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Psalms 18

Dec15

Good morning y’all. Happy Monday :). Today, we looking at Psalms 18.

I am reading the psalm from the Contemporary English Version.

Be blessed 🙂

There are 4 main points I want to bring out from the psalm.

1) God is our only true source of safety and protection. He is the go to person when things are good and when they are bad. Man can only do so  much for us, but God, has unlimited power and resource. He can never fail. David understood this very well hence his statement in verse 1 and 2; “I love you, Lord God, and you make me strong. You are my mighty rock, my fortress, my protector, the rock where I am safe, my shield, my powerful weapon, and my place of shelter”.

2) When we pray to God, we can be sure He hears us. Verse 6 says: “I was in terrible trouble when I called out to you but from your holy temple you heard me and answered my prayer”. David was in distress and He called to God and He answered him.

Who do you turn to in your time of distress and troubles? Friends, let’s turn to God. He is the only one who can truly help us. The strength of man will fail us but the strength of God will give us victory.

Sometimes, we don’t pray, because we are not sure God will answer us. Let me encourage you with the scriptures below …
“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for”(1 John 5:14-15 NLT).

“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.  Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 14:13-14 NLT)

“In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me”. (Jeremiah 29:12-13 NLT)

Friends, Whatever it is, let’s take it to the Lord in prayer today.

3) Sin / disobedience will hinder our prayers from being heard and answered.
Psalm 66:18 says: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear” (NKJV). Sin makes us ashamed and unworthy to come before God, hence when we come before him, we are not free to ask because we know we haven’t done the things He asked of us. The guilt and condemnation from disobedience makes us want to run or hide from God like Adam did after he ate of the forbidden fruit.

David could confidently call on God for help because he knew he had been obedient to God and done the things God expected of him. Verse 20 to 24 says:
“You are good to me, Lord, because I do right, and you reward me because I am innocent.  I do what you want and never turn to do evil. I keep your laws in mind and never look away from your teachings.  I obey you completely and guard against sin.  You have been good to me because I do right; you have rewarded me for being innocent by your standards” (Psalms 18:20-24 CEVUS06).

Today lets make a decision to be obedient to God and guard against sin in our lives. I once heard a pastor say this about sin.

“When you allow sin to find room in your life, you are simply making room for destiny losses. Sin is an open invitation to reproach, and an express approval for destruction”.

4) We need to be thankful and grateful. David was very good at thanking and praising God for the things He had done for him and for the things He was going to do. In this psalm, we see him praise and thank God for answering him.
“You are the living Lord! I will praise you. You are a mighty rock. I will honor you for keeping me safe”.
“I will praise you, Lord, and I will honor you among the nations” (Psalms 18:46, 49 CEVUS06).

Some of us behave like ingrates. When we want something from God we are so desperate and will do anything for it but once God answers us we forget to go back and thank him. We are like the ten lepers that got healed and only one came back to thank God.

Friends,  let’s cultivate the habit of thanksgiving and praising God at all times. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (NKJV)

Prayer
Dear Lord thank you for today. Today, we ask for grace to always turn to you for help. Help us not to rely on our own strength or that of man. Help us be obedient and guard against sin in our lives. Help us learn to be thankful and grateful, whether in the good or bad times. Thank you Lord.  In Jesus Name. Amen.

Thanks for joining today.

Have a blessed day.

***With God all things are possible***

Psalms 17

Dec12

Good Morning y’all. Today we looking at Psalm 17. In this psalm we see David introduce God to us as our defender, judge and advocate. The one who proves us innocent.

I am reading from Contemporary English Version. Be blessed 🙂

Psalms 17:1-2 : I am innocent, Lord! Won’t you listen as I pray and beg for help? I am honest! Please hear my prayer.  Only you can say that I am innocent, because only your eyes can see the truth.

Verse 1 and 2 suggests that David was being accused of something he believed he didn’t do and rather than take matters into his own hands, he turned to his God. He asked for help and for him to prove his innocence.

As we discussed yesterday in Psalms 16, God is all we need. He is the I AM that I AM (Exodus 3:14). That is, He will be to us whatever we need Him to be. David, at this point needed God to be his defender, judge and advocate.

Whatever the situation you find yourself today, I want to remind you that God is still the I AM that I AM. Tell him what you need Him to be and He will surely hear and answer you. The battle is not yours, it’s the Lord’s, so give it over to him today.

Latter part of verse 2 says: “only your eyes can see the truth”. God is the only one who knows the truth. He searches the heart of men and nothing is hidden from him. Even if we get away with lying to others, we cant lie to God. God himself is the truth (John 14:6). Who better to have as our defender, judge and advocate than the TRUTH himself 🙂

I am going to jump to verse 6.

Psalms 17:6 : I pray to you, God, because you will help me. Listen and answer my prayer!

What caught my attention in this verse is the reason David gave for praying to God. He wasn’t doing it just for doing sake or to  earn brownie points with God. Nah, he was doing it, because he believed God would help him. He had faith in Gods ability to deliver and prove him innocent.

Friends, do you have faith in God to help you through your situation? Do you believe He can do all things including your request? It’s not enough to just pray. For your prayer to be effective, it needs to be backed up by faith. Hebrews 11:6 says: “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (NLT).

Get to exercising your faith today 🙂 and I believe God will show up on your behalf. Luke 1: 37 says: “Nothing is impossible for God!”(CEVUS06)

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today. We thank you for reminding us your the I AM that I AM; our defender; our Judge and Advocate. Help our faith Lord and give us grace to believe your word. We give our battles over to you and we pray you will fight for us. Thank you dear Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen

Thank you for joining today.

See you on Monday as we discuss Psalms 18.

Have a blessed day and weekend in advance 🙂

***With God all things are possible***