Psalm 39:8

Psalm 39:8

Keep saving me Lord!

We use the word “salvation” a lot in the Christian Church. The heart of our faith is that Christ died to save us from the consequences of our sins. He removed those sins from us and made us righteous in the eyes of God. Praise the Lord for that! But that kind of salvation is historic and it occurs at the beginning of the Christian journey. The event that made salvation possible happened 2,000 years ago and the moment that you and I were made aware of it was also in the past, be it yesterday or over 50 years since. I think what David is pleading in this Psalm is not historic but present and it does us well to grasp this. Let’s re-word this statement slightly, “Lord my transgressions are still with me, I still sin and break Your commands. Deliver me from the taunts and influence of my sinful weaknesses. Give me moral strength to be able to conquer my sins, in Your name.” Some people’s theology will differ here but I can only speak from experience and I would love to be free of the sinful nature and the war within me. If you have a similar problem, read how Paul describes it in Romans 7:14-25. 

David knows that the consequences of his fall from grace, his mental state, his illness, his abandonment by friends and his public disgrace are all fodder for his enemies. How they love to see him in the gutter, how they mock and scorn the once great and mighty king. These godless fools are despised by David and he pleads with the Lord, “Do not make me the scorn of fools.” That’s quite a prayer isn’t it? Lord, I am going through hard times right now and people know how I am suffering. Do not let them mock me and most of all, may Your name not be mocked because of me. 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more