Psalm 68:2-7
2 As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
We all have a time when something positive came out of scuffle. One of the interesting things about the Lord's Prayer:
Matthew 6:6-13
6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Right before the Lord tells us to honor the Father, ask for God's will, ask for daily provisions, forgive us our sins, asked for forgiveness for the ones who hurt us, lead in safe paths, deliver us from evil;...... He tells us not to offer up empty phrases. We all know the Lord's prayer, but He isn't asking for us to assume any particular type of position to pray. He isn't asking us to recite. He is asking for a conversation.
We are told, in faith, God gives us challenges or trouble in life. I think we all tend to think - right, right, right - God is designing the universe to teach me something. Sure. Chaos and circumstance with a purpose. Uh-huh.
Why not? If we believe God died for us, specifically, why wouldn't we see Jesus modelling struggling with some pretty tough, elbows out, religious and political leaders - as another way of saying - if you are going to plan your life - do it for meaningfulness and purpose and not because Armani has a nice ring to it.
Our triumphs can be called gifts. Our difficulties called things of God's. Our plans could be called contributions to God's glory. Every single day. Jesus reminds us in this passage to plan for the things that truly have meaning behind the image. Jesus says we plan and our choices matter.
Jesus is writing, saying to you, personally, you matter to Him. As if you were the only one.
Psalm 68, the whole thing, like many chapters, is about the Lord's Prayer. It's about a time when something looked grim, but the Light shone. It's about the hassle to gather the family together & realize it's the best part of the day & its lovely. It's feeling bitter over a hurt and realizing it doesn't matter. It's realizing we have flaws and we want to be forgiven, not only to the Lord. It's taking time to realize the beauty around you. It's the joy in knowing it is a gift.
It's realizing when we don't take time to really count and appreciate our blessings, they fly past us without the joy.
Father God, help our prayers be fruitful. Let it be conversation about joy, need, praise. Let it be humble, let it be uplifting. Thank you Father, You incline your ear whenever we call upon You.
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