Psalm 6--Deliverance

“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,

Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak;

O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O LORD--how long?

Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies' sake!

For in death there is no remembrance of You;

In the grave who will give You thanks?

I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim;

I drench my couch with my tears.

My eye wastes away because of grief;

It grows old because of all my enemies.

Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;

For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

The LORD has heard my supplication;

The LORD will receive my prayer.

Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;

Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.”

     Psalm 6:1-10 (NKJV)

God is a mighty deliverer, as many stories in the Bible illustrate.  Just think of how He parted the Red Sea to deliver the children of Israel from all of Pharaoh’s armies.  Or how He protected Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-Nego from destruction in King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace.   Or opened the prison doors and shackles for Paul and Silas.

And God still delivers today.  From desperate situations, from fear, from sickness, from oppression, etc.  But deliverance doesn’t always come when we’d like and we have to wait.  Sometimes God uses the situation to grow our faith, to help us learn patience and perseverance, to strengthen our dependence on Him.  But we can be sure that He hears our prayers and His timing is perfect.

So don’t give up, don’t be discouraged. Press into Him; trust fully in Him.  God is rich in mercy and His abundant grace is sufficient to sustain us until deliverance comes.

Thursday Devotional - Better than Money

Does money really buy happiness?

I’m sure Jessica’s family would pay thousands and thousands of dollars to bring her sister-in-law back to life, pay for a cancer cure, etc. (see Monday’s devotional) Money doesn’t solve all our problems.

Peter offered better than money to a lame beggar.

Acts 3:6-10 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” ⁷ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. ⁸ He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹ When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

More than just physical healing, this man was offered spiritual healing! God used the physical healing to open the door for Peter to share the truths about God and Jesus Christ (as you can read in the rest of chapter 3). The beggar was so thankful Peter gave him something better than money!!!

What about you and me? Are we more focused on providing financial means for ourselves and our family? Or, are we giving those around us something better than money? Are we sharing the truths of God that can bring spiritual healing for all eternity, no matter what happens in this life?

Alice

Heart & Humility

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
       be pleasing in your sight,
       O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Psalm 19:14

The topic of prayer has recently come up in my journey.  Not just from the standpoint of my own prayers but more into the thought of praying the right prayer.  When I was a younger Christian (if you consider being 40 ‘young,’ I heard a gentleman talk about prayer life saying that God is all knowing, and even if you are not good at prayer, he understands your heart.  And He will hear your prayer and request.  As I’ve grown older, I heard more complex teachings on prayer.  For example, the sermon at my church this week gave me three key takeaways.  My pastor said that prayer is defined by the entire Bible and not just a few verses.  Second, it is about connecting with God and not about what we get out of it.  Finally, it is an act of obedience and not desperation.  These points were very helpful in understanding what a prayer life should be like.  My confusion however focused on what I first learned.  If my prayers are not really good, can my prayer life be?  The answer is in the humility which you present it with.

Our words and hearts must be in alignment with each other for our prayers to really be worthwhile.  You see, you really can’t have a solid prayer life unless your heart is into it.  That is why a person who is born again and seemingly ignorant on the right way to pray to God can be more impactful than the most studied of prayer warriors.  Reading the Psalms of David are a great reminder of what a successful prayer life would sound like.  I was reading a historian’s viewpoint on David’s writing of the 19^th Psalm.  They said the chapter is twofold talking first about how great God is and how he is Lord over all things.  However, the second part is a bit of his own introflection.  David wrote:

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
    Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
    Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
    and innocent of great sin.  Psalm 19:12-13

 It’s as if to say, “I know I am not you, God.  Help me be a good man and not a worldly one.”  This shows the humility of David understanding that while he is King of Israel and a great man, he is a servant of God, and as such, needed Him to help make the right choices so that he will be blameless.  How often do we go to God with this kind of heart?  One that acknowledges His greatness and our weakness?  This was why the closing of the 19^th Psalm was perfect.  We want our prayers to fully see who God is, and to look upon Him knowing we simply cannot make it without Him.  This is the heart of a believer who is fully connected with God.

Our prayer life is a simple reminder of our relationship with God.  It keeps it real because it is above a ritual that we mark off and more personal than practical.  Do not let your prayers just be an idle act.  Make it meaningful and impactful as a true act of worship, appreciation, and adoration for the one true living God.  Are your prayers heartfelt or just going through the motions?  What changes can you make to improve on your prayers and prayer life?  My prayer is that we go to God frequently with two key ingredients; heart and humility.  Amen.

The comfort of the Lord

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

Over the past week, I have traveled a very dark valley with my husband and his family.  We watched helplessly as my husband’s sister, came to the end of her battle with cancer.  We watched helplessly as her husband and kids tried to understand why and how they would go on.  We watched helplessly, yet we feared no evil, as we knew the Lord was with all of us through this dark valley.  His rod and staff have been there to comfort us and we know they will continue to be there to comfort us.

What has been hardest however, is watching as some of those that loved her, do not know the Lord and therefore do not know the comfort that we have in him.  I thank the Lord that Mary was a born again Christian and loved the Lord, yet struggle with how this will impact her husband and kids that do not have that relationship. 

Today, I ask that you pray for those around you that do not know the Lord.  This world can be dark and hard to survive without the love and comfort of God.