Psalm 18

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said: I will love You, O LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

. . .

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

7 Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry.

8 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.

10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And thick clouds of the skies.

12 From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

13 The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

. . .

30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

31 For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?

32 It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.

33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.

. . .

46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

 This is one of the longest psalms and only part of it is addressed here, but I encourage you to read it all on your own.  It’s also unusual in that the psalm appears twice in the Bible. That is, it is in the book of Psalms and also is repeated at 2 Samuel 22:2-51. Anything God says once is important and worthy of our attention, but when He repeats something, God must really be trying to impress something upon us.  What stands out to me in this psalm is God’s character and power.

The Bible is replete with various names and titles of God that describe His character and attributes, and many of them are included in this psalm. For example, David declares that God is his rock, his fortress, his shield, his strength, his stronghold. These names help us understand God better by giving us word pictures that exemplify His character.  For example, because God is our rock, He is unchanging and that gives us a sense of security in uncertain times. Because God is our shield, He protects us so that we need not be afraid in life or in death. Because God is our strength, He helps us in our weakness so we can do what He calls us to do.

 God’s almighty power is on display in this psalm, with earthquakes, smoke, devouring fire, hailstones, lightning and wind. It is reminiscent of God’s giving of the law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:18-21) and also when God answered Job, revealing His majesty and omnipotence (Job 38-39).  “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29, NKJV)  He is holy, righteous, perfect in all ways; He alone is worthy of praise, honor, glory and worship.  The Lord lives! Let His name be exalted! 

 Can you say that God is your salvation?  Are you one of the Lord’s redeemed by personal faith in Jesus Christ?  Then let your praise ring out; don’t be ashamed or afraid to tell others. Almighty God will arm you with strength; the Lord will be your shield if you trust in Him.

                                                                 How Great Thou Art

O Lord, my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds

Thy hands have made

I see the stars

I hear the rolling thunder

Thy pow’r throughout

The universe displayed

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

How great Thou art

 

(lyrics by Carl Boberg, 1885) 

Thursday Devotional - Belong to Who?

Well, the twins moved in last Friday (September 4)! It’s hard to know what all they understand, but they came with all their clothes and toys and knew it was different than just a “weekend” visit like all the previous weekends.

One of them came down with a cold the first day and gave it to several others by the end of the weekend, including James, with all his asthma issues. So, it’s been a rough first week!

I was already nervous about the transition, mostly for the twins, but also for all of us. As rough as the first week has been, the first day went really well and much better than I expected. It ended on a high note with God giving us several layers of timely truths for all 6 of us.

First, as we read in our children’s Bible before bed that first night, the reading Providentially “happened” to be about Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael. It talked about how God was faithful to Hagar and Ishmael and provided for them as they moved to a new home!!!

After reading the Bible story and talking about it, I then opened our children’s devotional and read:

James answered the first question right away saying “God!” Then, as we were discussing it further afterwards, I asked again who we belong to and Edmund said: “Jesus!” Since then, Edmund has especially wanted to read from the devotional book and says “We belong to Jesus!” before we read each day’s devotion.

John 17:1-6 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 

Who do you belong to?

Alice   

Building A Legacy

 Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.  But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’ 

“And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.”   1 Kings 8:17-20 

My Dad’s birthday was Monday (he passed away 14 years ago).  He was a Navy guy.  He served in the latter years of World War II out at Pearl Harbor.  Later when he moved up to Detroit, he became a union guy.  He worked for Ford Motor Company for years building cars until one day, he decided to go into business on his own.  He became one of the first minority franchisees for Burger King in the 70s (Trust me.  I’ve heard enough ‘Have It Your Way’ jokes for a lifetime).  But before all of that, he was a man of God.  A gentleman’s gentlemen who I admire to this day.  It is funny how the person you are is often driven by the goodness of your parent or role model.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about how my decision to follow God helped me to have a conversation with my granddaughter about Him.  It was fun to have, but as I have learned, there was much more to the story.  As you can see, the foundation had been set long before I had even known it existed.  While my foundation was set by Jesus Christ, it was built on the legacy my father started.  I am so grateful to him for that. 

God’s plan is to build a legacy in our lives that honors Him.  As I studied a bit more about Solomon, I read about his building a temple for God.  I was unaware of how his legacy was heavily dependent on what David had done.  A few weeks ago, my focus was on Solomon’s selflessness serving the people of Israel and not his own personal desires.  In today’s verses, he wanted to give honor to God but not just for his doing.  He wished to honor what his father, King David, wanted.  In doing this, Solomon furthered the legacy of not only David but also his own.  We all should be wary of the footsteps that we are taking.  Most are for our own mission, but others are to give honor to those who have led the path forward.  My children may not understand why are push them like I do, but I remind them of where we are today because of the love and sacrifices of my parents.  To parallel that to our own story with God, we might have known who God was back when we were little.  But as we grew in our relationships with Him, we understood how patient He was with us.  How forgiving He was when we failed time and time again.  We can now relate to what it means when someone says God is love. As written in 1 Corinthians 13:7, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”  That is how hope becomes reality, and His love for us allows our life to become a legacy for others. 

Kingdom building occurs when we give up our wants for what God wants.  Each time I submit to Him in a relationship, He makes it better.  How often things do not go our way because it was something we personally wanted but not what God wanted?  God is a gracious God of abundance.  If we know this, why would we ever be lacking for anything?  Let us focus on what God wants and walk in His footsteps so that He not only receives the glory but also builds something that lasts beyond ourselves.  What Kingdom building has God been prompting you to do?  How can you substitute your wants for what God wants?  My prayer is that God directs us to pick up the torch (or cross) to build a greater legacy for Him.  Amen, and ‘thanks Dad.’ 😊