Wednesday, September 11, 2019

TWENTY-FOUR/SEVEN

Today’s Reading: Psalms 4-6

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

 

Shepherds milk a sheep amidst the ruins of Jerash, Jordan. David, the shepherd king, has given us three hymns in today’s reading.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Psalm 4:8

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

 

How many of us have prayed the bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep! If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take!” How many of us have considered that this prayer could have come from David? As a boy, David slept on the hills around Bethlehem. In order to find good pasture, he would often wander far from home. With wolves and mountain lions in the area, what a comfort David’s faith in God must have been to him.

These Psalms of prayer cover 24/7 time periods: morning, evening, and all night long. By practise, we develop a special sense of God’s presence at all times. In fact, we may want to read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. While the middle verse of these three tells us to “pray without ceasing,” the verses before and after encourage us to “REJOICE” and to “GIVE THANKS!” David knew the secret of practising the presence of God. In Psalm 4, he writes of “GLADNESS” (verse 7a). In Psalm 5, he encourages, “REJOICE” and “SHOUT FOR JOY!” (verse 11a). And in Psalm 6, David writes of “WEEPING” (verse 8b). So, go ahead, get alone with God and let your emotions surface, expressing whatever is in your heart. God said of David, as recorded by the Apostle Paul, “I have found David the son of Jessie, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22b).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, “HEAR MY PRAYER!” “MY VOICE YOU SHALL HEAR IN THE MORNING, O LORD!” “HAVE MERCY ON ME, O LORD, FOR I AM WEAK; O LORD, HEAL ME, FOR MY BONES ARE TROUBLED.” I cry out to You Lord with the words of David. I also confess David’s declaration of faith, “THE LORD WILL HEAR WHEN I CALL TO HIM.” I do so in the Name and through the Person of the One Who said, “FATHER, I KNOW YOU ALWAYS HEAR ME,” Jesus Christ (John 11:42a). Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Today is the anniversary of the evil and infamous attack on the World Trade Centre Towers in New York City, the Pentagon and the plane that went down in a Pennsylvania field. The Islamists who committed this unspeakable evil claim that David is one of their prophets. David wrote, “The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Psalm 5:6b). If I dwell on the evil in the hearts of people, I will surely do as David did, “drench my couch with my tears” (Psalm 6:5b). And at the same time I believe that, “The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer” (Psalm 6:9).

I identify strongly with the words of Psalm 6:2b, “Heal me for my bones are troubled.” I pray with fervency every day, “Heal me, O Lord!” I believe God hears and answers my prayer. I’ve quoted before the couplet I heard my dad say, “Be my symptoms what they will, Jesus is my Healer still!” Amen!!!

Yours with total confidence in God’s provision!

David

P.S. I’ve had the honour of preaching in many different churches (those that hold to the solid faith of the early church fathers clearly written in the ancient creeds). I cherish the hymnbook pictured below which was presented to me after I preached in a Lutheran Church. The Psalms were the hymn book for worship in the Temple in Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Jesus worshipped in the Temple, and no doubt the Psalms were the book from which He sang and worshipped. This hymn book sits on the shelf just above the place where I type this blog. I often take it down and read or sing one or more of the great hymns handed down to us by men and women of God. I don’t sing solos in public, but I surely do so when it’s just God and me here in my study.

9 thoughts on “Wednesday, September 11, 2019

  1. Thank You, Lord, for those who have gone before us. Have your good and perfect way in this world going forward, and please bring Godly people into positions of leadersgip in Canada. We ask You, thanking You that You hear us. In Jesus’s forever-great name, amen

  2. Amen fellow bloggers. Many are still mourning today as they remember 9-11 and the loss of loved ones and acquaintances. I also attended a funeral this morning for the husband of my best friend here. Our former pastor of 24 years is often called back to do funerals and he reminded us of things that he speaks at all his funerals that when we die we do not automatically go to heaven but we must be born again. Neither are we out of our suffering if we have not repented and are a child of God. Also death and hell(which would include all that is contained therein) will be cast into the lake of fire. We need to be reminded of these truths. Do you hear these things at the funerals you attend? Surely appreciate this pastor.

    • Ger, I am glad that this pastor is speaking the truth at the funerals. It is a time when people may be more attentive and curious about matters regarding death and what lies beyond the grave.
      We all have a choice to make with regards to our eternity. Only one way to guarantee eternal life and that is to repent of our sins and invite Jesus to be the Lord over our lives…salvation is found in no other name but the Name of Jesus!
      Praying with Rob for God to raise godly leaders for our great country. Let us all pray regarding the upcoming Federal election

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