Psalm for Help

Reading Psalm 143 this morning, I was overwhelmed by how much this psalm spoke to me.  Like others I know, I have been using the word "Intentional" to guide my path in life.  I want to be intentional in everything I do each day.  I want to praise God in everything I do.  I do not want to forget God; I want to see his hand in my life.  I want to walk in the light, purposefully.  I want my heart to be more like Jesus.

So, for at least this week, I want to meditate on this Psalm, and memorize verses 8-10.  I will post those verses on my mirror so that they are the first thing I see in the morning.  So I can meditate on them as I brush my teeth, etc.  They will be the last thing I see before I go to bed.  Such a great Psalm.

In this psalm, David complains of his enemies and distresses, and he prays for comfort, guidance, and
deliverance.  Further reading on this psalm can be found here:  http://www.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=ps&chapter=143  

Psalm 143
(Good News Translation)

LORD, hear my prayer!  

In your righteousness, listen to my plea;

answer me in your faithfulness!

Don't put me, your servant, on trial;

no one is innocent in your sight.

My enemies have hunted me down

and completely defeated me.

They have put me in a dark prison, 

and I am like those who died long ago.

So I am ready to give up;

I am in despair.

I remember the days gone by;

I think about all that you have done,

I bring to mind all your deeds.

I lift up my hands to you in prayer;

like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you.

Answer me now, LORD!

I have lost all hope.

Don't hide yourself from me,

or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead.

Remind me each morning of your constant love,
for I put my trust in you.
My prayers go up to you;
show me the way I should go.

I go to you for protection LORD;
rescue me from my enemies.

You are my God;
teach me to do your will.
Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path.

Rescue me, LORD, as you have promised;
in your goodness save me from my troubles!

Because of your love for me, kill my enemies
and destroy all my oppressors,
for I am your servant.

And below, for your listening pleasure, another version of this great psalm!

A Prayer of David

David was awesome at praising God.    I love reading his praises in the book of Psalms.  And I love listening to songs written by David, like the one below.  My favorite way of praising God is through song;  I love singing and listening to songs based on scripture.  I find I can memorize scripture more quickly through singing.

This song was on the Radiance Album by Acapella, originally released in 2006.  Words and music by Keith Lancaster@2005 Anthony K Music (ASCAP)



Scripture reference:  I Chronicles 29:10-13
"David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, 'Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

Yours, O LORD is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is your.  Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.

Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.  In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.

Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name."

Lyrics:
Praise be to you, O Lord
God of our father Israel
From everlasting to everlasting
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness (is the greatness)
And the power (and the power)
And the glory (and the glory)
And the majesty
And the splendor (splendor)
For everything in heaven and earth is Yours
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom (is the Kingdom)
You are exalted as head over all
Wealth and honor come from You
You are the ruler of all things
In Your hands are strength and power
To exalt and give strength to all
Now, our God, we give You thanks
And praise Your glorious name.

Heaven...

Heaven is a wonderful place.

Filled with Glory and Grace.

I want to see my Savior's face.

Heaven is a wonderful place!

Genesis 14:19

"and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most HIgh, Creator of heaven and earth."

2 Kings 2:11

"As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."

Psalm 14:2

"The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God."

Matthew 7:21

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Mark 16:19

"After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God."

Philippians 3:20

"But our citizenship is in  heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."

Revelation 5:13

"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:  "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!"

Praise God!

Worship is very personal. It is God-centered.

Worship is about singing, praying, praising God, reading His Word. It is about taking communion, serving others, having your heart and attitude in the right place.

How do you know if you are worshipping in spirit and in truth? Look at your heart. Are you open to what the Bible says? Are you trying to obey God? Are you examining yourself, checking to see if you are on the right track? Is your heart right with God? Do you strive to honor God in everything that you do?

"You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own." Leviticus 20:26

"Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. " Ephesians 1:4"

"But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God--who chose you to be his children--is holy. " I Peter 1:15


Worship is a time of JOY! A time to offer THANKS and ADORATION!

"Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. " Psalm 100:2

"The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my victory. He is my God, and I will praise him; he is my father's God, and I will exalt him! " Exodus 15:2

"I will praise him from the bottom of my heart: "LORD, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the weak and helpless from the strong? Who else protects the poor and needy from those who want to rob them?" Psalm 35:10

"The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God. " Ephesians 1:14

"And from the throne came a voice that said, "Praise our God, all his servants, from the least to the greatest, all who fear him." Revelation 19:5

Worship

Definitions of worship:

–noun

1. reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.

2. formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage: They attended worship this morning.

3. adoring reverence or regard: excessive worship of business success.

4. the object of adoring reverence or regard.

5. (initial capital letter) British. a title of honor used in addressing or mentioning certain magistrates and others of high rank or station (usually prec. by Your, His, or Her).

–verb (used with object)

6. to render religious reverence and homage to.

7. to feel an adoring reverence or regard for (any person or thing).

–verb (used without object)

8. to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.

9. to attend services of divine worship.

10. to feel an adoring reverence or regard.

—Synonyms
3. honor, homage, adoration, idolatry. 7. honor, venerate, revere, adore, glorify, idolize, adulate.

How do we set about to worship God? How do we bow at his feet? What pleases God when we worship? When should we worship? An intriguing topic.

(worship)
occurs 311 times in 301 verses in the NLT

"When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people first began to worship the LORD." Genesis 4:26

"Stay here with the donkey," Abraham told the young men. "The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back." Genesis 22:5

God said to Jacob, "Now move on to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to worship me--the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau." Genesis 35:1

"You must worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you. " Exodus 34:13

"Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings.' " Matthew 15:9

"But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. " John 4:23

Jacob the Deceiver

This year, I am reading the Chronological Bible. It has been an adventure so far in Genesis. I know we all know the stories in Genesis. You study them as a kid in Sunday School. Then, when you start teaching kids about the Bible, you learn it all over again!

Jacob has been the topic lately. His name means "Deceiver" and he certainly was! He gives Esau a meal in exchange for the Firstborn Birthright. He steals the Firstborn Blessing from his father Isaac by pretending to be Esau. ( I always wondered, if Esau gave him the birthright, would that not have included the Blessing? If so, I guess the boys never told their parents about the new arrangement!)

He escapes the wrath of Esau by fleeing to his father's family to find a wife. On the way there:

10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone for a pillow and lay down to sleep. 12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from earth to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down on it.

13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I will give it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will cover the land from east to west and from north to south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. [fn1] 15 What's more, I will be with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. I will someday bring you safely back to this land. I will be with you constantly until I have finished giving you everything I have promised."

16 Then Jacob woke up and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn't even aware of it." 17 He was afraid and said, "What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God-the gateway to heaven!" 18 The next morning he got up very early. He took the stone he had used as a pillow and set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named the place Bethel-"house of God"-though the name of the nearby village was Luz.

20 Then Jacob made this vow: "If God will be with me and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothing, 21 and if he will bring me back safely to my father, then I will make the Lord my God. 22 This memorial pillar will become a place for worshiping God, and I will give God a tenth of everything he gives me."

The verse that amazed me -- "IF GOD will be with me and protect me..." God had just given Jacob a wonderful promise. God HAD PROMISED to be with Jacob and protect him, and he STILL says "IF" this is true, THEN he will make the Lord his God! And yet God did not give up on Jacob. He fulfilled His promise to Jacob.

And what a blessing that this event was recorded for us. It shows us that God can find the good in us and work with it. That He does not give up on us. That God provides protection for us on our journey though life. Praise God!

John 4: 43 - 54

Jesus Heals an Official's Son

43 At the end of the two days' stay, Jesus went on into Galilee.

44 He had previously said, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own country."

45 The Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen all his miraculous signs.

46 In the course of his journey through Galilee, he arrived at the town of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in the city of Capernaum whose son was very sick.

47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was traveling in Galilee, he went over to Cana. He found Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum with him to heal his son, who was about to die.

48 Jesus asked, "Must I do miraculous signs and wonders before you people will believe in me?"

49 The official pleaded, "Lord, please come now before my little boy dies."

50 Then Jesus told him, "Go back home. Your son will live!" And the man believed Jesus' word and started home.

51 While he was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well.

52 He asked them when the boy had begun to feel better, and they replied, "Yesterday afternoon at one o'clock his fever suddenly disappeared!"

53 Then the father realized it was the same time that Jesus had told him, "Your son will live." And the officer and his entire household believed in Jesus.

54 This was Jesus' second miraculous sign in Galilee after coming from Judea.


His second miracle. Again in Cana. Different circumstances. First miracle, a joyous occasion, a wedding. Second miracle, a dying child.

Again, Jesus seems to say "No" when asked to perform a miracle. Yet he performs the miracle, just not in the way the Official expected. Jesus did not have to go with him to heal the child. He merely spoke the words "Your son will live."

The official did not need to see it happen to believe it. And his belief was confirmed.

Are we willing to take Jesus at his Word? Are we willing to let Jesus work in His own way, and not reject Him because things don't happen the way we want them to? We do better to trust God to answer prayers His way.