The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Sunday
September 21, 2008
Listen to my pleading, O LORD.
Be merciful and answer
me!
My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me."
And my heart
responds, "LORD, I am coming."
Do not hide yourself from
me.
Do not reject your servant in anger.
You have always been my helper.
Don't leave me now; don't abandon me,
O God of my salvation!
Even if
my father and mother abandon me,
the LORD will hold me
close.
Teach me how to live, O LORD.
Lead me along
the path of honesty,
for my enemies are waiting for me to fall.
Do not
let me fall into their hands.
For they accuse me of things I've never done
and breathe out violence against me.
Yet I am confident that I will see
the LORD'S goodness
while I am here in the land of the
living.
Wait patiently for the LORD.
Be brave and
courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.
Psalm
27:7-14
Since 1995, God has been teaching me the difference between knowing Him with our head and knowing Him with our heart. Apparently, He taught this concept to David too. Although David knew in his heart that God wanted him to talk with Him, there must have been a little voice in his head telling him that he was foolish to think such a thing. Therefore, David verbally reminded himself that God had always been His helper. We would be wise to do the same.
God wants us to communicate with Him. This is called prayer. Unfortunately, for too many of us, we wait until we are in church, around the dinner table, or in an extreme emergency before we begin to really talk to God. However, that's where we stop. We forget to listen for His response. Communication is a two lane highway, and He wants us communicating with Him constantly. We forget that He is available 24/7 and that He promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us.
We don't know much about David's parents. We know that his father was Jesse, but that is about all we know about David's parents. We do know that his father didn't think too much of him because when Samuel came to anoint a new king, his dad didn't put him in the line-up.
Maybe David's parents turned against him too when King Saul did. I don't know. All I do know is that he mentions the fact that even if his father and mother should abandon him the Lord would hold him. That is faith. That is what the Lord wants from us.
Yes, parents abandon their children. Although they may be around physically, they may abandon us emotionally. Abandonment is abandonment no matter how you look at it. Sometimes when you have a child that is rebelling you have to abandon them – for a season. Even so, God will never abandon us – ever! That is why prayer and praise are so very important.
Waiting patiently on the Lord is only easy when we do it through the power of praise and prayer. When we can be still, begin to praise Him, and then enter into prayer we will truly be empowered to be brave and courageous. We will be able to carry on!
Father, I thank You today for the gift of prayer. I thank You that You truly are available to us 24/7. I thank You that there is no time that You cannot be reached through the miraculous power of praise! Yes, I will wait on You in praise and prayer!
