Proclaim The Lord

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!

Repenting

Repent Before The Lord

Psalms 51


There can be no doubt the purpose of this Psalm.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

This Psalm is about King David begging for mercy because of his sin with Bathsheba.

What was David's sin? He despised the commandment of the Lord.

2Sa 12:9  "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight"? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

God said "there is a way that seems right to man, but the end there of are the ways of death".

What is personal accountability?

We simply do not want to own our own sin.

We will try our best to make excuses for our sin.

We will try our best to blame our sin on some other thing or on some other person.

But sin is a choice!

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; "but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened".

The Bible relates sin in at least three different ways.

1) Sin means missing the mark.

Our standard is our sinless Lord Jesus Christ. God expects us to come as close as we can to this standard. When we sin we miss the mark but we are not alone.

Jesus Christ is the glory of our Father in Heaven but God says this about all humans.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

2) Sin is described as a transgression.

Transgression is human rebelliousness. We know what God's commandments require of us, yet we choose to disobey.

1Jn 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

3) Sin is described as iniquity.

Iniquity points out disobedience but iniquity also points out the guilt that comes from that iniquity.

Psa 31:10  For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

And what are the consequences of sin?

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let's begin:

*****Psa 51:1  Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

We know from this story of David that for over a year David had carried this sin in secret. It had eating away at him to the point of causing him physical and emotional problems.

When Nathan, the prophet of God confronted David with his sin, David quickly realized there are no secrets that can be kept from God and it was by God's "Grace" that He had sent Nathan to confront David.

God was allowing David space to repent but he had not repented!

David quickly understood his failure and immediately appealed to the mercy of God.

David ask for mercy before he mentioned his sin.

It is important for us to tell God what sin we have committed, God expects us to realize what He considers sin but like David we may first want to ask for mercy.

God already knows about our sin but God wants us to be sure that we know His Word and what His Word teaches us about sin.

The sight of mercy is good to see after a strained relationship with the Lord!

The "pardon" of our sin is a pure act of mercy on the part of Our Lord!

We must remember what to be pardoned means. To pardon means to reverse a sentence of guilty.

To be pardoned is like that sin never even happened!

Thank goodness we have a God that is merciful!

Mic 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

We are the foolish ones when we do not use the opportunity to repent to get back in God's favor!

Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

It is embarrassing to fall into the traps of Satan but it is refreshing to be restored to our Father!

That embarrassment ends when we realize that that sin has been blotted out of God record book!

Act 3:19  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 3:20  And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

*****Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

We must remember it is not enough to just blot out our sin, our soul is housed in defiled flesh and that flesh contains the sin nature of Adam.

We need a good cleansing!

That washing must be thorough.

That washing must be repeated over and over again until we get home to the Lord's house.

Chastisement must be looked upon as God removing our defective parts!

We need at least a daily washing to stay as clean as we possibly can be until the Lord comes to take us home.

***Sin is like pollution that has polluted our entire nature.

We own our sin!

Sin is that debt that we owe ourselves!

No one else owns our sin and no one else can pay our sin debt!

Sin is a deviation from the straight path of God!

Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

How are we washed clean of our sin?

Tit 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

***Sin is lawlessness and it becomes rebellion and leads to a bad attitude before a Holy God!

We must acknowledge our transgressions.

Remember transgressions mean we know what the Word of God says but we refuse to obey it.

And to sin means we have come short of the standard set by the Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

When David sinned, he sinned against Uriah, he sinned against Bathsheba, he sinned against his wife and he sinned against his entire family but most important he sinned against the Lord and we must acknowledge all these things to Him.

*****Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

When we realize how our sin has affected the life of others we will have that increased feeling that we have sinned against God.

When we cause injury to those around us it is because we have gone against the Word of God!

***To sin is a choice we make and in doing so we have placed our own selves higher than anyone in this world and before our Savior from the glory world.

I find it truly embarrassing to face my Father in Heaven knowing I have done wrong and knowing He has witnessed me doing that wrong thing!

We must realize we have no excuse and no means of argument against the truth of God.

We must also realize that God has every right to chastise us when we have gone against His Word.

Our God is a righteous God and He gets no pleasure out of seeing our sin and He also gets no pleasure in His chastisement but that chastisement must come because of God's righteousness.

BUT, God takes great pleasure in forgiving sin because He is faithful to the work of His Son on Calvary's cross!

*****Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

There is no sin in the act of conception when it is carried out in the bond of marriage.

We are not sinners because we sin, "we sin because have a sin nature"!

This is the sin nature passed down from Adam.

Adam yielded to the assaults of temptation and all mankind since that time have to face the temptations of this world and we all fail.

This is not an excuse to sin, it is a reality of who we are!

We cannot be saved until we know are sinners in need of our Savior.

We cannot be forgiven until we realize the sinful things we do and ask for forgiveness and that forgiveness is promised.

1Jn 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The reality of these things is we must desire the truth!

God's Word Is True!

*****Psa 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

To behold is to give this matter of sin great consideration!

God not only requires us to be obedient to His Word but God also requires us to know the truth of how far we come up short of His ideals.

We must not ever forget our example in this life is Jesus Christ who was sinless!

What are God's demands for us? God demands sanctification!

