CRY AND THE LORD HEARS

Psa 34:6  This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 

David refers to himself as he shows God’s response to those that cry unto God. Now he sees the need to praise God. Many times, we are stressed because of events that are, seemingly destroying our lives and the lives of family and loved ones. David experienced these things and always “cried” unto God.

We must understand that God desires to help us through the tough times, through the difficult times, through the distresses and turmoils of this life. We must communicate with God and call upon Him. Through out the Old Testament and New Testament, we find the saints calling upon God. God is waiting for our call and then He will respond to our need. He already knows our need. Much like our earthly father that knows our need but patiently waits for us to express that need and then responds to the call we give unto he as our earthly father.

David praises God for His response. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. He is there in the morning. He is there at noon. He is there in the evening. He is there at night. Let us praise Him at all times for the marvelous work He does for us. He brings us through the valley of the shadow of death. Praise God and Give Him all Glory.

BLESSED FORGIVENESS

Psa 32:1  A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 

2  Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 

The wickedness of sin is apparent in our lives. Then we need to come to the Lord and confess that we have been sinful. Confession brings the forgiveness of the Lord. This Psalm tells us what happens when we neglect confession of our sins. This is a confession, not to man or priest or rabbi, but to the Lord.

Sin brings guilt into our lives. Guilt can cause misery and bring sorrow that mars our spirit and our days and nights. David describes the lack of confession of sin and how miserable he was.

The Lord is our hiding place. A place of forgiveness and rest. A place of ease and comfort. To the Lord is where we need to rush and confess our sins and be healed of guilt in the precious arms of Jesus. In His arms we find mercy, and gladness and shout for joy. We have been forgiven.

FOR THY NAMES SAKE

Psa 31:3  For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. 

4  Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength. 

5  Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. 

“…for thy name’s sake” Notice this statement. For thy name’s sake, I live my life, I walk the path that God has prescribed for me. My life is not lived for my self, my life is lived for God so that His name is exalted.

God is our rock and fortress. He is ready to help us as we slip into the net that the enemy has set for us. There are those that are active in setting traps for the children of God. We cling to God and He will bring us out of the snares of the world.

We see that God is always ready to lead and guide us in paths of righteousness for His names sake. Because of the faithfulness of God we have committed our spirit to Him. His redemption seals our spirit till the day of completer redemption. Our lives should be lived for His GLORY. Let us ever exalt His name by righteous lives, lived for God.

THE VOICE OF THE LORD

Psa 29:3  The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 

The go to verse in this chapter is verse two – “…worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” The true emphasis is on the voice of the Lord. We find the voice of the Lord is “upon the waters.” We find that His voice “thundereth.” We also see several other things about the voice of the Lord. It is “powerful,” it is full of “full of majesty.”

We then proceed to the results of the voice of the Lord. His voice “breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.” He makes the cedars to “skip like calves.” The voice of the Lord “divideth the flames of fire.” It “shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.”, It makes the “hinds to calve.” The voice of the Lord affects all things that have to do with life.

The lost never hear it. They never experience or see the results of the Lord’s voice. The Lord’s voice is in everything that we do. The voice and presence of the Lord can change lives. For the saved and the lost. For the lost it can give everlasting life. For the saved, it can lead in the path of righteousness.

Psa 29:11  The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

The Lord gives strength. The New Testament reveals the care of the Lord for His people. The providential care and nourishment is similar to the care of the nation delivered during the exodus and the hand of the Lord during their wandering in the wilderness. This is my Lord. Is He your Lord?

Whose Way?

Gen 16:1  Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 

2  And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 

3  And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 

4  And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 

God has a plan. How often is it that man cannot just wait for God’s plan to develop? How often God has His way and it is too old fashion, too sedate, too boring. Instead of allowing the gospel to convict and draw man has a better plan. Make the praise and worship of God, exciting and attractive.

In this passage, God has made a promise of a son. Sarai says that God is not working fast enough. You go in to my handmaid. Here man is trying to change God’s plan. Are we ever guilty of this. I believe God has laid out his plan in His inspired word and man is continually going around God’s plan to use an appeal based on senses of man. Make the service appealing to people and we can fill the building.

