The Importance of both Lament and Praise coming from a Believer’s Heart!

20 Sep 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 31:23.       O LOVE the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth (fully repays) the proud doer.

So what’s it like to finally experience Friday, eh friends? I guess many of us shouted with joyful voices: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here at long last!’ But let’s hope that we make good use of the weekend, with rest and worship and not overdo the possible activities with this extended summer season that we’re currently having. I know how we like to drag every last drop out of summer before the chilly winds blow and the cold times take set. But as always, please, let moderation be our guide as we show thankfulness for these extra warm and sunny days. End of Sermon! (smile) 

And as I opened the Good Library just now, I came across these magnificent words of Bruh David from Psalm 31, as he talks about God being: My Rock and My Fortress. He opens the psalm with words of lament: ‘In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust (I took refuge); let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock (rock of refuge), for an house of defence (a fortress) to save me. 

For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily (secretly) for me; for thou art my strength. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. I have hated them that regard lying vanities (vain idols): but I trust in the Lord.’ (Ps. 31:1-6) 

Oh my fellow believers can we utter words of such sincerity and trust in the Lord God Jehovah? I certainly hope so, otherwise, we’d be missing out on a lot of good stuff and interesting activities the Lord has planned for us. Remember His words of promise from Jeremiah: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope). (Jer. 29:11) 

And I believe that future and hope are tied up in this other magnificent scripture of promise from Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) Now that’s a scripture that all believers need to cling tightly to, because it does not guarantee a life without problems, but that all will be well in the end. And we know that the Lord keeps all of His promises, but we do need to acknowledge Him and do His bidding. 

And I like how Bruh David can be lamenting one moment then offering praise in the next, as he does in verses 7 and 8. ‘I will be glad an rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities (troubles); And hast not shut me up in (given me over to) the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room (a wide place).’ (Ps. 31:7-8) 

Yes friends, when we cry out to God for help, we must have a basic faith or belief that He will help us, for that’s what trust is all about. We can’t say that we trust Him, then don’t call on Him for help without any expectations that He will help us. And after the words of praise, Bruh David weaves more words of lament into the psalm by declaring: ‘Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed (wastes away) with grief, yea, my soul and my belly (body). For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed (waste away).’ (Ps. 31: 9-10) 

Now that’s only the first two verses of his lamentation, for they go on until verse 18. However, from verse 19 forward, it’s all about thanks and praise. ‘Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! …O LOVE the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth (fully repays) the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.’ (Ps. 31:19, 23-24) 

Ah my people, that’s the basic prescription for our faith: stand strong in courage and trust, and the Lord will strengthen us and enable us to confidently face whatever comes against us. Now, let’s go right to the throne of grace, seeking divine aid for our many earthly problems. 

Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…  because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

Unfortunately though my fellow saints, for people to come to Christ through us, we have to set a much better example than we’re currently setting! And we all know it. So please, let’s wake up and do something positive about it nuh! Much LOVE!

…trust and faith in God…only grow through difficult experiences…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   11 October 2022 Psalm 31:14.

11 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 31:14.       But I trusted in thee. O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.

And a fine Tuesday morning, or rather afternoon, to all you fabulous Scrip-Bit readers out there in God’s great kingdom! It’s such a gorgeous fall day in my neck of the woods, too bad I missed a half of it. (smile) And I do hope that after a good and thankful Thanksgiving Day celebration, most of you got to work on time this morning in good form, unlike me, who is only now, at 12.30 in the afternoon sitting down to write the Bit. (smile) 

And no, it wasn’t because of too much partying, because I don’t party that much these days, but it was certainly because of my bad sleep schedule. I went to bed fairly late, even by my standards, (smile) and I did get up at a decent hour, but felt the body wasn’t rested enough to face the day, and so went back to bed for a li’l snooze. Now you know what happens when you do that? It most always turns into a bigger snooze than we desire. 