Sanctification is the process of being made holy. It is only the work of Jesus Christ on that cross that makes it possible for us to move from being in sin to being holy in the eyes of God!

God says:

Lev 20:7  Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
Lev 20:8  And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.

*****Psa 51:7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Hyssop was a small shrub that was used to sprinkle blood and water over the cleansed leper, symbolizing his purification and cleansing.

It was also the hyssop that was used to in the sprinkling of blood on the door post of the Israelites on that first Passover.

Lev 14:6  As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:
Lev 14:7  And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

We must realize it is only by the blood of Jesus that the stain of sin can be removed!

Who are the ones who will make it to God's Heavenly Home?

Wash me Lord, make me clean!

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

*****Psa 51:8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

When we are in distress because of our sin, the only thing that will bring joy is forgiveness!

The salvation by the Lord Jesus is a certain and permanent thing but when we carry sin in our heart we will lose the joy of our salvation until we repent and return to the Lord.

God's voice of peace is the sweetest music we can hear!

When we carry the weight of sin, it will become a burden that we cannot over come.

The Lord Jesus Christ has already carried that burden of sin to the cross, we are foolish to try to carry any burden of sin during our life time.

It took the death of Jesus to pay our sin debt. Sin will break your bones as it breaks your life!

Psa 55:22  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

We need to cast that burden upon the Lord.

*****Psa 51:9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

***What is the one main thing that comes between us and God in our relationship? It is sin!

Here David is saying "Lord do not look upon my sin". "Do not allow my foolishness to come between us".

Nothing but a complete pardon will ever satisfy this request!

And how loving is our God?

Mic 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Mic 7:19  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

We should all pray, please God don't just blot out my transgression of today but blot out all my iniquities, the sin I know I have done all my life.

And how loving is our God?

Col 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

For only then can we be "Born Again"!

*****Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Jesus had these words for Nicodemus:

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Only God can create in the sense of making something out of nothing. This is exactly what happened when God created our world!

Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

When we pray the sinners prayer we are asking the Lord to create something new that is not within us.

When we come into this earth we do not have a clean heart.

When we come into this world we do not have the right spirit.

We must be "Born Again" and our spirit must be renewed!

Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

*****Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

In the time of Adam, his son Cain was banished from the presence of his family.

Being "Born Again" by the blood of Jesus, we will never be banished, we will always have access to our new family and to all our own family that have gone on before us, when we all gather together in Heaven.

This is a great privilege that God has allowed us.

1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Besides the supreme privilege of seeing the Lord Jesus Christ, there is great joy in salvation knowing that we will once again see our loved ones who have gone on before us!

Our salvation is eternal! If God has the power and ability to save us, then He certainly has the power and the ability to hold onto us!

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Once "Born Again", having been justified, we begin that time of sanctification and when the Lord calls us up to meet Him in the clouds we will all be glorified!

No one will be left behind, except those that belong to Belial!

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

What are we to be doing today?

*****Psa 51:13  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

David knew that even though he was King of Israel, he had another more important job to do also.

David was also a prophet of God.

Act 2:29  Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Act 2:30  Therefore "being a prophet", and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Act 2:31  He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

We sometimes forget that we are also sinners, saved by the "Grace" of God.

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

It is our own salvation experience that can be used as an example and a testimony to others who are still doing what we have been saved from doing.

And God says:

Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Pro 11:30  The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

This is the same job we all have after we are saved!

*****Psa 51:14  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

As we know from our other studies, David was guilty of the death of Uriah, a true national hero of the Jews.

David is confessing that fact.

David also knew that committing the sin of adultery was a capitol offense under Jewish law.

David knew he deserved death!

David knew that God hates these actions from any man! David had also written Psalms 6.

Psa 5:6  Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

To be hated of God is an awful thing and no human being can escape the law of God!

But Nathan had also given David a warning.

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Our sin will almost always affect our families!

David was seeking to be free from the guilt and the condemnation of this sin.

***We must realize just how terrible sin is and how it can affect our lives just to realize just how wretched we are!

The Apostle Paul also realized these same things:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

SO, What does true confession bring about?

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

This is our greatest reason to praise the Lord!

*****Psa 51:15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

When we face the Lord with our sin, there can be no excuses. To sin is a choice that we make. We must confess our sin before the Lord and then we must remain quiet until we hear the judgment of the Lord.

***Our God is faithful to be obedient to His own Word!

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If God opens our mouths by removing our sense of guilt then He expects something in return!

How can we not praise Him!

*****Psa 51:16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

The praise from our mouths is far better than any sacrifice we could offer.

To praise the Lord shows our faith that we have been forgiven.

To praise the Lord shows our love for Him and glorifies Him.

If God required anything else, we would be foolish to not get it for Him for such a forgiveness.

This would then be a works doctrine and God is not about works, God is all about "Faith"!

To offer up a burnt offering, meant that some animal was taken to a priest and that priest would offer up the animal in your name.

That animal already belonged to God!

It is foolish to believe that we could offer any other sacrifice "than ourselves" that would be pleasing to the Lord!

The sacrifice that God requires are a "broken spirit" because of our sin!

Psa 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

The broken and the contrite heart because of sin are not despised by the Lord!

