O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, 2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. 3 O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, 5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah 6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. 7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. 8 The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. 9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! 10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. 12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; 13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. 14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. 15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. 16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. 17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. Meditation Do you have confidence God will deliver you? Are your troubles financial, relational, at work, or a certain sin struggle? Where do you put your courage, looking for protection, provision, and promise in your troubles? This Psalm of confidence is a pasture of provision for those who are in trouble. How can we build our confidence in the Lord? 1-Look for deliverance from The Lord alone (1). King David is in trouble while on the run from one of Saul’s men and looks nowhere else for protection. The Lord is His shield (10) and He will save. 2-Look at yourself and honestly evaluate your potential contribution to your situation. (2-5) 3-KNOW the righteous Judge will end evil and the wicked. (6-9) 4-Make room for repentance KNOWING those who do not repent will experience the wrath of God and not His mercy. (11-13) 5-Be patient. Play the long game and wait for God’s time for deliverance. (14-16) 6-Give praise to the Lord for His righteousness and name- NOW, in your current circumstance. He will save! Preemptive praise will promote confidence in the Lord!! Richly Dwelling -You can tell whether or not you have confidence in God to deliver you when you examine where you look for protection, provision, and promise in times of trouble. How is your life different if you look to the Lord alone for these realities, having confidence only in Him? -Look at the trouble of your life today. How have you contributed to the trouble? Where do you need to look to the Lord for mercy? -Give praise to the Lord in advance of your deliverance, thanking Him for proving Himself worthy of our confidence. Key verse 17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. Comments are closed.
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AuthorPastor Mitchell celebrates twenty-five years of marriage with Lisa & together they have four adventurous children. |