Psalm 28 ~ Blessed be the Lord! For He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

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 sanctuary, 
your 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;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

We believe in Jesus and we cry out to Him.
We can remember times Jesus carried us.
We can remember times like this:

Psalm 77:19
Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.

When we baptize children, we say this:
Over the waters, God's Holy Spirit hovered in Creation.
Through the waters, God led His people.
In the water, Jesus went to be baptized.
And Father God spoke, saying, "Jesus is His beloved Son."

Entitled when we cry out to God?
In His mercy, sometimes.

When Jesus was doing His ministry, He spent time teaching the Disciples how to Shepherd.
Jesus spent a lot of time baptizing His Disciples, cleaning them up, listening to their worries. Even their squabbles.

Look at Luke 9
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Jesus is always teaching us about prayer, reality, God and possibilities.

Jesus is told to dismiss His People.(?! And they say Peter is cheeky!)
Jesus, the exact nature of God, says - you feed them.
Jesus is told the disciples are not sufficient enough to do this. Oh?
At this point, Jesus is seeing a prayer being generated - they need God to feed this crowd.

When God is shown genuine weakness in completing a God given task, God is going to - give up HIS Will? Whine? Change His mind? Help? ...Jesus sees a work in progress.

Well, God is going to help, but no magic Hand carried His people to the Promised Land. God parted the waters - wonders appeared - but Father God expected - foot work and a good attitude. To be obedient to God. Not to the human voice saying, "We should have stuck to the easier part of slavery in Egypt."

After Jesus is shown weakness in His disciples which is preventing His people from being fed - Jesus is going to provide - not flat bread - but Living Bread.

Jesus has the disciples - sit down and be seen - No, organize into communities and help - pray - ask the Disciples to work for the food to be taken forth - and they are going to be told to get their hands busy being janitors - cleaning up. Jesus doesn't see a mass of people, He puts them into groups to minister the nourishment.

Jesus is giving a saving heritage - blessing His people.

Only the neediest were just fed. Love provided for the crowd. Multitudes of these people later showed this changed their lives.

What did Jesus' hands show His disciples because Jesus knew He was going to become Holy Spirit and not bodily presence? Jesus prayed, gave thanks, and got His own hands in the fish and the bread, so He could feed others.

Father God, Give us the day. We give You great thanks for Your forgiving nature. Help us to know You are the Source and the Center. You alone are Good. 

Father God, open our eyes to Your Will and Wisdom in our Call from You. We are all coming to You in this journey. Teach us to show Your Love from earnest hearts. 

Father Your Love requires action and faith. Strengthen us to do Your Will each day. 

Please bless the work and our prayers to accomplish Your will on earth as in Heaven. 

We expect You, Father God, knowing the Kingdom and the Power and Glory are Yours. 
We call upon You, Jesus, the Highest name Father God gives us. Amen.

Thank You, Jesus Christ Our LORD!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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