They are accepted as a suitable sacrifices through the Lord Jesus Christ and will bring an everlasting salvation!

The Word of God delivered by the Holy Spirit will break the heart of a sinner and only then will God save them!

Once we have repented and are back in favor with God we can then be a blessing to others.

*****Psa 51:18  Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

It was on the hill called Zion where David had determined to build the Temple that Solomon did build after the death of his father, King David.

David requested that God not allow his personal sin to interfere with the construction of the Temple.

As Christians we should pray that God not allow our sin to hinder the Church in any way.

When we fall into the snares of the devil, our own actions can become a stumbling block to those around us, especially to our own families.

Salvation is our wall between us and this evil world we live in.

And we must offer up ourselves as spiritual sacrifices!

1Pe 2:4  To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

These are the sacrifices that please God!

*****Psa 51:19  Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

As the saved children of God we expect for our prayers to be answered but God is only pleased with us when we bring our best.

The Lord Jesus Christ paid our sin debt. There are no more sacrifices that can be offered for our sin!

Eph 5:1  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Eph 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Just like David we must follow the proper way of confession of our sins and we must then repent.

Sometimes it is the preaching of God's Word that will wake us up to confession of our sin.

Sometimes it is God's Heavenly Hickory that will wake us up to confession of our sin.

Sometimes it is Holy Ghost conviction that will wake us up to confess our sin.

God will always provide a means of and a method of confession and that will lead us to repentance because this is the only reason God came to this earth to begin with!

Mat 9:12  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Mat 9:13  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus did not die just so He could heal the sick.

Jesus died on that cross to save all of us that know we are sinners in need of a Savior!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Praising The Lord

Praise The Lord

Psalms 47


Our English word "praise" comes from the Latin word "pretium". Pretium means "price" or "value".

Praise may be bestowed upon unworthy objects or for the wrong reasons but true praise consists of a sincere acknowledgment of a real conviction of worth.

In other words the object of our praise should be of great value spiritually!

Praise is inspired by a sense of worthiness!

There can only be "One" who can be the "object" of our praise!

Rev 4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

There can only be "One" who can be the "reason" for our praise!

Rev 5:12  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

And there are certain ways that we must offer up praise to our Lord.

Let's begin:

*****Psa 47:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Today, hand clapping has come to mean simply applause for a performance.

Those that enjoyed the performance clapped while those that did not remained silent.

Applause is expressed with the hands as acclamation is expressed with our voices.

In Bible times when people gathered for their kings or rulers acclamation was performed by a chorus of music, especially instructed for that purpose.

In other words professionals were hired for the chorus.

But many are not aware that there were professionals hired also for applause.

Persons were also appointed for the purpose of applauding or clapping and even special teachers were employed to teach the art of clapping.

The applause was even divided into choruses and placed opposite to each other just like the choristers in some cathedrals are today.

How many of you have ever witnessed our own president when he comes to certain events, he can hardly speak without certain ones breaking out in applause or standing ovations.

We can be sure at least some of these are professionals!

In the Bible the clapping of hands was to be about praise not so much enjoyment. Worship is not about our own enjoyment!

In the Bible the clapping of hands was to be about triumph not about our own entertainment!

What is worship?

What is the truth of the Bible?

Only God is to be worshiped!

What did Jesus say to Satan?

Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve".

This has not changed but it seems today that many places built for the worship of God are more about entertainment for those that come.

The Lord Jesus Christ can receive worship only because He is equal with God just as is the Holy Spirit.

2Co 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Our worship must be in accordance with the truth that God has revealed to us or it is not acceptable in the eyes of God!

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Our worship must involve presenting our entire being to God!

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Our worship must involve making a joyful noise unto Our Lord!

Psa 98:4  Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Our worship must include shouting the victory!

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who are the ones directed to worship?

"All ye people".

These are the ones who gather to worship the One True Living God!

These are the same ones who are to also carry this message of worship to all the people of this earth!

What is this message?

The prophecy of our soon coming King!

*****Psa 47:2  For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
Psa 47:3  He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

To the Jews, the Lord most high was called "El Elyon", God Most High, this emphasizes the supreme God!

It is the Most High God who is the true possessor of Heaven and Earth!

Jesus said:

Luk 10:21  In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, "Lord of heaven and earth", that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

That word terrible means the Lord is to be feared and revered and worshiped and at times He can be frightful.

When will He be King?

***Jesus will first return in the clouds to fulfill the hope of the Church:

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
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.

***Jesus will then return to judge the unbelievers left from the Church Age and rescue His people Israel:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Zec 14:3  Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4  And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

***This will be the time of the inauguration of the millennial reign of King Jesus:

Mic 5:4  And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Zec 9:10  And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

You see the battle for eternal life has never been ours, it has always been the Lord's!

This is why all God's people can clap their hands. God's victory is our victory!

The Church has been persecuted since it's beginning but on this day the Lord will place all those that persecuted His Church under our feet!

It is only after the 1000 year millennial reign of King Jesus that the end of this earth will come:

1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Clap your hands Church because the Lord has chosen our inheritance for us.

*****Psa 47:4  He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

God knows what is best for His people in this life and in that eternal life to come, but we must also remember God will not subdue our enemies under us unless we have allowed Him to choose our life-plan in this life.

