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   16 September 2021 Proverbs 24:1.

16 Sep 2021 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 24:1.     Be not thou envious against (of) evil men, neither desire to be with them. 

Oh friends, another beautiful morning in God’s great universe! Give Him much thanks for it nuh! Yes, if we drew breath this sunny morning, that means He still has a plan for us to live through this day, to experience His wonderful grace and mercy, good conversation and timely blessings! Wow! How can we not LOVE our marvellous God eh, with all that He does for us, with His faithful promise to give us a future and a hope, and fulfilling it by giving us the most wonderful gift ever… 

His name is called Jesus, the Lord and Saviour of the world, the King of Kings and the name above every other name, to which every knee must bow and every tongue declare that He is Lord to the glory of the Father! Death could not keep Him in the grave, He won that victory hands down! And thus, He is the reason why our sins can be washed away, and our souls made clean and we have another opportunity to come before our heavenly Father in confidence and joy and be called children of God! Oh mercy, mercy me! 

And that’s why we also declare in the utmost sincerity, that there’s NO God like our God Jehovah! And whether you believe it or not, that’s the indisputable truth! So we had all better come to acknowledge it asap, because our destiny depends on admitting and believing that unalterable truth, and by living our earthly lives in a manner that glorifies Jehovah God. For once we admit and believe that truth, our lives are no longer ours, but we then belong to Him, and must follow His divine will. And how do we do that you ask? 

Well, here’s one wise and practical application as declared by the ever-wise Cousin Sol in the Book of Proverbs. He gives this marvelous advice at the beginning of chapter 24: ‘Be not thou envious against (of) evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction (devises violence), and their lips talk of mischief (trouble). (Prov. 24:1-2) Yes friends, when we surrender our lives to God, we cannot go against His will, and that means not getting involved in stuff like envy, violence, wickedness and evil doings. 

And Cousin Sol’s father, Bruh David wrote a lot on that particular subject, including this marvellous advice from Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked. Bruh David declared in the utmost sincerity and faith,: ‘Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on his faithfulness).’ (Ps. 37:1-3) 

That’s the good news of the gospel my brethren: trust in God, stay away from evil and do good, and all will be well with you! Even the other great psalmist Asaph, recognized that amazing truth in his own life. And in that famous Psalm 73, re The mystery of prosperous wickedness – he humbly declares: ‘Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean (pure) heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone (I had almost stumbled); my steps had well-nigh slipped: For I was envious at the foolish (boastful), when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’  (Ps. 73:1-3) 

Ah mih people, that is so easy to do when we see the obviously wicked and deceitful getting rich and powerful through their evil deeds and fraudulent schemes. I know it seems that the world thrives on evil, but that’s only on the surface. For when we get right down to the nitty gritty, evil is thrown aside by God, and righteousness conquers all! So even that great man of God, Asaph was intimidated by, and envious of the prosperity of the wicked, because he was human just like us. But though he almost stumbled spiritually and lost his faith, he didn’t quite go over the threshold to the side of evil. 

Hear how he regained his equilibrium nuh, how he conquered that negative, ungodly attitude. He says: ‘Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.’  (Ps. 73:16-17) Yes friends, ‘not until the psalmist entered God’s sanctuary and received a divine perspective on the wicked’s prosperity did he find his answer to the problem.’ And sometimes we also need to get closer to God to find solutions to our problems. 

But it’s worthwhile noticing how Asaph closes out the psalm: ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength (rock) of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed them all that go a whoring from thee (who are unfaithful to thee). But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.’ (Ps. 73:25-28) 

Oh my fellow saints, those are indeed wise and marvellous words for all of us to live by! So please let’s faithfully embrace them nuh and draw close to God, for the closer we get to Him, the better it is for us. As Bruh David so wisely said: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’ (Ps. 103:2) And there is no better time than now to remember some of those many benefits of God, which we describe as our Thursday Blessings. So, in strong voice, with the utmost of faith and confidence let’s declare them nuh. 

‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! 

I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And if we truly believe it, then we need to go out and generously share those wonderful blessings with others, just like the Lord did with us. That would surely warm the cockles of His hurting heart. And don’t think for one moment that Christ’s heart isn’t hurting because of the ungodly way His church and followers are behaving down here on earth. You’ll be oh so wrong!  Much LOVE!

…Jesus said it loud and clear…if ye LOVE me…keep my commandments… (John 14:15)                                                                                                                

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8