Saturday, June 24, 2017, 9:33 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Hear my Voice.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read Psalm 57 (Select
vv. NIV).
I Take Refuge
(v. 1)
Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
for in you I
take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the
disaster has passed.
Everyone has troubles, from
time to time. Even those who seem to have everything going well for them have
difficulties, at least occasionally. We have good days and bad days physically
or emotionally. Tragedy strikes. People die. Children get sick. People lose
jobs. A husband or a wife is unfaithful to his or her spouse. Someone gets
injured on the job or in a car wreck. Vacations get cancelled. Someone gets robbed.
A house catches fire and is totally destroyed. People are homeless. Christians are
persecuted and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. They may also be
betrayed by family members or close friends who reject and abandon them, etc.
So, what do we do when these
types of things happen in our lives? We should call on God, and we should take
refuge in him, but not just in the bad times, but at all times. He should be
our sanctuary, our shelter at all times, but especially when things go awry,
which they will. And, we should rest in him, and trust him to work all things
out for the good of those who love him, and who have been called according to
his purposes. As well, we should pray for godly wisdom to know how best to
handle and to respond to our difficult circumstances or relationships. And, we
should allow his peace to permeate our minds and hearts so that we don’t get
fearful or stressed out by what we are going through.
Sharp Tongues
(v. 4)
I am in the midst of lions;
I am forced
to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose
tongues are sharp swords.
Not one of us has much
control at all over what other people think about us, do to us, or say about
us. Jesus said that, as his followers, we would be treated as he was treated,
and hated like he was hated. We may be gossiped about, backbitten (have mean or
spiteful things said about us behind our backs), betrayed, sold out, abandoned,
falsely accused, slandered, verbally attacked, and called all kinds of names, etc.
We may be called bigoted, hateful, intolerant, and/or a religious extremist,
too, because we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and we hold fast to the
teachings of Christ and those of his NT apostles. There will also be people who
are jealous of us or who despise us and what we stand for, and whose goal it is
to destroy us in any way possible. And, getting bitten by sharp teeth hurts!
I Will Sing (vv.
7-11)
My heart, O God, is steadfast,
my heart is
steadfast;
I will sing
and make music.
Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp
and lyre!
I will
awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing
of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness
reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your
glory be over all the earth.
So, what do we do when these
things happen to us? We are to remain steadfast in heart and mind via
submission to God’s Holy Spirit and via resting in the Lord. And, we are to
sing praises to God. When all we want to do is cry, we should sing through our
tears. And, lift up our souls to God, and trust him for his healing mercies. There
is much healing that takes place in our hearts and minds when we rest in Jesus,
and when we sing praises to God despite how we feel, i.e. despite the pain we
have suffered from being backbitten, hated and abandoned.
We must remind ourselves,
too, that God is absolutely sovereign over all that he has made. There is not
anything that can touch us but what God allows it, and he allows it for a
purpose. Sometimes we need to be disciplined, corrected, rebuked or chastised
because we have not been listening to our Lord, and we have chosen to go our
own way. Other times, we need divine discipline to strengthen us and mature us
in our walks of faith, to prune us and to purify us, and to teach us not to
rely on ourselves, but on God. Trials and tribulations are for our good, that
we may share in God’s holiness, and that we may bear the fruit of his
righteousness.
Satan’s goal is to get us
down, to get us discouraged, to get us to give up, to be afraid, and to
retreat. We must not give in to him for a moment! He wants us to doubt God, to
blame God, and to not rest in the Lord and in his strength. So, we must put on
our spiritual armor with which to fight off his evil attacks against us.
Instead of worrying, we should praise the Lord for all his goodness to us. And,
we should proclaim his excellencies far and wide. We must tell of his love,
grace and mercy to us, but also of his justice and righteousness. And, we must
proclaim his faithfulness to his people. He will not leave nor will he abandon
us. He will be with us always, even to the end of time and beyond that into eternity.
We can count on all his promises, his faithfulness, his goodness, and his love
forever and always. Amen!
Hear my Voice / An
Original Work / July 9, 2012
Based off Psalm 27
The Lord is my great salvation.
He’s the stronghold of my life.
When my enemies attack me,
My heart will not fear at all.
Though a war break out against me,
Confident in Christ I’ll be.
Of the Lord, I ask that I may
Live with Him eternally.
Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.
Merciful to me You’ll be.
Though my relatives forsake me,
My Lord God will receive me.
Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
I will sacrifice to my Lord.
I will sing with joyfulness.
I am confident that I will
See the goodness of the Lord.
All the richness of His blessings,
My Lord has for me in store.
He asks me to be of courage;
To be strong and to take heart,
Patiently as I wait for Him,
And from Him to ne’er depart.
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