Day 124: Psalm 21- Put Your Eyes On God!

O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! 2 You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
4 He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. 5 His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. 6 For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. 7 For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9 You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. 10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man. 11 Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed. 12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows. 13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.


Meditation
I shared with Lisa a weird dream I had the other night.  I thought the dream was probably a result of too much hummus on international hummus day.  Lisa usually attributes weird dreams to late night snacks and the mind subconsciously sorting out the day’s activities or worries (with the exclusion of dreams where Jesus very intentionally reveals himself to those that don’t yet know him). Lisa felt my dream was a mix of hummus and a subconscious articulation of my feeling trapped by self-focus. While I prefer the hummus diagnosis I leaned into Lisa’s discernment and asked Jesus to help me see how to put my eyes more on Him. Psalm 21 has been a portion of His shepherding care in answering my prayer.

The Holy Spirit highlighted the focus of Psalm 21- The Person and work of the Lord. 
Will you focus on HIM with me?

The victorious king celebrated in the Psalm rejoices not in himself but what the Lord does:
Your strength…
Your salvation
You have given his heart’s desire
You have met him with rich blessings
You set a crown upon his head
You gave him life he asked for
Your salvation gave him glory
You bestow splendor and majesty on him
You make him glad with THE JOY OF YOUR PRESENCE
You make stable through your steadfast love
You keep the enemy from succeeding

The Lord used Psalm 21 to help free me from my trap of self-focus to proclaim with the psalmist: Be exalted, oh Lord, in Your strength! We will sing and praise Your power!!

Lord, please free your people from the prison of self-focus, self-righteousness, and self-sufficiency through a clear picture of your victory and graceful generosity.  In Jesus name!

Richly Dwelling
-Do you see the prison of self-focus?  Do you want freedom?

-Which of the focuses on the Lord’s victorious provision for the king resonates with you? 

-Stop focusing on yourself and join the Psalmist in singing praises!

Key Verse
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.