Proclaim The Lord
Psalm 71
Proclaim means to announce, or to publish and we should be continuously proclaiming the Lord.
We cannot proclaim the Lord until we have placed our salvation into His hands.
We cannot proclaim the Lord until we know Him on a close and personal level.
We have been working on ways to improve our walk with the Lord and it is our walk with the Lord that other people first see, so to proclaim the Lord begins when others can notice the change in our lives after salvation.
Let's Begin:
*****Psa 71:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
The first thing we notice about this psalm is that the writer is anonymous, still most believe it was David that wrote this psalm.
This psalm has no title. In other words once we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, any of us should be able to write this psalm.
We cannot be saved unless we have this confidence in the Lord. We cannot live a joyful life unless we put our trust in the Lord!
Everyday we live is another day we must trust the Lord to meet our needs and guard against any trust in our own selves to provide those needs.
We will certainly trust the Lord when we are on the mountain but we must also trust the Lord when we are in our deepest valleys.
God requires a close intimate relationship and the closer that relationship is, the more we will trust Him!
Confusion about our relationship with the Lord will only bring shame. So as long as we live in this world we must never feel ashamed to be a Christian.
A good way to begin every prayer is to proclaim to the Lord just how much we trust Him!
*****Psa 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
It is only after we have placed our trust in the Lord that we can be delivered from a life of sin!
Where should we get our faith?
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The "substance" of our "faith" is the promises that God makes in His Written Word.
And without this "faith" we cannot please God.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jehovah God is a righteous God and it is a righteous thing for God to keep His promises.
But we must be just as righteous in our own "faith" in God to keep those promises!
When we ask for the right things to fulfill God's purpose in our lives and we ask in the right "faith" then these things cannot be turned down!
We must have confidence in this fact!
We must have confidence in this promise!
Mat 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, "If ye have faith, and doubt not", ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; "it shall be done".
It is this faith that brings with it eternal salvation but it is that same faith that will also save us from many of the turmoils of this life!
*****Psa 71:3 Be thou "my" strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
We have a Savior who is so faithful to us that He will allow us to live in His house and their is no place safer to abode!
1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; "and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him".
God is our strong house!
We will live in God's House forever!
God has given His commandment to save us!
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Again that word "my" is used because it is a personal thing with God to take great care of those He loves!
*****Psa 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
Psa 71:5 For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.
To know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, places us on the winning side!
In King Solomon's words of wisdom, he stated that "all things come alike to all people".
In other words the same troubles come to all people.
The same temptations come to all people.
Those that are wicked may win a few battles against us but in the end it is God's people who have a deliverer and His name is Christ Jesus.
Every time a soul is saved, a victory has been taken away from the Devil!
The writer of the Psalm may be unknown but we can see that he has trusted in the Lord from his youth to his old age.
He still faced the same problems that all of us face today!
There is still only one answer to life's problems and that is to call on the Lord for deliverance from life's problems.
We all still need God's protection and we should all still desire more opportunities to serve Him.
It is a fact that the safest place for the Christian to be, "is serving in the army of God" and on the front lines!
*****Psa 71:6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.
We will never understand the power of God until we get to Heaven but there should be no doubt in our minds that we are preserved by that power.
The very moment we are born into this world, God is keeping up with us, no matter who we are.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Just as the architect draws up plans before construction can ever begin our Creator has made such plans for each one of us.
It is when we reject God's plan for us that real turmoil in our life begins!
We must believe in the providence of God!
Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
*****Psa 71:7 I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.
The world looks upon the Christian as something that is strange because the world cannot understand the cause of Christ.
The world simply cannot understand how the Christian can separate himself or herself from the things of this world and therefore the world becomes our enemy.
1Pe 4:4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
As Christians, we know our strength to overcome the things of this world comes from God!
We are safe because the Lord is our refuge!
We are strong because of our "Faith"!
*****Psa 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
As Christians we need to do far less complaining and much more praising!
God feeds us with His mercy, we should praise Him for His "Grace"!
*****Psa 71:9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
I know as I get older I do not sin doing the things that I used to do but the fact remains that I still sin.
I wonder sometimes if God should not just cast me away and find some one else to take my place.
This writer felt the same way.
When we get old and feeble we sometimes feel that there is just not much we can do in the service of God but that is far from the truth.
When we cannot do the many things because we lack in strength, we have more time to pray!
Prayer is still the greatest weapon in our arsenal!
We are never to old to serve in the Lord's Army and the Lord will never forsake us!
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
It is alright to be content in doing the things that we still have strength to do until God calls us home.
God still smiles on us in our old age!
Our enemies will just have to get in line with all the others that hate us and that do not understand what it is to not fear death and the things of this world.
*****Psa 71:10 For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
Psa 71:11 Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
As Christians we may have spent our whole saved life telling others about the salvation that brings eternal life but as we come near our own end of days we can still feel that our world is closing in on us.
This is just Satan taunting us to see if he can cause doubt in ourselves and doubt in our Savior.
It is true our enemy will do everything he can to take our joy away from us but we must just cling to Jesus.
There is no worse feeling than that feeling that we are on our own without anyone who really cares for us but this is simply not the truth.
We serve a God who cares!
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Our anxiety will disappear if we can just stay focused on our real home!
If we die a physical death before the return of the Lord we must realize that many have gone on before us with these same thoughts.
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
But the true key to our end-time joy is the fact that there is One who is waiting on us with open arms.
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
*****Psa 71:12 O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.
Psa 71:13 Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.
It can be said that God is everywhere at all times but because of our sin God will turn away His face from us and He will sometimes seem as a great distance from us.
Just as soon as we repent of our sin God will walk with us hand in hand through our troubles.'
God is never very far from His children.
When the world sees us recovered from our sorrows they are perplexed and Satan is again put to shame.
Satan hates God's children and all the wicked men on this earth belong to Satan. Nothing will satisfy these men but the complete downfall of the Christian!
Every time God picks one of His children back up and sets them on the clear path of sanctification, the adversaries of God are filled with amazement.
Regardless what the Atheist say, even the world of false religion still look upon them as the fools that they are, even every false religion has a god of some type.
They all serve an unknown god but we know Jehovah, the true God!
Isa 41:12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
Isa 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
*****Psa 71:14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
Psa 71:15 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
Persecution of God's people has been around since the beginning with the death of Abel by his brother Cain, and will be till the end.
For a short period of time, Christianity was accepted as just another religion in the time of the Apostle Paul's first trial but before Paul died by being beheaded, Rome and most of the world, had banned Christianity.
Persecution has always been used as means to silence the Church but the Church has always grown during persecution.
What did Jesus say was the cause of persecution?
Joh 15:22 "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin": but now they have no cloke for their sin.
People just do not want to hear that they live a life of sin but this is what the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" teaches!
It is the Christian who has received the truth and relishes in that truth!
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
When we cannot rejoice in what we have on this earth we can rejoice in what we will have in Heaven!
Our hope is in the Lord, we cannot allow persecution to interfere with the job that God has given us to do!
We must still praise the Lord more and more!
We are to continue to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives!
Our greatest weapon besides our sincere and persistent prayer life is the way we conduct ourselves before our enemies!
People will not listen to what we say unless we living the life of Christ Jesus!
Now is the time to proclaim Jesus, for none of us know how many days we have left to do what God has commanded us to do!
The Devil will rage against us until the day we die but the Devil is on the loosing side!
We are on the winning side!
*****Psa 71:16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.
We cannot do the work of God in our own strength!
But we are the legs, the arms, and the mouth of the "Gospel"!
There must be a complete union between us and the Lord!
Once we invite the Lord into our lives we can never be severed from Him in our salvation but we must walk in His ways to be fruitful.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
We must abide in the Lord's righteousness in order to bring forth His righteousness to all people!
2Co 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
Our own righteousness is not fit to be mentioned!
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Our own righteousness will lead to death, it is the righteousness of the Lord that will lead to eternal and everlasting life.
*****Psa 71:17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Psa 71:18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go.
The writer of this Psalm had been properly trained in the things of God from his youth. Many of us including myself began our younger days in church but many also did not.
It is important to get our children in church as soon as we can.
There are no children that are too young to be taught about the Lord Jesus Christ!
I know I went my own way for 40 years but when I returned to the Lord, I still remembered many of those old gospel songs. I still remembered the important things of the gospel. I still remembered the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I am ashamed that I wasted all those years not serving my Savior!
Now, when I am old and grayheaded I also pray that I can still be used of God!
I threw away many opportunities to teach my own children about Jesus but I thank the Lord Jesus for this time He has given to me to show His strength to those of this generation we live in now.
I am still not the witness I need to be but I am far better than I was.
God is still teaching me as an old man!
There is no God like my God!
*****Psa 71:19 Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!
God is alone, who can resemble Him?
God is eternal, God cannot be limited or bound, God is unchangeable, God is incomprehensible, God is pure, in fact the truth is that my God cannot be expressed in words!
There are not enough words in our vocabulary, nor are our minds capable of knowing the entirety of God's greatness!
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
*****Psa 71:20 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Psa 71:21 Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.
A life lived for the Lord will not ever end!
The testimony of our service for the Lord will continue, even after our death!
We have an ongoing life with the Lord far beyond this life and far beyond the grave with a future resurrection in a glorified body.
And if we allow the Lord full control of our lives until we reach that point of going home, our greatness shall continue to increase.
It would be a sad day to stand before the Lord with empty hands!
But it will be a great day to feel the eternal comfort of the Lord!
*****Psa 71:22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
Love so amazing as that of the Lord deserves our greatest praise.
In fact our praise is meaningless to the Lord, if our praise does not come from a rejoicing heart.
Not only are we to praise the Lord with our lips but we are to praise Him with every fiber of our body and every instrument we can use.
Who is this Holy One of Israel? He is our Creator!
Isa 17:7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
And our Creator is also our Redeemer!
*****Psa 71:23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
To be redeemed is to be a special possession that belongs to God!
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
That word "peculiar" means a special possession and a private property.
The Church is the private property of the Lord!
A private property is that thing set aside for the sole use of the owner and out of reach of the government.
It is the job of the Church to declare who we belong too and this will also show in our good works.
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
1Pe 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Those good works will also include our praise!
*****Psa 71:24 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus are at peace with God!
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus live in hope of the resurrection.
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus will be filled with praise for Him.
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus have a message for this dying world!
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
That message is trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
Psalm 71
Proclaim means to announce, or to publish and we should be continuously proclaiming the Lord.
We cannot proclaim the Lord until we have placed our salvation into His hands.
We cannot proclaim the Lord until we know Him on a close and personal level.
We have been working on ways to improve our walk with the Lord and it is our walk with the Lord that other people first see, so to proclaim the Lord begins when others can notice the change in our lives after salvation.
Let's Begin:
*****Psa 71:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
The first thing we notice about this psalm is that the writer is anonymous, still most believe it was David that wrote this psalm.
This psalm has no title. In other words once we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, any of us should be able to write this psalm.
We cannot be saved unless we have this confidence in the Lord. We cannot live a joyful life unless we put our trust in the Lord!
Everyday we live is another day we must trust the Lord to meet our needs and guard against any trust in our own selves to provide those needs.
We will certainly trust the Lord when we are on the mountain but we must also trust the Lord when we are in our deepest valleys.
God requires a close intimate relationship and the closer that relationship is, the more we will trust Him!
Confusion about our relationship with the Lord will only bring shame. So as long as we live in this world we must never feel ashamed to be a Christian.
A good way to begin every prayer is to proclaim to the Lord just how much we trust Him!
*****Psa 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
It is only after we have placed our trust in the Lord that we can be delivered from a life of sin!
Where should we get our faith?
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The "substance" of our "faith" is the promises that God makes in His Written Word.
And without this "faith" we cannot please God.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jehovah God is a righteous God and it is a righteous thing for God to keep His promises.
But we must be just as righteous in our own "faith" in God to keep those promises!
When we ask for the right things to fulfill God's purpose in our lives and we ask in the right "faith" then these things cannot be turned down!
We must have confidence in this fact!
We must have confidence in this promise!
Mat 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, "If ye have faith, and doubt not", ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; "it shall be done".
It is this faith that brings with it eternal salvation but it is that same faith that will also save us from many of the turmoils of this life!
*****Psa 71:3 Be thou "my" strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
We have a Savior who is so faithful to us that He will allow us to live in His house and their is no place safer to abode!
1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; "and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him".
God is our strong house!
We will live in God's House forever!
God has given His commandment to save us!
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Again that word "my" is used because it is a personal thing with God to take great care of those He loves!
*****Psa 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
Psa 71:5 For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.
To know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, places us on the winning side!
In King Solomon's words of wisdom, he stated that "all things come alike to all people".
In other words the same troubles come to all people.
The same temptations come to all people.
Those that are wicked may win a few battles against us but in the end it is God's people who have a deliverer and His name is Christ Jesus.
Every time a soul is saved, a victory has been taken away from the Devil!
The writer of the Psalm may be unknown but we can see that he has trusted in the Lord from his youth to his old age.
He still faced the same problems that all of us face today!
There is still only one answer to life's problems and that is to call on the Lord for deliverance from life's problems.
We all still need God's protection and we should all still desire more opportunities to serve Him.
It is a fact that the safest place for the Christian to be, "is serving in the army of God" and on the front lines!
*****Psa 71:6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.
We will never understand the power of God until we get to Heaven but there should be no doubt in our minds that we are preserved by that power.
The very moment we are born into this world, God is keeping up with us, no matter who we are.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Just as the architect draws up plans before construction can ever begin our Creator has made such plans for each one of us.
It is when we reject God's plan for us that real turmoil in our life begins!
We must believe in the providence of God!
Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
*****Psa 71:7 I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.
The world looks upon the Christian as something that is strange because the world cannot understand the cause of Christ.
The world simply cannot understand how the Christian can separate himself or herself from the things of this world and therefore the world becomes our enemy.
1Pe 4:4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
As Christians, we know our strength to overcome the things of this world comes from God!
We are safe because the Lord is our refuge!
We are strong because of our "Faith"!
*****Psa 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
As Christians we need to do far less complaining and much more praising!
God feeds us with His mercy, we should praise Him for His "Grace"!
*****Psa 71:9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
I know as I get older I do not sin doing the things that I used to do but the fact remains that I still sin.
I wonder sometimes if God should not just cast me away and find some one else to take my place.
This writer felt the same way.
When we get old and feeble we sometimes feel that there is just not much we can do in the service of God but that is far from the truth.
When we cannot do the many things because we lack in strength, we have more time to pray!
Prayer is still the greatest weapon in our arsenal!
We are never to old to serve in the Lord's Army and the Lord will never forsake us!
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
It is alright to be content in doing the things that we still have strength to do until God calls us home.
God still smiles on us in our old age!
Our enemies will just have to get in line with all the others that hate us and that do not understand what it is to not fear death and the things of this world.
*****Psa 71:10 For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
Psa 71:11 Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
As Christians we may have spent our whole saved life telling others about the salvation that brings eternal life but as we come near our own end of days we can still feel that our world is closing in on us.
This is just Satan taunting us to see if he can cause doubt in ourselves and doubt in our Savior.
It is true our enemy will do everything he can to take our joy away from us but we must just cling to Jesus.
There is no worse feeling than that feeling that we are on our own without anyone who really cares for us but this is simply not the truth.
We serve a God who cares!
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Our anxiety will disappear if we can just stay focused on our real home!
If we die a physical death before the return of the Lord we must realize that many have gone on before us with these same thoughts.
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
But the true key to our end-time joy is the fact that there is One who is waiting on us with open arms.
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
*****Psa 71:12 O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.
Psa 71:13 Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.
It can be said that God is everywhere at all times but because of our sin God will turn away His face from us and He will sometimes seem as a great distance from us.
Just as soon as we repent of our sin God will walk with us hand in hand through our troubles.'
God is never very far from His children.
When the world sees us recovered from our sorrows they are perplexed and Satan is again put to shame.
Satan hates God's children and all the wicked men on this earth belong to Satan. Nothing will satisfy these men but the complete downfall of the Christian!
Every time God picks one of His children back up and sets them on the clear path of sanctification, the adversaries of God are filled with amazement.
Regardless what the Atheist say, even the world of false religion still look upon them as the fools that they are, even every false religion has a god of some type.
They all serve an unknown god but we know Jehovah, the true God!
Isa 41:12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
Isa 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
*****Psa 71:14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
Psa 71:15 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
Persecution of God's people has been around since the beginning with the death of Abel by his brother Cain, and will be till the end.