We must submit our will, our choices, and our desires to the will of our Father, who will return as King.

We should remember what Jesus said:

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

It would be a foolishness for all those who would not let the Lord choose our inheritance for us!

When the Lord returns, He will come to fight for His people Israel and Jerusalem will finally be at peace.

Zec 14:9  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

There will only be one King over this entire earth, and the Lord will rule as King from Jerusalem.

Zec 14:11  And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

There will be no rockets fired from Gaza or Lebanon in that day. There will be no need for bomb shelters in Israel.

All the gates of Israel will be open and all the world will come to worship the King of Kings.

Zec 14:16  And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

And Selah! We need to pause and reflect on all these things and realize we have many reasons to be praising our God!

Clap your hands all ye people!

*****Psa 47:5  God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Psa 47:6  Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

When all these things have been completed and the Lord is at home with all His saints there will be a great celebration in Heaven.

The angels celebrate when every sinner is saved, we can be sure they will all celebrate when the Lord Jesus returns to rule this earth!

Jesus said:

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, "It is done". I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

God never ceases to be good so we should never cease to sing praises to our King.

*****Psa 47:7  For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Psa 47:8  God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

The most important thing we see here is that God is the King of all the earth and all the earth is singing praises. This will happen somewhere in our future.

We have been learning about the Maschil Psalms. Those are the songs that just by singing we can have a better understanding of the Word of God.

Well God said, when we see all these things come together we will sing songs of understanding.

We can sing songs of understanding today because upon the gift of salvation we are filled and sealed with the Holy Spirit and He is our understanding until our Lord returns.

The Jews in the time of Jesus resented this truth and if they could have had their own way they would have kept God to themselves and some still try to do this today.

The Apostle Paul had to preach a sermon on this to the Jews in Rome, because no matter who we are, we can only be justified by faith.

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Rom 3:29  Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Rom 3:30  "Seeing it is one God", which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

The promise God the Father made to God the Son will be fulfilled!

Psa 2:7  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

And it can be fulfilled only after the Church has been removed from this earth!

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

This is the time when King Jesus will sit on His throne, the throne of David!

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

And this is that same Jesus that was born to the virgin Mary.

Luk 1:31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

*****Psa 47:9  The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

Notice that all people will be represented. The rich and the poor. The rulers and the ordinary people.

The same God in which Abraham had faith in is also the only God of faith for this entire world!

What did Jacob prophesy of his son Judah?

Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Who is this Shiloh?

Shiloh is the One sent from God the Father.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Shiloh is that rod of the stem of Jesse.

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

Shiloh is then the Messiah!

Rom 15:12  And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

And there is none else that can compare to Him!

What should we all be doing until Christ returns?

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

If you have that close and personal relationship with the Lord then you have no reason not to praise Him!

If we come to the house of God seeking a blessing for ourselves we may be disappointed!

If we come to the house of God seeking some knowledge or information that we do not already have we may not find it!

If we come seeking to be refreshed then that refreshment may not last very long!

But if we just realize the "Grace" and the "goodness" of God we will come to praise Him and Him only!

We do not have any reason not to praise the God of our salvation!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

We Can Rely On The Lord

Rely On The Lord

Psalms 46


To rely on means we have taken all the facts into consideration. We have studied the ability of a certain person along with his integrity and after considering all the evidence we have confidence that we can trust and depend on that person.

This describes the truth of our relationship with the Lord!

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

We can know, what hope, what riches, and what the overwhelming greatness of the Lord's power is but only when we rely on Him for all things, especially our salvation!

Let's begin:

*****Psa 46:1  To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Hear again we have another song put to music by the sons of Korah. We see one other thing in this Psalm.

That word "Alamoth". The word Alamoth means that when this Psalm was sung it was to be the tenor voices that were to take the lead or be emphasized.

In Psalm 6 we can see the word "Sheminith" and this word would indicate just the opposite or the bass voices to take the lead.

SO, why can we rely on the True and Living God? He is our refuge and our strength!

Until the Lord Jesus Christ is our foundation of life we have nothing else to rely on or to trust in as we travel through this thing we call physical life.

Life means we have movement. We are living, breathing, creatures. This physical, bodily existence is subject to suffering, sickness, weakness, temptations and sin!

But life as described in the Bible has greater meaning than than just physical, bodily existence.

In reality only God has life in the absolute sense of life's true meaning!

We know our Father in Heaven is the fountain of life and the light of life.

Psa 36:9  For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

So we know that the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ has life in Himself.

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

This is our only means of real life!

It is our Savior who is also the source of all life!

The Bible does not teach that life exists of it's own. Life is not spoken of as made!

The Bible only says that our life exist only in Our Creator and our Savior!

We can rely on this life because of the work of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 20:31  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

**He gives abundant life.

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

**He gives resurrected life.

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

And this life which is given to us as a gift from God we can have in this present life!

1Jn 5:11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jn 5:12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1Jn 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

This is the proof that we can rely on the Lord!

Our God is our "sure" shelter and our "pure" strength and is "ever present" in our lives today!

God will never withdraw Himself from us!

*****Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Therefore still means "for this reason". It is because my God is my refuge and my strength that I will not fear and it can be the same for each one that will trust Him!

With God on our side it is irrational to have fear of what man can do!

Even when the worst of the worst presents itself to the child of God, if we have placed our trust in the Living God we should have no fear!

Those that reject that the Earth will change during the tribulation period have rejected the Word of God!

Isa 40:4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Isa 40:5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and "all flesh shall see it together": for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Those that reject the fact that this Earth will one day be destroyed and replaced have rejected the Word of God!

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: "for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away"; and there was no more sea.

Those that reject the world wide flood in the days of Noah also reject the Word of God.

Gen 7:10  And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
Gen 7:11  In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Those that reject the coming destruction also reject the Word of God.

Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

Peter described these things like this:

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Destruction of all life that breathes came by a flood in the time of Noah.

Destruction of all life will come by fire at the return of Jesus Christ.

If you have never been in a war zone then you have missed an opportunity to see that some men just simply have no fear of death.

As Christians we need to be like these men and have nothing to fear from this world we live in. We are just passing through!

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".

*****Psa 46:3  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

We know that in the time of Noah, no one had ever seen a storm because no one had ever seen rain, so when those waters were raging even Noah was troubled by this sight as God judged this Earth.

2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

But those same waters that troubled that world to destruction also saved eight people when those flooding waters raised up the Ark of Noah into safety.

1Pe 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, "wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water".

God will remove His people from this earth before this coming storm rages!

The same God that carried Noah and his family to safety can still carry all of His children to safety in any storm that happens in this life!

All those that trust in the Lord have no reason to fear!

And Selah, let's stop and take a moment to think about and meditate on what God has already done and then relate those things to what God says He will do in the future.

Let's stop and enjoy the music of the songs of salvation!

We can rest in the middle of every storm in this life, if we are sure of our future eternal and everlasting life!

Why?

*****Psa 46:4  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

There was a great river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden and divided into 4 streams.

Gen 2:10  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

There will be a great river that will flow from the rebuilt Temple of the Millennial Kingdom.

Eze 47:1  Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

But these cannot compare to the river of life that will flow out of the throne of God.

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

In the Church Age we can still see the river of Grace that is smoothly flowing from the hand of God to every believer.

It is "Grace" that flows through the Lord Jesus Christ that is our water of life and the river of God's pleasures!

What are the two greatest evils of mankind?

Jer 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; "they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters", and "hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water".

When we forsake the Lord Jesus Christ we have forsaken the fountain of living waters.

When we reject the Word of God and go our own way we are as pots that can hold no water.

God the Father is the source of living waters!

God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ is the water that flows from that source!

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

God the Holy Ghost is the power behind that source of living waters!

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Because God is in the midst of the city of God and all life flows from Him!

*****Psa 46:5  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

God stands in the middle of His river of "Grace".

What does God promise to all those that believe?

Jesus Christ said, "I am with you always".

God is never separated from any part of His creation.

And God is always present in His relationship with those that believe on Him.

And without a doubt, God took a moment out of eternity and appeared to this world in the human flesh of His Son Jesus.

God is not some impersonal force in this world. God is alive! God is working in this world and God is relating to all those that call on His name!

God is a jealous God, taking Himself seriously and God is to be taken seriously by those He has created!

Whether we get God's help in certain things or not God is still present and available to help if He so chooses to do so!

If we do not believe this we cannot get a single prayer answered.

God is forever by our sides!

And the certain promise of God is that He will always be there for us at the right time!

God is never late because He is always on time!

The Church is not the city of God, because the city of God is the New Jerusalem.

It is the New Jerusalem that will be the eternal dwelling place of God in the midst of His people.

This city is not in Heaven because it is coming down from Heaven.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, "coming down from God out of heaven", prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

This is the eternal city that will last forever.

Isa 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

Those that will live in this city is the Church of the first born and the Lord stands in the midst of His Church and the Church cannot be moved!

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Though this earth may be moved, God's Church cannot be moved but by Him!

*****Psa 46:6  The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

There are only two things in our world today that can cause such a furious uproar.

1) The city of Jerusalem in the hands of the Jewish people.

2) The Church established in the name of Jesus Christ.

God allows the heathen to rage at this time but one day soon this will all end and their voices will be silenced!

God will not always allow the heathen to turn this world against His people!

When God utters His voice these things will cease and so will those that are heathen.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The Hebrew word for "melt" means to be dissolved or to disappear!

Who are the heathen? All those that do not worship the One True Living God!

1Jn 5:10  He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
1Jn 5:11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

What kingdoms will be moved? Those that are influenced by Satan.

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms";
Isa 14:17  That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Who can do all these things?

*****Psa 46:7  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Why is the Church so secure? The Lord of hosts is with us.

Why is Heaven so secure? The Lord of hosts abides there.

Isa 40:22  It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Isa 40:23  That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Isa 40:26  Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

It is our Lord who rules all the angels, all the stars, all the elements, and all the hosts of Heaven and it is this same Lord who stands in the midst of His Church!

It is the same God of Jacob that fulfilled the prophecies of the Bible to stand in the midst of His Church!

Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

It is our God that gave Himself for the Church and it is this same love and dedication we are to give to our own families!

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

And Selah.

Let's take a moment and meditate on all these things as we behold the works of our Lord!

*****Psa 46:8  Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

All we need do is observe all the things that are going on in this world we live in.

God has made sure that technology has progressed to a point that if we want to, we can see what is going on throughout the entire world without leaving our homes.

There has been no other time in history when these things that take place can be observed as they  are taking place due to television, computers, and cell phones.

To believe in the providence of God is to be sure to know that God's will and God's plan are moving forward at His own pace and by His own wisdom!

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Man's evilness is leading our world down a path of destruction but these things are not within man's control!

Psa 135:6  Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

This world we live in is under the direct control of our Almighty God!

Dan 2:20  Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
Dan 2:21  And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Dan 2:22  He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

And God has already told us of a future coming destruction.

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

You know, God cast all our sin into the deepest part of the sea but there will be no sea in the New Heaven nor the New Earth.

What happened during the time of Noah?

Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

What will happen someday in the future?

Isa 24:3  The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
Isa 24:4  The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
Isa 24:5  The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant

Even war and peace are under God's control!

*****Psa 46:9  He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

The world tries to end wars by the use of politics.

Politics is supposedly the science of government. The world uses of laws, regulations and so called ethics to preserve the safety of innocent people, at least this what they say.

**Politics have been used to bring to the end many wars.

But today politics is more about making concessions to those that seek to do evil at the expense of those that seek to do good!

Most people think that peace can come only by a One World Government with one set of laws for all people.

But these results would be a peace that cannot be sustained because those that seek to do evil are never satisfied!

**There are those that seek to bring peace by education.

If we study the history of our world we can see where and why wars have begun, many by trivial matters, and not repeat these same mistakes.

The pure fact is the leaders of our world never learn from the mistakes made by those of the past and history continues to repeat itself over and over again.

A wise man once wrote:

Ecc 1:9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

If we could learn from our mistakes, we could make something new and lasting but we just keep remembering "the good old days" which is not the wise thing to do.

Ecc 7:10  Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

**There is only one method to bring world peace and it is God's way. It is the Christian way!

Evil must be conquered and removed or reconciled to God.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

The Church must be ambassadors for peace and not ambassadors of war!

2Co 5:20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

In the end, God will bring peace!

Isa 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

There will only be peace when the Prince of Peace rules on this earth and government will rest on His shoulders!

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

What did God tell Moses? God said you go tell Pharaoh that "I Am" sent you.

*****Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

If we truly rely on the Lord, sometimes we must simply "be still".

To be still is to keep silent, or to be quiet!

We must quit warring with ourself long enough to hear "that still small voice" of the Lord!

1Ki 19:12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire "a still small voice".

When we become so occupied with our own selves and our own miseries, we sometimes cannot hear what God is trying to teach us!

The "Gospel of Jesus Christ" is a gentle voice of "Mercy and Grace".

The "Gospel of Jesus Christ" is a gentle voice of Love!

It is "that still small voice" of God that brings with it peace, and pardon, and righteousness, and best of all salvation by Christ Jesus!

Psa 89:15  Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
Psa 89:16  In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

Most of the time, "and God knows", when we are relying on the Lord, we just need to stop what we are doing and wait patiently on the Lord!

After all He is God!

If we believe in what we say we believe in, then all we need do is read what God has done in the past and we can see what God will do in the future!

God is no respecter of persons!

Act 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

God will not do for one, what He will not do for another!

We simply cannot put anything else before our God!

Anything we put before God is an idol. We all have our idols from time to time and they will certainly interfere with our relationship with the Lord!

There is coming a day when our God will be exalted in all this earth!

Rom 14:11  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

SO, Why can we rely on the Lord?

*****Psa 46:11  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

God is never separated from any part of His creation!

God is present throughout all His creation! We call that the omnipresence of God.

But even more important than that, God is always present in His relationship with those who love Him!

God has appeared to us all "Person to person" in the flesh of Jesus Christ, His Son!

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

It is the Lord of all creation who is our Father!

It is the that same God of Jacob who is our refuge!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Yearning For The Lord

Yearn For The Lord

Psalms 42

In Psalms 42 we have the second of the Maschil Psalms.

Remember all Scripture is given for instruction to improve our walk with the Lord!

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

But the Maschil Psalms have special instructions for specific things that happen in our walk with the Lord.

What is the Biblical meaning of the Maschil Psalm?

Psa 47:7  For God is the King of all the earth: "sing ye praises with understanding".

In other words a Maschil Psalm is a song that praises God but just by singing it we can still obtain God's wisdom!

God is always looking down from Heaven just to see if we truly understand what He is trying to teach us.

Psa 53:2  God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, "to see if there were any that did understand", that did seek God.

Not only is this a Maschil Psalm but it is also the first time we have seen a Psalm that was to be sung by the sons of Korah.

These "sons of Korah" were Levites by bloodline of the tribe of Levi and during the time of David and Solomon their chief place was to keep the doors of the Tabernacle and then the Temple after it was built.

1Ch 6:32  And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order.

There are 11 of the Psalms titled "for the Sons of Korah" that were put to music by these doorkeepers of the House of God.

The doorkeeper was the lowest of the jobs of the Levitical priest but these men did not see it that way.

Psa 84:10  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness".

