who are ignoring inalienable rights today.
The Mercy & Judgment of God
The covenant of God moves in mercy. What does that look like? In Numbers 16 Korah, along with Dathan and Abriam led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. The mercy of God only removed those who were actually rebelling. He said in vese 20, "separate yourselves from among the congregation that I may consume them." The mercy of God only removed the offending parts to save the nation.
So we pray for the judgment rendered through the covenant of sure mercy. Lord, we pray that You would use the minimum amount of justice to lead to the maximum amount of salvation.
Scriptures using Karat - Cut Off!
The English word translated from karat will be underlined.
Deuteronomy 5:2 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Psalms 34:16 16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
Psalms 37:9 9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.
Psalms 37:34 34 Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
Psalms 50:5 5 "Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." (Note: every time you give a tithe, offering or firstfruit, it is a sign of your trust in God's covenant. There is a covenant promise with every form of giving. Your worship through giving is a form of covenant worship which is also warfare.)
Psalms 101:8 8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.
Proverbs 2:22 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.
Isaiah 14:22 22 "For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts, "And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, And offspring and posterity," says the LORD.
There are many more scriptures, but these are just a few we can pray today.
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