Hello again to my loyal readers and newcomers. I’m thankful that you joined me and excited to share how my day started yesterday.

This day began with the song “Thank You” by Don Moen playing in my mind. After feeding the cats (they think their stomachs are a priority😊), I grabbed a cup of coffee, my Bible, notebook, and my phone. My destination was our deck for my time with the Lord before daybreak. This morning was cool with a slight welcome breeze for these hot July days.

I used my phone to play the song that kick-started my day. I love the song so much that I decided to write out the words. I will share just a few, but I suggest you listen to the entire song.

“I come before You today

And there’s just one thing I want to say

Thank You Lord, Thank You Lord,

For all You’ve, given to me

For all the blessings that I cannot see

Thank You Lord, Thank You Lord

With a grateful heart, with a song of praise, with an outstretched arm,

I bless Your name… Thank You Lord. I just want to thank You Lord…”

Don’s song continues by naming key things he is grateful for. It wouldn’t be hard to continue a lengthy list, but instead, I will share a couple of things for this day by telling you what happened next.

After the song finished on YouTube, up pops a teaching by Adam at Fatihlabz Ministries. Adam takes key words from verses of scripture and translates them from the original language to explain their full meaning. Our multilingual friends probably understand the limits of the English language we speak here in America, especially when compared to Hebrew and Greek. That is why I appreciate Adam’s work.

So the title of Adam’s message today was “The Lock You Can’t Pick”.

Adam’s scripture focus was the Hebrew word patach in Psalm 116, the testimony of a man who almost died. He begins with verse 1,

NKJV: “I love the Lord because He heard My voice and my supplications.

 V2 Because He inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.”

Adam points out the pain, trouble, and sorrow the writer was in; how close to death he was. He was trapped, caught, bound, and “brought low.” Then, in verse 4, He calls on the name of the Lord. He doesn’t pick the lock. He calls on the one who has the key.

Adam continues through the verses to point out Scripture where the word patach is used. With each example he gives, we understand that patach means to open or loosen someone from bondage. The Lord is the one who has the key to free us when we call out to Him. He rescued him when he was still at the bottom of the pit, not after he climbed out. Verse 8 names the three things that God rescued him from: soul from death, eyes from tears, and feet from falling. The question is, “What’s the lock that you’ve been trying to pick in the dark?”

Then Adam moves to verse 16:

“O Lord, I am truly Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds.” There it is: he was bound, and the Lord loosed him. There’s our word patach, to open/loose. The Lord opened the bonds for him.

The word patach appears over 100 times in the Bible. It is the word for opening wombs, eyes, ears, and lips. It is even the word God uses to test His own generosity in Malachi 3:10: He will open the windows of heaven for you. All of this leads us to understand that the free person is to open his hand to the one who is still bound. After we are set free, we choose which master we serve, the one who set us free or the one in the bondage of darkness.

Adam’s second question was, “Whose bond could your freedom open?”

It is a wonderful teaching, and of course I hope you can listen to it. Adam takes it much further and asks more soul-searching questions for even more clarity of the word patach.

So now, I would like to go back to verse 1. I was reminded of an experience I had about 15 years ago while searching for a new church home. We knew no one in this congregation, including the Pastor. The most amazing event was at the end of the service, during the closing prayer; the Pastor walked down the aisle and straight up to me (we were sitting closer to the back of the sanctuary) and said, “Ma’am, the Lord wants you to know He hears your prayers for your family.” He hears your prayers!” I was brought to tears! These were good tears moved by the Holy Spirit because I knew for certain that God was speaking directly to me through this pastor. The peace that came over me was beyond my understanding and still is today as the Holy Spirit reminds me of this event and His Word. As in Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

No wonder my song this morning was, “ Thank You”!

“For all You’ve given to me

For all the blessings that I cannot see”

And immediately following the song is Psalm 116:1-2 : “I love the Lord because He heard My voice and my supplications.

 V2 Because He inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.”

And the teaching of the word patach assures me that the Lord is the One who picks the lock for all of us when we call out to Him to release us from our bonds. Then, by serving the Master who set us free, we are to open our hands to the one who is still bound.

So, I hope that by sharing my morning with the song of thanksgiving and Adam’s teaching on patach, the bond loosener/opener, and sharing His supernatural assurance that He hears my prayers, this will answer the question “What’s the lock that you’ve been trying to pick in the dark?”, and call out to the One who does patach. And for those of us who have and are free, ask, “Whose bond could my freedom open?”

V1-2 “I love the Lord because He heard My voice and my supplications.

 Because He inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.”

V16 “O Lord, I am truly Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds.”

I bless Your name, Lord; thank You! And I do thank you, every one of you, for joining me, wherever you are in this great big world… John 3:16 NKJV “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Reba