Psalm 17

 

1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O LORD, Attend to my cry; Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.

2 Let my vindication come from Your presence; Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.

3 You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

4 Concerning the works of men, By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.

5 Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip.

6 I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.

7 Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You From those who rise up against them.

8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,

9 From the wicked who oppress me, From my deadly enemies who surround me.

10 They have closed up their fat hearts; With their mouths they speak proudly.

11 They have now surrounded us in our steps; They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,

12 As a lion is eager to tear his prey, And like a young lion lurking in secret places.

13 Arise, O LORD, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,

14 With Your hand from men, O LORD, From men of the world who have their portion in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure. They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.

15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

  Psalm 17 (NKJV)

 This psalm gives us good advice to follow in our daily walk as believers.  David beseeches God to listen to his prayer because it is sincere.  God hates deceitful lips and so should we. We must be honest in our prayer, laying things out before Him as they really are (rather than withholding details that are unfavorable to us). God knows anyhow and we can trust Him to deal with our cause rightly. 

 

David notes that God has tested his heart.  Similarly, we should ask God to search us and know our hearts, to try us and see if there is any wicked way in us (Psalm 139:23-24). Then we must also be willing to submit to any correction that God brings to our heart in response.  

 

In addition, David asks that God uphold his steps so that he will not slip. When we are willing to walk in obedience and submission to the Lord’s will, He will show us the path to take and guard our steps. We need to stay in His presence to find wisdom and protection.

 

Finally, David seeks God’s deliverance from his enemies, those who oppress him.  When we take a stand for Christ, when we speak truth in love, when we walk according to our new nature rather than in conformity to this world, we will have enemies. Just as Jesus was hated, He warns that His followers also will be hated for His name’s sake (Matthew 10:22).  If we are not encountering any opposition or hostility in the world today, that should be a warning to reassess our priorities and our witness.  Let us be bold for the cause of Christ! 

Thursday Devotional - Adoption, Take 2

Thank you to all those who prayed for James last week! He is finally feeling better with no more numbness or blurred vision. We’re praising God!

This week, we willingly face a different set of challenges! We’re four becoming six! We fostered-to-adopt James and Sarah 4 years ago and God had plans for us to do it again (it’s a long story, but we had specifically told our licensing agency we were a closed home during the pandemic).

Tomorrow, twins (a boy and girl, turning 4 in October), will move into our home! They were born the exact day and year as the day we officially adopted James and Sarah!!! Finding that out was one of the many confirmations God gave us to “say yes” to fostering-to-adopt again.

We just took our foursome family photo the end of July, which I thought would be perfect for our Christmas card! I guess not… 😉

God continues to fulfill His purposes from the burden he placed on our hearts over 10 years ago about taking care of orphans.  

Isaiah 1:17   Learn to do right; seek justice.

   Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

   plead the case of the widow.

James 1:27         Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Will you please pray for all 6 of us as we go this huge transition? It’s exciting and scary, all at the same time!

Alice

Trust & Understanding

 

That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place.  O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! ¹⁰ Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”

God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people—  I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”  2 Chronicles 1:7-12

Life is not always as simple as right and wrong.  We are inundated with opinions that conflict one another.  Trust this person.  Don’t trust that person.  Trust that party.  Don’t trust that party.  Stay away from those people.  I love those people.  It starts to ultimately boil down to a simple argument of ‘us vs. them.’  I’m good with that kind of language only when it comes to the Detroit ‘Bad Boys’ vs. the Michael Jordan ‘Bulls’ because that is a basketball game, and for the record, I will always be a ‘Bad Boy for life’ 😊  But do I hate Michael Jordan?  Do I think he is evil?  Absolutely not.  Why?  Didn’t he beat my favorite team?  Did he not ridicule them and ostracize my favorite player?  He did.  So why?  It is really and fairly simple.  First, he is still a human being like me who wanted to do his best and win.  Even as a rival, that is easy to understand.  Second, I must trust that he meant to do good.  Not harm.  There are two beliefs I have in dealing with people.  One, we all want to do our best, and two while we know there is evil in the world, I trust God will guide me to the right people at the right time.  Furthermore, He gave me wisdom to discern who means well who does not.  Is this philosophy perfect?  No.  I am at times flawed in my judgment.  But wisdom is about learning from God and experience.  Not being perfect.

Having trust in God is how one acquires wisdom to both understand and trust others.  In reading the beginning of Solomon’s reign, he is given a choice from God.  He could have anything he wanted.  Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge.  There are a couple of attributes not said here but very important to note.  First is the humility shown by Solomon.  Instead of asking for personal recognition and fame, he asked to better rule his people to whom God entrusted him with.  This speaks to a major principle of our faith: it’s not about us.  It’s about Him.  We are to be humble in our request recognizing that it is from God that all blessing flow.  This bring us to the second attribute: trust.  There is a mutual trust between God and Solomon.  God entrusted Solomon to be King of Israel because He knew Solomon would do well in that role, and Solomon trusted God as a provider knowing that he could not rule without His provision and care.  Is it any wonder that Solomon would write, “Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5 NIV) You see, trusting in God leads to wisdom.  We are to be humble at heart to allow Him into our spirit, and from there all else flows.  Love.  Patience.  Understanding.  Trust.

God gives us all we need if we just trust in Him.  There is so much that we are inundated with that we at times are overwhelmed.  However, if we put our trust in God entirely then how little would we have to worry about?  Jesus said, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:31-33) This was the trust Solomon had in God.  Let us build a greater trust in Him as well.  Where are you placing your trust in yourself above God?  Do you pray to God for wisdom and understanding in all you do?  My prayer is that we are humble enough to lean into God to gain wisdom and understanding of others.  Amen.

Let Me Count The Ways

 So, I'm not finished exploring hope. I say that by way of warning. In my re-examination of what I missed of hope in the Hebrew Scriptures, I found Psalm 31. This Psalm is really all about hope, but the Hebrew word for hope (tiqwah Strong's H8615) doesn't show up. Instead just about every other word for hope is used. So, let's take the tour of the ways our Creator and Savior is our hope.

First, our Savior is our "refuge": "For the choir director. A Psalm of David. In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed; In Your righteousness deliver me." (Psalm 31:1 NASB) This is probably the most common use of hope in Psalms. It translates the Hebrew word, chasah (Strong's H2620). And this makes sense to us because the whole point of a refuge is provide hope of a future in times of danger. So, Jesus is our "refuge" when we're in danger.

Next, our Savior is who we can trust: "I hate those who regard vain idols, But I trust in the LORD." (Psalm 31:6 NASB) This is the Hebrew word which, in the prophetic works, was most often translated as hope. It is the Hebrew word, batach (Strong's H982). The contrast is in what we hope, either gods or the God. We can trust in the created, even spiritual powers and authorities. Or we can trust in our Creator, who also created these other, lessor, options.

These two options are repeated twice each, "trust" in verse 14, and "refuge" in verse 19. And yet, nearly every verse has something to say about hope in some way, either well-placed or misplaced. God is our "Rock", our "Deliverer", "The One on whom we call". And then, finally, He is the One on whom we wait:

"Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD." (Psalm 31:24 NASB) In most modern translations, where the NASB has "hope", they have "wait". The word in Hebrew is yachal (Strong's H3176), which has a sense of waiting with expectation of receiving whatever is being waited on. There's no doubt involved, but there is excited anticipation. Are you waiting on our Savior with bated breath? Are you seeking His kingdom with eager anticipation that you will see it? Do you scan the skies looking for His appearing? Be strong and take courage. He comes!

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation