Good morning Lord, thank you for another day. Help me focus on your Word by your Spirit in me. Psalm 40 is another favorite, it has so much encouragement.
Psalm 40 - 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
David begins this song with praise for deliverance. Again, there are some very strong themes and process of life with God in the Psalms, 1. Major trial in life 2. Waiting on the Lord (vs 1) 3. God’s deliverance comes to us (vs 2) 4. A heart of praise sings out to God (vs 3) 5. Renewed dedication to the Lord (vs. 4-8)
I have to honest, “waiting on the Lord” is rarely taught. It is an act of trust, focusing on Him more than on our problems. It is not running to solve all of them but allowing Him to be involved in our daily issues. Many times in my life I wanted to act, solve or attack. My waiting on Him gave him the opportunity to be rescuer and gave me the opportunity to trust. It meant getting myself off the driver seat, reminding myself that “I am not God”. I have some big issues in my life right now that require waiting. I am not a fan of waiting so Lord, help me have grace and trust in You. I can’t solve them, I can’t make them happen. If I wait on you, it will be right. Please deliver me but I will praise you regardless. Lord help my friend with cancer, deliver him and his wife. Please be merciful as they wait. Deliver Tristen too, heal him completely. . . and the pastor’s little baby girl with heart problems . . please save them Lord. Are you in a place where you should wait on him right now?
40:4 Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced ;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.
7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart."
I love David’s heart and dedication to the Lord, he puts himself on the alter and says, “Lord I am yours”. I love the fact that David’s greatest love was God.
Psalm 70 is another one where David is in a very difficult trial and his response is to wait and seek God out to rescue him.
Psalm 100 is on the other side of deliverance, all about praise:
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Wow, these psalms all go together, so cool. Now look at the next one for today, Psalm 130 is just like the previous ones, trial and crying out to God, waiting on the Lord and deliverance.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Thank you Lord that I have been forgiven. Waiting on the Lord includes watching for his salvation, deliverance and provision. Oh Lord, you are a great God!
Proverbs 10 is a litany of nuggets of wisdom, great to teach to our children too . . . Vs. 2 “ill gotten treasures are of no value”; vs. 9, “the man of integrity walks securely, 17 “He who heeds discipline shows the way of life”, 19, “He who holds his tongue is wise” . . . just a few of the many in there. For me I love them all but I summarize them in one, “The fear of the Lord adds length to life but the years of the wicked will be cut short.” Lord, I want to love wisdom and life more, give me the desire to fear you above all else.
Aug
ustine(354-430) is probably the most influential writer, theologian, philosopher of Christianity since the Apostle Paul. He was both extremely honest and one of the brightest minds.
He descirbes our mind as a divided house as we battle between our desires and our wills, so true. . . .he calls this divided house a “disease” because we actually have “two wills”. When we are divded and not sure what to do, its because our will is not “full”. In this devotion, Augustine confesses the struggle of his conversion, how he was so close to trusting God but his sin nature would not let him. One of the lies of the flesh is one that I hear on a regular basis from the unchristian, “I don’t want to give up . . . I can’t live without this _________“. Augustine did not want to give up his immoral wild life. He had build habits of fleshly pleasures that were not going away. Its impossible to understand this battle as you are experiencing it. . . but the Lord is merciful, and if you believe, he saves you and floods your mind and heart with peace. Augustine opened the Scriptures in the midst of his battle and read Romans 13:13, 14, “Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust an wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ; spend no more thought on nature and nature’s appetites.” Augustine was converted and became one of the greatest church leaders of all time.
Lord, in my battle with sin, flood my mind with truth and love so that I can believe and trust you more. Deliver from doubt, deliver me from pride, deliver me from fear. I will wait on you and trust you deliverer.
Tomorrow we will read from Thomas Merton on Prayer.
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