They readily boasted that is was better to be in the lowest position in the work of God than to be in the highest position among those that rejected God.

In other words it is better to be changing diapers in the nursery at church than to be the President of the United States or the most powerful person in this world and not know God!

There is no greater job than serving in the Army of God!

So let's begin:

*****Psa 42:1  To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

God never said our walk with Him would be an easy walk.

There will still be times when we will begin to wonder if God truly exists.

There will be times when we will desire any sign from the Lord just to know He is listening to our prayers.

There will be times when we have a great desire to be in the House of God but do to reasons out of our control we just cannot get there.

There will be times when we just want to feel that God is doing something in our lives and have a great desire and a need to just feel His presence.

This Psalm is intended to help us through those times and it begins by showing us that we are not alone because the Holy Ghost inspired this writer, probably David, to write about such a time that he was experiencing.

In the Bible a "hart" refers to a  stag or a male deer. This was one of the clean animals and could be hunted and killed for food.

A deer will use every skill it has to allude the hunter even to the point of exhaustion avoiding a watering hole knowing they would be an easy target if they stopped to drink. They would have a great thirst for a refreshing drink of water that was necessary for life.

To pant describes an excited rapid movement of the heart.

We all know that our soul is the seat of all our emotions.

God created man as a unique being.

If we have evolved, we are just a higher form of some animal, without morals and without accountability and many people use this as an excuse to live anyway they so desire.

But the Bible teaches us that humans are moral creatures who are accountable to our Creator!

Man is also a "soul" and therefore eternal!

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And the Bible states that mankind is made in the image of God thus cannot be a product of evolution!

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

That word "our" means we were created after the image of the Tri-Une God, (Body, Soul, and Spirit)!

1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It should be obvious to us that our soul will sometimes be longing for it's Creator our Maker!

*****Psa 42:2  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Our soul, our true being, that is housed in our body of flesh will thirst for it's Creator!

We will sometimes miss a meal and in time we will feel the pangs of hunger.

But when you are thirsty for water it is an awful feeling that could lead to your death.

As a rule of thumb if you got caught out in dangerous cold most people could last no more than 3 hours.

Most people cannot go without water more than 3 days but no more that 8-10 days.

Most people can go without food for 3 weeks or more.

This writer was thirsting to the point of death for God, not water and not food!

God encourages us to be in the House of God in our appointed times of worship.

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

We should have a desire to be in our place of worship!

BUT, even more than that, we need to thirst for that close and personal relationship with God.

Not with just any God but the True and Living God!

We need that desire to have fellowship with God Himself!

It is because Our God lives that He can give us "living water"!

What did Jesus tell that woman at the well?

Joh 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Joh 4:13  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

A dead and an impersonal god is a mockery to any religion!

What is the truth of eternal life?

Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

What is the truth of eternal life? Being in the family of God!

If we say we love the Lord but do not assemble in His name we are pretenders of the "Gospel"!

But if we do not crave that personal relationship with Jehovah the Living God then we are fooling ourselves because we cannot know true life!

Sometimes we can crave to be in the presence of God so much we will seek some real evidence that He has not forgotten about us.

*****Psa 42:3  My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

When we cannot feel the presence of the Lord and we know that we have not been drinking of that "Living Water" we soon also find out that there is nothing on this earth that will satisfy that longing for the Lord and this will lead to a miserable life.

It is our God in Christ Jesus that our soul will crave!

Those that do not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior also cannot know this craving of being close to our very personal God and they will always say, where is your God when you really need Him or they will say a true God would not allow such a thing to happen.

Only those that do not know our Savior could say these things!

When we are down because of the things that happen in this world, our enemies will always try to take advantage of that situation.

We should be very clear, Satan will do anything to keep us off of our knees!

But prayer is still our greatest weapon!

The God of the mountain is still God in the valley!

What is the irony of prayer?

God knows our needs, but He will sometimes make us ask.

God will answer every prayer that makes it to Heaven, but sometimes will have to be persistent and patient.

And it is only the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ that can be answered because this shows our faith in Him to solve our problems.

Calling upon our Father in Heaven, through the Holy Spirit, and in the name of His Son Jesus is the mark of the true believer!

Even with the greatest "faith" prayers not in the will of God will certainly not be answered.

But without "faith" no prayer can be answered!

Our understanding of prayer will correspond with our understanding of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

And we must remember all these things.

*****Psa 42:4  When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

God is our refuge and the place of our strength!

Hardly a day goes by that we are not caught up in the atrocities of this evil world we live in.

The phrase "come to pass" is used 161 times in the Bible. These things will come and they will pass and the answer is that when they come we need to pour out our souls to God!

In fact if we are in daily contact with our Father in Heaven we will miss out on many obstacles that cross our paths.

We need to attend the House of God regularly.

We need to get involved in the worship service.

We need to remember why we need to do these things!

Psa 62:7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Psa 62:8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
And we need to stay in constant contact with our Savior!

We just cannot allow the things that go on in this world to knock us down!

*****Psa 42:5  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

We should also remember that God will test our faith from time to time.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

We should think of this as God trying to remove all our defective parts.

And we should just question our own selves and quit complaining and asking God why He has forgotten about us because that is impossible for Him to do!