See the conflict caused by man doing things his way. The middle east is in conflict and turmoil because man did it man’s way instead of God’s way.

Study the Word. It contains God’s plan.

Joy for our Protector

Psa 28:7  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Is it not interesting that Joy goes with protection. We will always have enemies that pursue us and attempt to destroy the gospel we preach and the life we live. There will always be mockers and those that ridicule. We must continue faithful with our Lord because He is always faithful to protect us. We always need to call upon the Rock.

Let me tell you something about my Rock. This rock I stand on is not a pebble but an immovable boulder. I stand on a Rock that cannot be moved. I am on a firm and safe foundation that will never crumble or was away.

My enemies can assault and assail this Rock and it is to no avail. My Rock is my shield and protection. There is no life storm that can remove me from my Rock. My Rock is a sure foundation that cannot be moved.

I can sing praises to my Savior because of the joy in my heart because of His protection. May I always love and be faithful to the Rock of my salvation and the source of my joy.

MY ENEMIES

Psalm 27:12 – Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

My reading this morning is very interesting. This verse caught my eye. As I watch the swearing in of the new president, I contemplate who are my enemies? Will my country become my enemy? We find a new mind set that some in this new administration have a tremendous animosity towards Christians. There is a call, rather a written petition which has a thrust of re-educating Christians and denying them a voice. There is a call to roll back the pro-christian legislation. The executive orders that has allowed more freedom for Christians is under attack. The assault against Christians has begun.

I have no fear because God is with me. Psa 27:13I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Though this nation moves farther away from God, I have his presence. If you know the Lord as Savior, he continually walks beside you. He is our fortress and our shield. He is our defense. My faith is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness. I stand upon the Rock. This is the Rock that followed Israel from the Egyptian bondage and through the wilderness. He will be my guide, my light and my strength through these difficult days. I praise Him for His love. I pray to him for my help. I rest in His mighty arms of comfort. God Bless.

Innocent

Psa 26:6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:What a marvelous statement to be able to say this in truth. This should be what every person that proclaims Christ is their Savior strives to be. We are seen as innocent in the eyes of God because of the blood of Jesus. Complete innocence will not be achieved until we join the heavenly host. That does not mean we should not give up on this life we live and the innocency that we desire. May we wash our hands in holiness.

Shield and Reward

Gen 15:1  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

The mind of Abram is here lifted up to the spiritual and the eternal.

(1) thy shield.

(2) thy exceeding great reward.

Abram has two fears – the presence of evil, and the absence of good. Experience and conscience had begun to teach him that both of these were justly his doom. But God has chosen him, and tells Abram that He (God) will stand between Abram and all harm, and God will be to him all good. With such a shield from all evil, and such a source of all good, he has no need to be afraid. The Lord, we see, begins, as usual, with the immediate and the tangible; but he sets a principle that reaches to the eternal and the spiritual. We have here the opening germ of the great doctrine of “the Lord our righteousness,” redeeming us on the one hand from the sentence of death, and on the other to a title to eternal life.

Observation

Observations; Matthew chapter 9

A thing or two that I noticed in this chapter is in verse 18.This is where a ruler came to Jesus and worshiped him and ask Jesus to come and lay his hand upon his daughter so that she might live.

Matt. 9:18 – “lay your hand upon her and she shall live.”

Jesus proceeded to the home and on the way a woman touched the hem of his garment.

Matt. 9:20 – “touched the hem of His garment.”

Matt. 9:21 – “For she said within herself, If I may but touch the hem of His garment, I shall be whole.”

Each of these were looking for a physical touch of the Lord. If you notice what Jesus said to the woman, “thy faith made thee whole.” With the maid, she could not express her faith or acknowledge the presence of Jesus. The father expressed his faith through worship and the confidence expressed by the statement “lay your hand upon her.” It was not the touch of Jesus. It was the faith exhibited by two people. One had faith that God could heal his daughter by laying his hand on her. The lady had the faith that touching the hem of His garment. It was not the touch that healed. It was the faith that each had. It is the same with salvation. Our faith makes us whole, healed of the disease of sin. Faith in the Lord cleanses us and makes us fit subjects of heaven.