Shout Louder
Tuesday, June 29
Shout Louder
Many people admonished him to be silent, but he cried out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Mark 10:48
Today, headlines are filled with accounts of people expressing need and asking for help while the world dismisses their concerns and tells them to be quiet. This is what we see here in today’s verse, Mark 10:48 “many people admonished him to be silent…..” But even with the hushes from the crowd we see a man who couldn’t care less about what people thought. He was blind, he was desperate, and he was within shouting distance of someone who could do something about it. So he shouted – Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. He shouted so much that those around him reprimanded him as he was obviously ‘causing a scene!’ But that just made him more determined and he shouted louder.
It is rather fascinating, not just the shout but the location of this shout. Mark 10:46–52 describes Jesus traveling through Jericho on His way to Jerusalem and the cross. Jericho, another place where shouting brought an amazing victory of walls falling down (Joshua 6). In this case, however, Bartimaeus wasn’t shouting for the walls of a city to fall down but rather that he would be able to regain his sight. Nonetheless, it was the shout which got Jesus’ attention and restoration of his sight because of the faith that was shown.
The fact is that the shouting wasn’t empty – it was faith-filled shouting. In fact, it was the cry of help strengthened by faith that caused the shouting.
I wonder if we would have done the same. When people looked at us and reprimanded us for making a scene with worship, do we still cry out to the Lord, Jesus! Thou Son of David have mercy on me? Jesus is looking for those who, filled with faith, will call to Him – will shout out in desperation to Him. God will not ignore a faith-filled cry from His children!
Prayer for today: Dear Lord, help us to rise up in faith and cry out to You regardless of those who are looking on. Lord! We need Your saving power in our lives and we cry out that You would bring down the walls that tries to hold us back from following You with our whole hearts, in Jesus’ name, Amen.