Journal for Christ: The Testimony of the Saints...

March 15, 2016

Worship: Cry out to Jesus, by Third Day

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
When you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keepin' you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing
And there is no one who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary
And love for the broken hearts
There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are

Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
Have lost all of their faith in love
And they've done all they can to make it right again
Still, it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone
In your shame and your suffering

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary
And love for the broken hearts
There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are

Cry out to Jesus

When you're lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out
You just cry out to Jesus

Cry to Jesus

To the widow who suffers from being alone
Wipin' the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary
And love for the broken hearts
There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing
That meets you wherever you are

Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus

Songwriters
MAC POWELL, MARK LEE, BRAD AVERY, TAI ANDERSON, DAVID CARR

Published by

Video: https://youtu.be/JmVxRl5bc4Y

THE ANSWER

The answer is not in plot nor plan

But almighty God and perfect Man

He bore our griefs and our sorrows

He is our hope for all our tomorrows

So, cry out to Him, He’ll heal your pain

Calm your fears and remove your shame

Witness:

Somedays I have nothing in me. I wonder what I am going to say, but God is faithful and leads me to a truth that bears repeating and causes me to worship in song or psalm. Today He led me to both. Let the words of the song above by Third Day and psalm (poem) I wrote be a blessing and give you hope. Or better, point you to the One who gives and is our hope.

WORD:

Ps 25:1-3

25 Toa you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

2 in you I trust, O my God.

Do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one whose hope is in you

will ever be put to shame,

but they will be put to shame

who are treacherous without excuse.

NIV

Ps 25:1-3

25 To you, O LORD, Io lift up my soul.

2 O my God, in you Ip trust;

q let me not be put to shame;

r let not my enemies exult over me.

3 Indeed,s none who wait for you shall be put to shame;

they shall be ashamed who aret wantonlyu treacherous.

ESV

Ps 25:1-3

25 1 O LORD, I give my life to you.

2 I trust in you, my God!

Do not let me be disgraced,

or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.

3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,

but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

Ps 25:1-3

25 To You, O LORD, I alift up my soul.

2 O my God, in You aI trust,

Do not let me bbe ashamed;

Do not let my cenemies exult over me.

3 Indeed, anone of those who wait for You will be ashamed;

1Those who bdeal treacherously without cause will be ashamed

NASU

I. Profession (Praise)

II. Prayer

III. Promise

David begins with praise in the form of a profession. This is followed immediately by prayer. Actually, these words form the beginning of his prayer. It is the “adoration” that begins our prayers to God. It is the “hallowed be thy Name” that expresses the attitude of a believer’s heart. This is followed by a petition.

Do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

The first line in the petition speaks of the personal shame he would face as a result of being defeated by his enemies. Is this just a selfish prayer? No, but it is an honest prayer. David has placed his trust in God and doesn’t want that trust to be a misplaced trust. Perhaps David is saying, “LORD I have lifted myself up to You. Please don’t let me down.” Because he trusted in God, he did not expect to be put to shame, but he expected his enemies to be (v3).

Barnes says this about this verse:

Psalms 25:2
[Let me not be ashamed] That is, let me never be so forsaken by thee as to have occasion for shame that I HAVE thus trusted in thee. The prayer is not that he might never be ashamed to avow and confess his trust in God, but that he might "find" God to be such a helper and friend that he might never be ashamed on account of the trust which he had put in Him, as if it had been a false reliance; that he might not be disappointed, and made to feel that he had done a foolish thing in confiding in One who was not able to help him.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.) ….

[Let not mine enemies triumph over me] This explains what the psalmist meant by his prayer that he might not be "ashamed," or put to shame. He prayed that he might not be vanquished by his foes, and that it might not appear that he had trusted in a Being who was unable to defend him. Applied now to us, the prayer would imply a desire that we may not be so overcome by our spiritual foes as to bring dishonor on ourselves and on the cause which we profess to love; that we may not be held up to the world as those who are unable to maintain the warfare of faith, and exposed to scorn as those who are unfaithful to their trust; that we may not be so forsaken, so left to trial without consolation, so given over to sadness, melancholy, or despair, as to leave the world to say that reliance on God is vain, and that there is no advantage in being his friends.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The Faith Life Study Bible has this slant on this verse:

put to shame Shame (bosh) can be a result of misplaced trust (Job 6:20). In Isaiah, Yahweh declares the people of Israel will be shamed because they trust in idols (Isa 1:29) and other nations (Isa 20:5). Here, the psalmist prays that his trust in God will be validatedBarry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 25:2). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

When I pray, I often cry out and ask for something I know God has promised to do or not to do. It is a human thing to do, but in the back of my mind is always the trust I have in God that He will act according to His nature and promises. That is what David does, by grounding his petition in verse 2 with his reliance on the promise in verse 3. Essentially we are asking God to keep our hope alive and that we will not be disappointed nor lose our hope, which is an unbearable thought to us. We also are expressing our concern that God’s name may not be put to derision.

Spurgeon says:

Let not mine enemies triumph over me. Suffer no wicked mouth to make blasphemous mirth out of my distresses by asking, "Where is thy God?" There is a great jealousy in believers for the honour of God, and they cannot endure that unbelievers should taunt them with the failure of their expectations from the God of their salvation. All other trusts will end in disappointment and eternal shame, but our confidence shall never be confounded.(from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is an honest plea, a prayer based on David's trust in God, and concern for His honor. It is a deep and complex prayer packed into two short petitions, and our God will not disappoint, but honor this prayer from the one who waits on Him in trust.

1 Peter 4:16-19However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,

"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
NIV

Rom 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
NIV

Phil 1:20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
NIV

2 Tim 1:12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
NIV

The testimony of the saints is that even in the midst of suffering, they know that the God of hope will not disappoint, allow ultimate defeat, and dishonor His people or His name.

Journal for Christ

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Testimony of the Saints...

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