2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
9 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.
Key Verse:
1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
Key Observation:
David hungers for the presence of God and His blessing in his life.
Memory Verse:
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Devotion:
I wonder just how many places in Scripture there are where man reflects his hunger, his desire for God to hear him. I can think of several right away:
1. I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts;There are many more I am sure—places where man is hungry for the presence and blessing of God. Number five, Saul’s request, is one of the very few examples of unanswered prayer in the total of scripture, which is why I included it. Why was Saul not answered? He was living nonrepentantly in sin.
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
Habakkuk 2:1
2. How long, O Lord, must I call for help,
But you do not listen?
Habakkuk 1:2
3. Daniel in his need to understand fasted and prayed long:
He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider
carefully the words I am about to speak to you. . . But the prince
of the Persian kingdom resisted my twenty-one days.
Daniel 10
4. 8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2 Cor. 12:8
5. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
1 Samuel 28:6
If you are skeptical about unanswered prayer in the Bible, check the record for yourself. Out of the many verses dealing with prayer, in all the Bible, there are only a few where prayer is unanswered. It will make for a remarkable study—one where the record is replete with God’s eagerness to hear our prayers.
That said, there comes a time in our lives where we might feel like Job, stripped of everything and scrapping our boils with potsherds. I have been there, feeling like I am remote from God. I wonder at such times if God even hears my prayer. Job found out that God heard every one of his complaints and what does he say to God? “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more.”
When I pray I need to remember the record of promises that God has given me. I need to remember answers can be held up, as with Daniel, for spiritual warfare reasons which I will not understand. I need to come to him cleanly, acknowledging my sin, for with confession I am forgiven. In that way I can avoid unanswered prayer, as happened with Saul. But other than that I will keep great expectations before me. God will hear me, and He does love me. An answer will come!
Did David receive an answer?
“Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.Being a farm boy, I used to watch chicks hide under the protection of mother hen’s wings whenever danger approached. Is that not a delightful metaphor? The Lord himself offers to shelter us in the shadow of his wings.
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”
Under the shadow of your wings
Here in the secret place of your holiness
I will wait on you, oh Lord, my God and King
Here in the Holiest of All
You draw me near with love to abandon all
For the sake of knowing you, my God and King
Hide me in the shelter of your love
Deep in the center of your heart, my Lord
How I want to know you more
And keep me in the shadow of your wings
Safe in the secret place of holiness
How I need you more and more
(And more and more)
Hide me, and keep me, oh Lord
Safe in the secret place, safe in the secret place
No comments:
Post a Comment