Psalms 43:1-2 ESV
“Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
Do you ever get discouraged or disheartened when you see all
the evil going on all around you? Does it concern you that so much of the
church here in America seems to have gone the way of the world and that there
is not much of a distinction between the church and the world anymore? Does it
grieve your heart to hear pastors of churches (or of what is falsely called “church”)
expounding lies disguised as truth?
Does it bother you that so many people professing faith in
Jesus Christ are so worldly? That the things which should grieve them do not
grieve them at all? But rather what grieves them are the truths of the
Scriptures, and so they are rejecting those truths by the masses? Do you hurt
in your heart when professing Christians grieve the Holy Spirit by their
actions? And does it concern you that lies and the truth are now being flipflopped?
Does it bother you that the ungodly are often the ones who
are praised while the godly are treated as though they are evil? And that lies
are often being believed over the truth? And that the liars are being accepted
while the truth tellers are being largely rejected? And that this is what is
happening much among those who profess faith in Jesus Christ? For now it is
becoming much more acceptable to live in sin than it is to live godly and holy
lives.
Psalms 43:3-4 ESV
“Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.”
I believe we should all be praying something similar to this,
that the Lord will send out His light and His truth. Now, he is, but the lies
seem to be overtaking the truth. And so we need to pray for the truth to
continue to go out into all the world and that many people will hear the truth
and believe in Jesus Christ with genuine faith, and that they will be delivered
from their slavery to sin and be empowered of God to live holy lives to the
praise of God. But we also need to be those who are sending forth the truth.
For the truth is the only thing which will lead us to
genuine salvation from sin. For so many people today are teaching that we can
make a one-time in our lives profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and now all
our sins are forgiven, and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die, but regardless
of how we live. But Jesus didn’t die on that cross just so we will profess him
as Lord. He died so that we would die with him to sin and be raised to walk in
newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin but as servants of
our Lord.
So, we need the truth of the Scriptures to go out, and we
need to be people who are spreading the good news of our salvation, in its
fulness, with the people of the world. And we need to be people of God who are
being led by the Spirit of God and by the Word of God in holy and godly living.
And we must be humble and obedient to our Lord and submissive to his will for
our lives, and we must no longer live in deliberate and habitual sin. Then we
can truly worship our Lord at his altar with songs of praise.
Psalms 43:5 ESV
“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.”
Yes, this whole situation we are being faced with today in
America – with so much of the church now going the way of the world and
rejecting the truth in its fulness, while embracing the lies – can be rather
disheartening. And this can be doubly disheartening when you are loving people
with the love and God and you are treated as though you are the enemy, while
those who are speaking lies are being treated as though they are the “good
guys.” For what that means is that many are following the lies and not the
truth.
So, we just need to turn these situations back over to the
Lord in prayer, and pray for the truth to go forward, and for the lies to be
dispelled, and pray for people’s eyes and ears and hearts to be open to receive
the truth, and that they will reject the lies. And then we need to trust the
Lord, not in the sense that we now forget about it, for we should still
continue in earnest prayer, and we should continue steadfastly in speaking the
truths of God’s word and in refuting the lies of the enemy. But then we must
leave the results to God.
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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