Just one chapter ago we were reminded that David truly desired to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, to simply “gaze upon his beauty” and seek him “all the days” of his life. In Psalm 28, we see his desire to hear from God in how he approaches Him in prayer. It’s a lesson to us all.
“To you I call, O LORD my Rock;
do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who
have gone down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.”
Psalm 27:1-2
First he reminds God that he is indeed calling out to Him. He begs God to listen. And he acknowledges the importance of hearing back. Then David gives the formula for the posture of a man after God’s own heart.
1. He cries out for mercy.
2. He calls out for help.
3. He worships with hands held high.
All of these reflect a posture of humility. Mercy acknowledges that he doesn’t deserve God’s goodness. Help acknowledges that his source of strength comes from God and God alone. And the raising of his hands expresses his adoration for God and his worth of praise.
God, I’ve prayed that you make me more faithful. I know that that will come through a posture of humility in understanding your mercy, through the knowledge of were my help comes from, and in seeing just a glimpse of your greatness. It just blows me away that each of these are wrapped in the reality of how high, how deep, and how long is your love. Thank you God for mercy. Thank you for help. Thank you for your sovereignty.
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Good Morning Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI am not the type of person to let people know what I am feeling inside but here I am at 6:28am on Monday morning, blogging. In Psalm 28 I can't help but to smile (even this early in the morning) and verse 7 when it says "the lord is my strength and my shield." I have never thought of God as the one who shields me even though he does it continently. I just thought my students about a cavity shield and what we can do to "shield" away bad things to prevent harming our teeth.
God is my shield. He his my protector everyday and I can't imagine all of the earthly things he shields us from that we don't even know about....
Have a great day. -Stephanie Hall
Thanks so much for sharing Stephanie.
ReplyDeleteYour thought on us being shielded even from the things we cannot see reminds me of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 - "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
God is with us in the most unimaginable of ways. Thank God! Literally!
Brandon-
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. One way I have found that I can be humble in my supplication is to ask others to pray on my behalf. In that action we are acknowledging to others that it is God's strength that we are counting on. It also forces us to admit to ourselves and God that we cannot do it on our own. It's a good test to see what areas of our lives we truly have given over to Him. If we believe we are in control, we are not likely to ask for prayer support in that area.
God gives grace to the humble.
Mike
Here's something Tray Pruet (friend and ANC associate pastor) wrote about today's reading. I thought it was good, so whether he wanted me to do this or not, I'm posting it. Here's part of it:
ReplyDelete"In the middle of this Psalm I am reminded that saying we love our neighbor or ‘going through the motions’ isn’t loving your neighbor.
Verse 3 says; Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts.
To read the rest go here: http://www.traypruet.com/2009/02/psalm-28-roots.html
brandon, i woke up at 5:30 this morning to use the restroom (i know, t.m.i.) but found myself unable to return to sleep even though i had a few hours before my alarm would go off. all that was on my mind was this wonderful feeling of god seeking me out, asking me to remain in him. i was reminded of how i felt growing up when my father would ask me if i wanted to go with him to a job or work site or work with him in his shop or barn. it made me feel good that he wanted me to be with him. and that is the feeling i had of my father in heaven wanting me to remain in him. what a blessing to fall asleep with that feeling in my heart and on my mind. thanks for sunday's message.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this I immediatly remembered a video that someone had shown me. It gave an example of the shield along with the mercy and grace that the Lord gives through his son Jesus. My heart being set toward youth of this generation, the video brought me to tears. As tough as I make myself out to be, I am truly a tearful mess when it comes to Jesus and our Heavenly Father.
ReplyDeleteHere is the video if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA
When reading this today, the part that instantly jumped out at me was the part about he/she who "speaks cordially with their neighbors and then harbors malice in their hearts."(28:3b) I had a conference today with a parent of one of my third graders and he is currently in what I'd call a "spiritual custody battle" with the child's mom and boyfriend. I advised him that his son will pick up quickly on the hypocrisy of going to church with dad (a believer) and talking about Christ's love and then badmouthing mom/boyfriend....long story short, it's cool how David just trusts God to take care of all the injustices and uncool things that befall him in life...yet again, with God, the pressure's off!!
ReplyDeleteGood stuff. I really struggle with being still and listening. I am always wanting clear, quick answers. As I have tried to remain in the "posture" of David I have found that it's not always easy to stay in this posture, especially when you aren't getting the response you want.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brandon.
Previous comment was by me, Amy - not Luke ;-) just wanted to clarify.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Psalm 28 what caught my attention was how David seems to start out in that place of fear or worry that we, too, often start out our prayers. Yes, he IS calling out to the Lord, which is awesome, but what draws me in about this prayer is how his communion with God brings about a transformation in his heart. He goes from what seems to me a more self-focused "do not turn a deaf ear to me" and "I will be like those who have gone down to the pit" to a more worship-focused "Praise be to the Lord" and "my heart trusts in him, and I am helped." I detect a definite change in posture (that word's for you, Brandon:) as David shifts his focus to the worthy One.
ReplyDelete