There shall be showers of blessing,….send them upon us O Lord.
Once my husband and another pastor were in a prayer meeting. They had prayed for certain things…and had begun to receive them. They were thankful….but felt more was to be sought.
And then this came to my husband….pray for showers of blessing!
And so they began
”O Lord, we have received the mercy drops, but where is the showers of blessing that was promised. We pray for these showers of blessing.”
Mercy is that wonderful attribute of God….for He is merciful.
In the Tabernacle, the mercy and justice of God was seen side by side.
The Brazen altar,….where sacrifice for sin must be given, for forgiveness.
Here was justice, and mercy.
The Brazen laver….where the priests must wash before going into the Holy Place.
Here too was command and mercy.
Then they would serve at the Table (which spoke of sufficiency and fellowship with God),
the golden altar (which spoke of prayer),
and to trim the Light (which spoke of God given understanding)…..
…..again speaking of the Great Holy God, Who was merciful.
And of course there was the Mercy seat. This was made completely of gold, and sat on the Ark of the Testimony…..wherein was the Tables of the Law.
The blood of the sacrifice (looking forward to Christ’s sacrifice) was sprinkled there, on the day of atonement….on the mercy seat.
God’s justice and mercy seen side by side….because of the blood of the sacrifice…speaking about Christ’s glorious death and resurrection for us!
….for in HIs mercy God sent forth His Son to atone for our sins…..and give us HIs life….that we might fulfill His commandments….receiving His mercy for ourselves.
Exodus 25:21-22 “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
And there will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony….”
Israel was told to look toward the Temple and the mercy seat, when they needed to be forgiven:
2 Chronicles 6:14,21,26-27 “….O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their hearts:
Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear Thou from Thy dwelling place, even from heaven, and when Thou hearest, forgive.
When the heavens is shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against Thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin,…
Then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people, ….and send rain upon Thy land,…”
To have the showers of blessing, we need to be obedient to Jesus Christ….our Shepherd. (John 10:27)
Ezekiel 34:23, 26 “And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them,…
And I will make them and the places round about My hill (Mt. Zion) a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
And we need showers of blessing to come upon us….upon our church….and upon our land.
Showers in scripture indicate the blessing of revival or awakening to the godliness which God requires from His people.
My husband was praying about our calling in the church….and he received that the most important work of our ministry was to awaken His people to the Lord’s claims on their lives.
In mercy, the Lord prepares for showers of blessing….yet we often don’t ask for them….or seek the reason we do not get them.
Praise the Lord for His mercy-drops…..but let us, as the Lord told my husband years ago….let us ask for the showers we need…..whether it is personally or for others.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 