Worship in
WORD
8 To you, O Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 "What gain is there in my destruction,d
in my going down into the
pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your
faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord,
and be merciful to me;
O Lord, be my help."
NIV
|
8 I
cried out to you, O Lord.
I
begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
9 "What
will you gain if I die,
if I
sink into the grave?
Can
my dust praise you?
Can
it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear
me, Lord, and have mercy on me.
Help
me, O Lord ."
NLT
|
8 I
cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.
9
What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust
praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
10
Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
KJV
|
9 “What profit is there
in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell
of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be
merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!”
ESV
|
II. Personal Praise: vs. 1- 3
III. Public Exhortation & Encouragement: vs. 4 - 5
IV. Personal Plea: vs. 6 - 10
V. Personal/Public Praise: vs. 11 – 12
In verses 9-10, we have the
content of David’s plea. He is pleading for his life. His petition is stated in
the form of an argument. Many of the prominent followers of Yahweh in the OT
are seen “arguing” with the LORD. I do not believe they were necessarily
questioning God’s wisdom but were pleading for mercy on their own behalf or the
behalf of another person or people. However, when God answers, they should have been ready to accept the outcome of their request and live responsibly in light of
the Lord’s answer.
Moses pled for the life of the
children of Israel. God had stated a desire to wipe them out because of their
idolatrous and immoral wickedness. Of course, it could be pointed out that
Moses was more concerned about how God would look in the sight of the nations. When
God showed mercy on behalf of his prayer, Moses had to live with the actions of
stubborn and rebellious people. God could have rid Himself of these rebels, but He
chose not to. You could argue that the Messianic line would have been broken if
He did, but could not God have raised another line to bring His Messiah into
the world (Esther
4:14; Matt.
3:9).
But we are adventuring into forbidden territory now.
29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.Deut 29:29 NIV
God is Sovereign, and in the
end, all will take place according to His will.
34His dominion is an eternal dominion;his kingdom endures from generation to generation.35 All the peoples of the earthare regarded as nothing.He does as he pleaseswith the powers of heavenand the peoples of the earth.No one can hold back his handor say to him: "What have you done?"Dan 4:34-35 NIV
The point is that when we pray,
let us also pray for wisdom to respond to the Lord’s answer wisely. Many of us
pray for what we think are good things. And maybe they are, though sometimes
when we get what we want, we find we don’t want what we get.
We jump for joy when God
answers with favor, but soon forget His blessings and begin to neglect our
daily walk in sanctification. We fail to treat the gifts of God responsibly.
Hezekiah was a godly king. When
he was told he was going to die, he wept and cried out to the Lord.
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.2 Kings 20:2-3 NIV
God answered his prayer, and he
was made well. The full story can be read about in 2 Kings 20, 2
Chron. 32:24-31, and Isaiah 38-39. Let me
just quote from 2 Chron. 32:24-26, which summarizes and illustrates my point.
24 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. 25 But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord's wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord's wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.NIV
Anyone familiar with the story
knows of the miraculous story of the shadow.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?"9 Isaiah answered, "This is the Lord's sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?"10 "It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps," said Hezekiah. "Rather, have it go back ten steps."11 Then the prophet Isaiah called upon the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.2 Kings 20:8-11 NIV
But as the story goes, Hezekiah
went from healed to haughty. His body was made well, but his soul was infected
with pride.
The Apostle Paul reminds us
that:
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.1 Cor 10:11 NIV
Undoubtedly, one of those
warnings is to act wisely and responsibly and gratefully to the gifts and
blessings of God.
David had to learn the hard
way, as we can see from Psalm 30!
Worship
in Witness:
Times of glory
Times of pain
My seesaw story
Is such a drain
This is the first stanza in the
poem that is at the beginning of the book of poetry and prayers I hope to one
day publish. It describes my life to a T – A seesaw life of ups and downs. In
fact, it represents my waking hours most days. The battle that wages inside of
me daily for faith and peace and joy. That’s why I am studying the Psalms. They
are a collection of prayers and poems of those who are waging such a battle as
mine.
My mind never seems to shut off
when I am awake. Since I spend a lot of time alone, I find myself in imaginary
conversations with my wife or an issue that is raging in the headlines and on
Cable news. I want to settle an argument or solve a problem that is probably
way beyond my ability to fully comprehend. I get angry or frustrated. I will
find myself pleading or planning or preaching. I find myself becoming anxious
over the future of being alone, or broke, or living a useless life.
The psalms allow me to express
these fears and complaints. They also pull me out of myself to pray and praise
the One who reveals Himself as my Savior and Shepherd. They remind me that He
is sovereign over my life. That He will guide me and abide with me. He is my
strength and my shield. My rock and my redeemer. My light and my life.
One thing He has shown me
lately is that instead of wasting time in useless and unproductive thoughts, I
should turn them into prayer opportunities. So instead of directing my thoughts
towards people who cannot hear me anyway, I will address my concerns towards
the One who can. I realize that my thought life may be a form of idolatry. I’m
seeking comfort or relief in pleading or debate through my imagination. This is
vanity pure and simple.
God help
me to turn from
my empty
imaginations,
and fill
me with
the
overwhelming reality
of Your
presence.
Amen!
I better pray for wisdom now...
Worship in Song: "What A
Friend We Have In Jesus" (feat. Hannah Hardin), Original lyrics by Joseph
M. Scriven, * Additional lyrics by Shane & Shane
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
And what a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Precious Jesus, Lord and friend
I give everything to You
Shelter, Shepherd, Savior, King
I give everything to You *
Are we weak and heavy-laden
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer
In His arms He'll take and shield thee
Thou wilt find a solace there
Thou wilt find a solace there
Precious Jesus, Lord and friend
I give everything to You
Shelter, Shepherd, Savior, King
I give everything to You *
Precious Jesus, Lord and friend
I give everything to You
Shelter, Shepherd, Savior, King
I give everything to You *
Lyrics: (Corrected and submitted) https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/shaneshane/whatafriendwehaveinjesus.html
“Be Still My Soul/What a Friend We have in Jesus,” as sung by Selah
Be still my soul
The Lord is on your side
Bear patiently
The cross of grief or pain
Leave to thy God
To order and provide
In every change
He faithful will remain.
Be still my soul
Thy best, thy heavenly friend
Through stormy ways
Leads to a joyful end.
Be still my soul
The waves and winds still know
Still know
His voice who ruled them
While he dwelt below.
Oh what peace we often forfeit
Oh what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.
Video: https://youtu.be/EaisLDzJJrQ
No comments:
Post a Comment