January 27, 2013
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 18
OBSERVATIONS
God has helped David in a big way, and David writes this song in response.
We know of several times when God protected David from King Saul, this was written after one of them.
Imagine a situation in your life where God intervenes in an amazing, miraculous or dramatic way, then think about how you would talk about it with others.
David sees this as a pattern for how God always works, intervening on behalf of the lowly against their oppressors…
In my experience, God does not always intervene when and how we would like; but with David I trusts that whatever He does, whenever He does it, it always somehow contributes to His ultimate good purpose for us.
What do you notice in this passage?
APPLICATION
Where or when have I experienced God’s help like this?
If I can’t think of anything, is it because it has not happened, or because I have not been paying attention?
Am I like the 9 lepers healed by Jesus, enjoying the blessings of God’s love without appreciating the One Who gives them to me?
God’s help or blessing does not need to be ‘dramatic’ (like rescuing me from a murderer, or healing me of cancer, or setting me free from drugs); my testimony is not that radical.
To see God’s hand and help in my daily experiences: my family, my work, my relationships, my ordinary experiences like driving, eating, volunteering, reading, preaching, singing… and to thank God for them!
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
God, my life has not been as dramatic as David’s but I can still praise You for the ordinary. The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!
Observations:
The Psalmist starts with the assurance and confidence hat the Lord is His Rock, his Stronghold. It is to this God he calls in his times of trouble and God heard him. He saw God all around him in the creation. During his life David lived serving the Lord following His ways. God is a faithful God to His faithful children. God is His Enabler giving what he needs, making him strong in the Lord. Victorious. Praise Him for mighty is He. It is He who gives the victory. Praise Him always. PTL.
Application:
All of my life I must serve the living God who makes me strong. My strength is in Him alone and it is He Who makes me glad. Praise Him always, Come to Him always – with your joys and with your sorrows for He is your/my Father. He will take care of me. I live each day in the shadow of His wing and it is He who is the wind beneath my wings.
Prayer:
Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me. Praise His holy name and He will make me glad. Happiness is being in His presence always.
My Savior’s praises I will sing,
And all His love express;
Whose mercies each returning day
Proclaim His faithfulness.
Refrain
“Every day will I bless Thee!
Every day will I bless Thee!
And I will praise, will praise Thy Name
For ever and ever!”
Redeemed by His almighty power,
My Savior and my King;
My confidence in Him I place,
To Him my soul would cling.
Refrain
On Thee alone, my Savior, God,
My steadfast hopes depend;
And to Thy holy will my soul
Submissively would bend.
Refrain
O grant Thy Holy Spirit’s grace,
And aid my feeble powers,
That gladly I may follow Thee
Thro’ all my future hours.