For a short period of time, Christianity was accepted as just another religion in the time of the Apostle Paul's first trial but before Paul died by being beheaded, Rome and most of the world, had banned Christianity.
Persecution has always been used as means to silence the Church but the Church has always grown during persecution.
What did Jesus say was the cause of persecution?
Joh 15:22 "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin": but now they have no cloke for their sin.
People just do not want to hear that they live a life of sin but this is what the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" teaches!
It is the Christian who has received the truth and relishes in that truth!
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
When we cannot rejoice in what we have on this earth we can rejoice in what we will have in Heaven!
Our hope is in the Lord, we cannot allow persecution to interfere with the job that God has given us to do!
We must still praise the Lord more and more!
We are to continue to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives!
Our greatest weapon besides our sincere and persistent prayer life is the way we conduct ourselves before our enemies!
People will not listen to what we say unless we living the life of Christ Jesus!
Now is the time to proclaim Jesus, for none of us know how many days we have left to do what God has commanded us to do!
The Devil will rage against us until the day we die but the Devil is on the loosing side!
We are on the winning side!
*****Psa 71:16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.
We cannot do the work of God in our own strength!
But we are the legs, the arms, and the mouth of the "Gospel"!
There must be a complete union between us and the Lord!
Once we invite the Lord into our lives we can never be severed from Him in our salvation but we must walk in His ways to be fruitful.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
We must abide in the Lord's righteousness in order to bring forth His righteousness to all people!
2Co 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
Our own righteousness is not fit to be mentioned!
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Our own righteousness will lead to death, it is the righteousness of the Lord that will lead to eternal and everlasting life.
*****Psa 71:17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Psa 71:18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go.
The writer of this Psalm had been properly trained in the things of God from his youth. Many of us including myself began our younger days in church but many also did not.
It is important to get our children in church as soon as we can.
There are no children that are too young to be taught about the Lord Jesus Christ!
I know I went my own way for 40 years but when I returned to the Lord, I still remembered many of those old gospel songs. I still remembered the important things of the gospel. I still remembered the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I am ashamed that I wasted all those years not serving my Savior!
Now, when I am old and grayheaded I also pray that I can still be used of God!
I threw away many opportunities to teach my own children about Jesus but I thank the Lord Jesus for this time He has given to me to show His strength to those of this generation we live in now.
I am still not the witness I need to be but I am far better than I was.
God is still teaching me as an old man!
There is no God like my God!
*****Psa 71:19 Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!
God is alone, who can resemble Him?
God is eternal, God cannot be limited or bound, God is unchangeable, God is incomprehensible, God is pure, in fact the truth is that my God cannot be expressed in words!
There are not enough words in our vocabulary, nor are our minds capable of knowing the entirety of God's greatness!
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
*****Psa 71:20 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Psa 71:21 Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.
A life lived for the Lord will not ever end!
The testimony of our service for the Lord will continue, even after our death!
We have an ongoing life with the Lord far beyond this life and far beyond the grave with a future resurrection in a glorified body.
And if we allow the Lord full control of our lives until we reach that point of going home, our greatness shall continue to increase.
It would be a sad day to stand before the Lord with empty hands!
But it will be a great day to feel the eternal comfort of the Lord!
*****Psa 71:22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
Love so amazing as that of the Lord deserves our greatest praise.
In fact our praise is meaningless to the Lord, if our praise does not come from a rejoicing heart.
Not only are we to praise the Lord with our lips but we are to praise Him with every fiber of our body and every instrument we can use.
Who is this Holy One of Israel? He is our Creator!
Isa 17:7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
And our Creator is also our Redeemer!
*****Psa 71:23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
To be redeemed is to be a special possession that belongs to God!
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
That word "peculiar" means a special possession and a private property.
The Church is the private property of the Lord!
A private property is that thing set aside for the sole use of the owner and out of reach of the government.
It is the job of the Church to declare who we belong too and this will also show in our good works.
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
1Pe 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Those good works will also include our praise!
*****Psa 71:24 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus are at peace with God!
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus live in hope of the resurrection.
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus will be filled with praise for Him.
Those who proclaim the Lord Jesus have a message for this dying world!
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
That message is trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
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