There are two readings for today.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 116
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. [Psalm 116:1-2]
When God intervenes in your life in a dramatic way, it’s hard not to explode in praise.
The psalmist was facing death, but now he is alive and well, celebrating God’s grace!
I have never experienced this kind of miraculous blessing, though my life is filled with more daily blessings than I can count.
Have you ever experienced God in this way – a miraculous intervention when everything was falling apart, when your life or health were in danger?
Can you relate to this outburst of love?

As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” [Mark 10:46-49]
Here is a man who is totally dependent on the charity of others, and as this story reveals, people were not that charitable – many rebuked him and told him to be quiet!
So desperate is he that he no longer cares, he shouts all the more, ‘have mercy on me!’
And Jesus hears His cry for mercy, He turns His ear to Him and listens.
For the first time in his life, perhaps, someone notices him, and this blind man is about to experience a miraculous blessing.

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. [Mark 10:46-52]
I have lived so long with health and abundance and security that I cannot appreciate the desperation and eagerness of this blind man.
But people all over the world can, and many are crying out to God for mercy at this very moment, desperate and eager for help and hope.
A story like this inspires hope, ‘maybe the Lord will also intervene in my life.’
I am not sure how the Lord helps the desperate, but I know He does; He does stop, He does hear their cry for mercy, and He does act… somehow.
The many testimonies from believers around the world and the explosive growth of the church in most of the world (except the affluent west) rise up as evidence for this.
Like Bartimaeus, people are following Jesus along the road of life, because He heard their cry for mercy, He turned His ear towards them.

PRAYER:
Lord, I have not experienced Your miraculous blessing like this, but I do want to say with the psalmist, and with Bartimaeus, I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.