Psalm 28
1 To you, O Lord, I call;
my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you be silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy[innermost]sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people; [God is their strength]
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Today, I heard a truly wonderful sermon I will not forget, from 2002, made by Evangelist John Bishop - God Is So Good Ministries. King David wasn't writing poetry to God, he was living events of his life and learning about God. It would be so interesting to hear from David about each Psalm.
John Bishop almost died from aseptic meningitis, October, 1995. As he recovered, John Bishop didn't know who he was, or anyone else. He couldn't talk, walk, or make sense. He had to re-learn everything and accept his wife & his sons as his own. When John Bishop speaks, he skips words like a young child. When he reads, Pastor Bishop reads only necessary words because he doesn't see the other ones. He speaks about suffering, patience & learning about the nature of God. When people hear him speak, it is not unusual for strong men to cry.
Our Psalm 28 realizations today, will be from Pastor John Bishop - living out his relationship with Father God and discovering the nature of the Lord Most High. We want to be understood, be heard. David is terribly concerned in his relationship with the Lord God, he feels God is being silent when he wants to be heard. There is joy found as the heart hears! Prayer is heard.
We are heard. Psalm 139 teaches us there is no where we can go away from Him; God is part of our lives. Suffering or a prayer, seemingly unanswered, leaves us feeling isolated in our prayer life. John Bishop tells about being in a conference of ministers, down on their knees praying for a man about to die from meningitis, he realized of the 60 people, he was the only one with tears rolling down his face. Praying for the Lord to ease the man's pain, send healing to the man's brain, asking petitions in tears. John realized, he was the only person in the room having had meningitis.
Suffering isn't God's indifference, it is God in charge of an imperfect world. God helping us learn and show compassion. The Scriptures tell us to rejoice in all circumstances, God is teaching us Grace. When we have a trial, a rejection or a physical pain, we are learning to pray, knowing we are heard, but the answer is God's.
We learn the communion of the saints, to pray for one another with love. As John Bishop says, it seems shallow when we ask blessings for someone else, or lift them up. But would you mind at all if someone prays for you to receive blessings or to be lifted up?
Father God, we pray using the highest name of Jesus, that we will be blessed and lifted up. Thank you, Father, for hearing us. Let Your will and Your Grace be unending. Amen.
* My good friend said I could add this to today's discussion on Grace given to us by God. My friend is quite petite and there is trouble with an adult-living-at-home-child. It is not what my friend would like. She has been a Christian parent with a lot of support given to the adult child. The grown child began to make threats about self harm and a misguided set of young men - 3 - and a young woman decided to let the grown child move into a rent-by-the week hotel with them. Not at all what my friend would like. My friend's husband was out of town. It developed they were going to go to a restaurant and then the adult child would return home.
The time to return home came, and the adult child decided to remain in a situation at the hotel, with controlled substances, that would not please a parent or God. My friend had told me she did not know if she had the strength to continue the fight. I told her, previously, with deep conviction, she was built for the fight specifically.
My little friend, with the help of God Almighty, got the adult child away from 3 agitated and threatening grown men, who wanted the child/adult to stay with them. As she hugged her child, she was able to place the child into the car and to get the help that was so needed. If that isn't a miracle, I do not know what is. Please continue to pray for my petite friend and her child, who has had radical behavior changes.
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