Psalm 86:1-7 ESV
Incline your ear, O
Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for
I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you
are my God.
Be gracious to me, O
Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
Gladden the soul of
your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are
good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call
upon you.
Give ear, O Lord, to
my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
In the day of my
trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
When we walk in godliness, living lives which are separate
from the world, and holy unto God, and we are trusting the Lord with our lives
day by day, and we are walking in obedience to his commands, and we are doing
what he has called us to do in being his servants and witnesses, we will face
opposition. We will face persecution. And, sometimes that can be very
oppressive, and we may be overwhelmed with sadness.
But, it isn’t just the opposition and the persecution which
can be so overwhelming, but it is all the evil in the world and in the church,
too, and it is all the apathy to God and to His Word, even among those who
claim to be Christ followers. And, it is that so many professing Christians are
living not much differently from the world, and that they are just as much in
bondage to sin as those who make no profession of faith in Christ at all.
And, it is that so many marriages, among Christians, are
falling apart because one or both spouses are living in spiritual adultery
against their Lord and/or it is that they are also living in adultery against
one another or one is living in adultery against the other. And, then the children
are impacted by this, too, for the home ends up being absent of true spiritual
leadership and guidance, and then the wickedness of the world is being allowed
to enter in and to captivate the minds of the young and the old.
And, it is that so many are being deceived by clever
enchanters who are telling them what their itching ears want to heart. And, it
is that the church, overall, is failing to be a light to the world because she
has become one with the world in so many respects. And, it is that the gospel
of our salvation is being diluted to make it more appealing to human flesh and
that so many, many people are buying into the cheap grace gospel which puts
them on that broad road to destruction while promising them eternal life with
God.
And, when this is what one faces day after day after day, it
can sometimes become overwhelmingly sad and depressing, and so we will need our
souls lifted, and joy brought back to our hearts once again.
And, we will need to be reminded of all God’s wonderful
blessings to us, and of all the works he is doing in human lives. And, we will
need to be reminded, too, of God’s sovereignty over all things, and that he is
still in control, and that he is working all things for good for those of us
who love him, and who have been called according to his purposes. And, in this
way we will find encouragement, and hope and healing restored to our lives.
Psalm 86:8-13 ESV
There is none like you
among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you
have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and
do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O
Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you,
O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your
steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths
of Sheol.
There are many gods in this world, and they aren’t all just
those we might think of as false gods, either. For, anything which we raise up
above the One True God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is our god (our idol).
So, food can be our god, or entertainment, or our careers, or our families, or
sports, or hobbies, or addictions, or possessions, or control, or pride, or
status, or “likes” we receive on social media or on blogs, etc.
A god can be anything to which we give our passion, our
desires, our time, our affection, our attention, our money (investments), our
minds, and our hearts, etc. And, this is especially true if any of these things
(and more) are given the time, affection, heart and attention that should be
given to God, and which rob God of our hearts, minds and affections towards
him, and that pull us away from our pure devotion to him to follow the lusts of
our flesh. So, we must be diligent to guard our hearts against such as this.
And, we need to be in prayer to our Lord for him to teach us
his ways that we may walk in them, but then we have to listen to him and do
what he says and not be hearers only of the Word who, after we hear, walk away
and forget what we look like.
And, we need to have our hearts united with God to where we
fear his name, i.e. to where we give him the honor, the praise, the glory, the
obedience, the respect and the love which he so deserves and to which we owe
him because of all that he has done for us.
For, since he has delivered our souls from hell, he is now
our Lord (owner-master), and we belong to him, so our lives should be given
over to him to do his will, instead of us doing what we want to do while he
gets the leftovers.
Psalm 86:14-17 ESV
O God, insolent men
have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
But you, O Lord, are a
God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast
love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and be
gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
Show me a sign of your
favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put
to shame
because you, Lord, have helped me and
comforted me.
Again, when we are truly walking with our Lord according to
the Spirit, and no longer according to our flesh, and we are living our lives
to please our Lord, and we are following him in his ways, and we are teaching
the truth of the gospel of our salvation, and we are exposing the lies, we will
be hated, and we will be persecuted just as Jesus was hated and persecuted.
There will be people who will rise up against us who will
seek to destroy us in one way or another. They will try to trick and manipulate
us in order to bring us down, or they will falsely accuse us and gossip
(slander) about us in order to try to destroy our reputations and to get others
to join them in coming against us, too.
Many of these persecutors live as enemies of the cross of
Christ who are out to destroy the gospel and its messengers, because they serve
Satan, and Satan wants all people to worship him instead of worshiping God.
And, so they have devised and carried out a plan to cheapen God’s grace and to
dilute the gospel so that people will be tricked into believing that they are
saved from their sins and bound for heaven when they are still in slavery to
sin and bound for hell.
These enemies of the cross of Christ are also devising a
plan for making it a crime to preach the true gospel, because they are trying
to prove that the true gospel divides people and that division is bad and that
we all need to come together as one voice, one mind and as one heart, and thus
destroy all that divides us as the people of the world. And, thus, many of us
who are teaching the true gospel will be forced into compliance with their “peace
plan,” or face the consequences.
So, we need the strength and the wisdom of God in these
situations. And, we need to remain steadfast in our faith and not compromise
with the world. And, we need to call on God for help and for his grace to be
shown to us. And, then we need to keep on in doing the work of the Lord and
teaching the truth of his gospel, for many people need salvation from their
bondage to sin and to find true freedom in Christ to now walk in his
righteousness.
He
Gives Purpose
An
Original Work / June 9, 2012
“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”
Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.
“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”
Thursday, January 31, 2019
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