What does God expect from us during these times?

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.

Why in the world should we get so discouraged since we know that God exist and He certainly cares for us?

It is vital that we endure these times of testing!

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Our hope is in the Lord!

1Th 1:3  Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
1Th 1:4  Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

AND, God is never very far from His children!

*****Psa 42:6  O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

In verse 5 the writer of this Psalm, probably David, began to realize that he really had no good reason to fill so dejected but when we have a close personal relationship with our Father in Heaven, we need to make sure to tell Him everything.

We must also be persistent in our prayer!

We should show the Lord how we really feel, our feelings are important to the Lord!

And we should also remember the goodness of the Lord and how He has already brought us through the many trials of our life.

God makes a covenant with each one of His children and God will always keep His covenant!

It is good to remember these thing when we feel this world caving in on us.

The land of Jordan was the promised land to the Jews.

Eternal life in Heaven is the promised land to all, "whosoever will", call on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Where do we flee? We must flee to the Covenant of Grace!

Who made this covenant?

God the Father made a covenant with God the Son, brought about by God the Holy Spirit.

Isa 42:6  I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Isa 42:7  To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

God prepared His Son to be our sacrifice:

Heb 10:5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

God met all the conditions of His personal covenant:

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

God work through the power of the Holy Spirit:

Rom 1:2  (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Rom 1:3  Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Rom 1:4  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

God has kept this covenant and now works through the Lord Jesus to fulfill His covenant:

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

It is the "Throne of Grace" where we must flee in our times of trouble.

God made this covenant with Himself and it cannot be broken by anyone on this earth!

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

The land of Jordan refers to the promised land, our promised land is the New Heaven and New Earth.

Deu 27:3  And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee.

The land of the Hermonites refers to place God commanded His blessings, The Lord commands our blessings from the Father's House.

Psa 133:3  As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

And the hill Mizar refers to the New Jerusalem.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

We can find comfort in the promises of God even in our times of trouble.

*****Psa 42:7  Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

We will all have to travel through the "sea of affliction" once we call on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior!

If we remember the story of Job, just as soon as one affliction was over another one came until Job had lost everything he had, but his God.

If you view the ocean you will see that one wave comes and before it is over, another is already on the way.

Some higher, some lower but they come continuously. A billow describes a great wave or a surge from the sea, possibly a Tsunami type of wave.

A water-spout is a large tube formed by the clouds and with it's circular motion and being hollow within, it attracts a vast quantity of water which it will pour down all at one time.

There is only One who we can turn to and that is Our God!

Zec 10:11  And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
Zec 10:12  And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

*****Psa 42:8  Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

Come what may it is the God of love that can sweeten our day!

Those that do not know the Lord have nowhere to turn but at any hour of the day or night, those that do know the Lord can turn to Him but only if He is the God of your life.

It is only the Living God that can be the God of our life!

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Since the Lord is a living God He has life within Himself and therefore the "Author of" and the "Giver of" life to all others.

This is good reason to trust Him!

*****Psa 42:9  I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Since we know the Living God and only because we have a close and personal relationship with Him are we even allowed to ask such questions as these.

And it is only a loving Father who is patient enough with His children who will listen to us as we do!

There is no question that God will ever reject but we may not always like His answers!

The most important thing to remember is that God is truly Our Rock!

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

God gets no pleasure seeing His children suffer.

God gets no pleasure seeing the things that Satan tries to do to God's people.

We suffer because of the choices we make!

Satan uses the afflictions of this world to either cause us to backslide, to reject the Lord, or to loose our testimony.

So we must be more like Moses.

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
Heb 11:25  "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season";
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: "for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward".

There are rewards for serving the One true and Living God!

*****Psa 42:10  As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

There is no doubt that the tongue of our enemies will cut to the bone and God will listen as we explain these things to Him. God already knows what we are going through and He does not mind as we explain these things to Him and listens intently as we express our feelings to Him in prayer.

God will not judge us, He just listens to His child as most any good parent would do!

When our enemies and our persecutors ask "Where is your God now" it can cut deeply but we know that our Lord is only a prayer away.

If we did not believe that, we would not be praying. Sometimes it's good just to get some things off your chest and Our Father in Heaven will even allow us that privilege at times if we have humbled ourselves before Him.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

In America we hear a lot about freedom of speech. This was installed into the our Constitution by our forefathers but it comes from our relationship with the Lord.

The Lord allows us the freedom to speak to Him and the confidence to know that He will patiently listen and He promises an answer.

God only has 3 answers.

Yes, No and not at this time!

When we pray we should remember we are at the "throne of  Grace" and not the "throne of Judgment"!

God is never very far from His children!

Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
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.

We simply cannot allow the things of this world to tear us down!

*****Psa 42:11  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Once we humble ourselves before the Almighty God we realize that we have no ground to complain!

He is our only help!

He is the only one who can drive the sorrow away!

It is He that our enemies hope does not respond to our prayers!

He is, He has been, and He will be, our strength and our salvation forever!

He is Our God!

Isa 12:2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
Isa 12:3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

And we must not forget what our job is after we are saved!

Isa 12:4  And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

We must keep the main thing, the main thing, and the main thing is "salvation" to whosoever will believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Questions?

Let's Pray!