But the benefit there is that the ole bod feels much better now and is finally ready to face the day, in good fashion, ready to battle the enemy tooth and nail, whatever he decides to throw at me today. And with the certain help of our omnipotent God, who can then defeat me eh? No one! I guess that’s why we are constantly being advised to get sufficient rest, because even with God’s help, we can’t fight the enemy properly if both our body and spirit are not strong. And it’s common knowledge that if our bodies are weak, then that detracts from the strength of our spirit, which then impacts on the level of our faith. 

Oh, enough of my trying to reason away my lateness, (smile) let’s get to whatever aspect of the Lord’s Word that He desires us to ponder on today. And it seems like we have the perfect story for a day such as this. It comes from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin and is most appropriately titled, ‘Autumn Glow!’ 

So please read with me. ‘Lord, if You will make The autumn of my life As LOVELY as this Golden autumn morning I will not look back to grieve The passing days of summer. Of all the regal seasons Autumn is most brilliant. Make my life brilliant too.’ 

Oh my people, what a short but sweet and marvellous prayer! And I do hope that as we read it, our spirits drifted up that same plea to heaven, to make our lives as beautiful, golden and brilliant as the season of autumn is. And it’s a most wonderful prayer to make, and our graceful and merciful God would like nothing better than to grant us that marvellous wish, but for Him to do so, it also requires some work or action on our part. And what’s that work or action required on our part, you ask? 

Well, it’s the Bible promise on which our poem is based. The soul searching and uplifting words of Bruh David from Psalm 31. Having been…Chuh man! I considered paraphrasing what went before the promise we’re talking about, but it seems much easier and puts it all into better context to relate the exact words of the psalm. 

Bruh David writes in this section of the lament: ‘Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed (wastes away) with grief, yea my soul and my belly (body). For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed (waste away). I was a reproach (a despised thing) among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without (outside) fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel (perishing). For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised (schemed) to take away my life.’ (Ps. 31:9-13) 

Yes friends, many of us know some of what Bruh David was suffering at the time he wrote those fateful words, hopefully not all of it at the same time though. (smile) And we know how difficult it is to handle the lies, the evil schemes and the gut-wrenching fear that engulfs us when we fall into those scenarios. However, here is what Bruh David did to assuage his fear, and what we also need to do in those times when we’re alone and afraid. He writes with a humble certainty: ‘But I trusted in thee. O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.’ (Ps. 31:14) 

Oh my fellow saints, that’s such a simple but oh so powerful a statement! One, that if we sincerely believe it and utter it, will give us strength to face our fears and enemies, regardless of who they are! And I keep reminding us all the time, that Bruh David’s life was certainly not one of wine, women and song all the time, he suffered mightily too, some of the consequences through his own poor decisions and actions, just like we do, but through it all he never gave up on, or turned away from the Lord God Jehovah, the God of his forefathers. 

He definitely knew on which side his bread was buttered. He remembered the mighty things the Lord had done in the lives of His people Israel, and also in his own life, and constantly held on to the faith that drove him towards his divine destiny. Now, all of us also have a divine destiny, but to reach it, we have to execute that kind of faith and trust in our Lord God Jehovah, for it is He that allows us to reach that place for which we are divinely destined. 

So please, let’s remember today, that whatever trouble, whatever fear we are facing in this crazy world, the only way out, the only way to successfully reach our goals, our destiny, is through a strong and zealous faith in Almighty God, our Creator and Provider. It’s not always going to be a wine and roses kind of life, but it will be much better than if we embrace the only other option we have, that of living for the world and it’s fading pleasures, for Satan and his iniquitous works, because the end of the enemy is hellfire and damnation, but the end of a child of God is eternal life in heaven with our most marvellous and worthy Godhead; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Wow! Nothing can ever beat that! And for those of us who are seeking such an end, let’s go home now declaring (yeahhh!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

Now, let’s go out and do just that nuh, share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Jesus with others, so that they can also come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…only through faithful trust in…and surrender to Jesus…can we ever enjoy the abundant life He died for us to have… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