Psalm 86
A Prayer of David.
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
This week I've been thinking a lot about Paul. A very unusual life. A promising career. And then a detour - Jesus was there.
Success. Julius Caesar ended one of the most profoundly blessed and successful careers in 44 B.C. Jesus died about 33 A.D. Julius Caesar took his troops on the way to conquering Germainia to a beach in Italy. True story. He wanted the troops to see where his great or great-great grandmother had landed - being the goddess of Venus. Aphrodite. Unknowingly, the Romans believed Genesis 6 was true. The gods and goddesses arrived and had children. (Someday we will know what God Himself knows...) And in this Julius Caesar went forth. One of the most intelligent men in history met with a very unsuccessful end.
Jesus never seemed to have lasting Success. And yet - we know Jesus is working even today. Like Jesus, Paul had an odd life. And yet we know Paul to be the most loving of people. When you look through the Scriptures and look just to find how loving Paul was - the fact really comes home Paul loved God's people and creation.
Listing all the terrible adventures of Paul - it would be easy to count Paul out.
David, as a youth, had this same quality. What career would David, the youngest son, have when even Jesse, his father, would count him out as Samuel came to anoint a child of God.
Misadventures and lack of success. Ask a kindergarten aged child if they can draw well - usually you find - Yes - this child has skill. And singing? Yes, this child continues to have gifts and talents. Ask a young adult of 18 and you would find some unhappiness to play to this teen's talents. What talents? Adults have troubles. Times when there is failure. Statistics aren't always right, but in the USA - according to some sources - alcoholism is 1 of 3 adults. Nationally mature people have two friends who are trusted. Financial troubles surround medical bills. Concerns and worries surround the lives of our children. Or we have gone the other direction and are chilly willy. Dreams are realized and others sneered upon. Or unrealized and frustration is something we are familiar - all of us - with.
What is God thinking? Life is not meant to be completely comfortable. This life is temporary. By God's Word we have problems. Jesus stated, "This Life will have trouble."
God also tells us His Mission. To save the lost. God has built life to find Jesus Christ. We love Him, because He loves us first. Julius Caesar had all the worldly success he could want. And one day, that was all over. And he is remembered as a dusty figure.
Ecclesiastes 3:20
All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
David could have been this. Unsurmountable trouble. Continuous waves of trouble. And because David found God's Love and felt the Love of God, he cared for his brothers and life would find a remnant path filled with God's mercy. God's gift is faith, to realize He is present. We will find what Jesus has said as God's Word:
John 10:9
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Consider what deep despair should have ended Paul.
Even at Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize Paul.
2 Corinthians 11
But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,[b] in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
Paul was saved from the governor of King Aretas by being let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. Just as God told Israel there would always be a remnant. And God told Elijah is crisis - this:
1 Kings 19
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
What else do we call The Comforter? God living within us Faith, Hope and Love?
1 Peter 5:7
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Jesus stilled the winds and the waves. We will have trouble if God wills. We will have peace of God wills. We will have both as we walk with Jesus. God Himself has said. And yet... all these troubles we have seen in the very real Scriptures inspire us
to keep on with Jesus who keeps on within us.
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
The reason God has told us to consider life like Corrie Ten Baum considered the fleas - we are the Children of God and we will not know everything God Himself is doing. We look to God as our Hope and Future.
John 14
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Abba,
Jesus is our Blessing. His exact nature reveals You.
If it were not so, Jesus would not have told us that You prepare a place for us.
Every day, we will run the race, fight the good fight and we will not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let our requests be made known to You, Father God.
We will not be dust. We are meaningful to You, Father God. Your Child, bought with a price. We are casting all our anxieties on You, because You cares for us.
Believing You are God, the Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth. Calling all the Heavenly Hosts by name. Our Father in Jesus Christ, we will let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Blessed to be covered in Your Holy Name. Blessed to ask for more of Your Good Will on earth as it is in Heaven. Blessed to be given this day. Blessed to Live and to know Your Kingdom, Your Power and Your Glory. For the whole world through Jesus Christ. Blessed to have Faith, Hope and Love.
Amen in Jesus!
♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †
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