Today we had the opportunity to worship at the Nazarene Church
here in Amman. It was a wonderful and blessed experience with great music and a
wonderful message from the Pastor. He preached on Jesus having compassion on
those who are ignorant from Hebrews 5:2. When he gave the invitation and asked
people to stand if they needed the compassion of Jesus and desired to repent it
appeared to me that at least 20 people immediately stood up and prayed with
him.

The service was in Arabic and the pastor’s wife translated both
the worship music and the message into English for us. She did an awesome job
and we understood everything that was going on. Afterwards we were privileged
to go the pastor’s office with him and his wife and spend about an hour with
them over some tea and pastries. I can’t tell you how encouraging that meeting was
as they shared their vision of ministry and Kingdom work with our team! Already
they are very engaged with Grace Church and the ministry to refugees and have a
genuine heart to make a difference in this part of the world and beyond as a missionary
sending church! We were truly blessed!

Afterwards we spent a couple hour with Pastor Wasim and
Lillian in their apartment! We ate a awesome Egyptian meal with them and had a
great time of fellowship hopefully encouraging them as much as they did us!

It is amazing that Psalm 137 fits so well into our current
time here in Amman. It is about the people of Israel who have been displaced
from their homeland and currently living in a strange and foreign place where
they have been taken as captives. They are hurting and have painful memories.
The unknown psalmist is expressing both his thoughts and feelings about his
memories of Jerusalem and how they are being treated by their captors.

Music was also one way of expressing their grief and
seeking the help of the Lord "who gives songs in the night" (Job
35:10). These former exiles remembered the times their guards demanded that
they entertain them by singing one of the "songs of Zion." What
biting sarcasm! The Babylonians knew how the Jews honored Mount Zion and the
city of Jerusalem, and how they boasted of Zion's strength and security (46:5,
7, 10, 11; 48; 76:1-3; 87), but now, the city and temple were in ruins. In
their sarcasm, the guards were asking, "Where is your God? Why did He not
deliver you?" (See 42:3, 10; 79:10; 115:2.)

The exiles had refused to obey; they did not sing for their
captors. Why? For one thing, the Babylonians wanted "the Lord's song"
(v. 4), and the Jewish people were not about to use sacred temple hymns to
entertain the pagans. Their captors wanted "songs of mirth," and the
exiles had no joy. They had lost everything but God and their lives, and being
normal people, they were deeply pained in their hearts. Their city, temple, and
homes had been destroyed, their people had been deported, and the throne of
David had been cast to the ground. But even worse, they had seen the Babylonian
soldiers get great glee out of throwing Jewish babies against the walls and
smashing their heads (v. 9). It was one way the Babylonians could limit the
future generation of their enemies.

Yes, memories can bring pain, and the pain does not go away
when we try to "bury" the memories. Denial usually makes things
worse. But the fact that the exiles could talk about these painful things
indicates that they were facing them honestly and learning how to process this
pain in a mature way. It takes time for broken hearts to heal, and Jesus can
heal them if we give Him all the pieces (147:3; Luke 4:18).

Again, I remind you that we are ministering to precious
refugees here in Amman this week who have tragic memories and a very painful
past for the most part. Please keep us in your prayers as we share God’s love
and His Son with them!

God bless!