In The Word
Read: Psalm 13-14
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Folly and Wickedness of Men.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
14 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
4 Do all the workers of wickedness not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great dread,
For God is with the righteous generation.
6 You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,
But the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores His captive people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
If you have ever been in an extreme wilderness environment overnight and listened in the darkness, you can hear unfamiliar noises that can be quite unnerving or even terrifying. These sounds often can intensify just before the dawn. At first light, as you begin to see your environment, those unfamiliar noises clear up with visibility. We see in this passage today that, no matter the darkness around us, we must choose to see with the eyes of faith and trust in God’s loving-kindness. There are so many examples in Scripture of God’s loving-kindness: Lot escaping Gods wrath on Sodom, God leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land, and Him sending His Son Jesus as our hope and salvation.
In life, we can have these seasons or times of darkness when we are struck with fear because we cannot see what is taking place. It may seem like life is closing in and darkness is surrounding us. We must remind ourselves during those trying times that God is a covenant-keeping God, even down to the thousandth generation (Deuteronomy 7:9). His covenant of loving-kindness for those who hold fast to His commands includes you and I today. God will come through. Remember it can be darkest just before the dawn, so you must choose to see through the eyes of faith and not through the eyes of fear. Allow God to lead you today with His loving-kindness. Will you follow no matter what? Even when you cannot see? This is faith.