Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 70

Everyone is in a hurry these days. The age we live in is an instant one and we have lost the ability to slow down and wait. Just get in your car and get on the road and you will experience the rush of the American culture. Going the speed limit will get you killed or at least cursed at. Psalm 70 is a prayer and a reminder to let God take control. In it the psalmist wants God to hurry.

Psalm 70:1

O God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help!

There is a time to hurry.

Psalm 70:2-3
Let those be ashamed and humiliated Who seek my life; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in my hurt.  Let those be turned back because of their shame Who say, "Aha, aha!"

When we are in desperate need of help, we should, no we must, hurry to God in prayer.

Psalm 70:4
Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified."

In all situations, good and bad, easy and hard, we must hurry to offer our praise to God. We must go immediately and without pause, to offer our worship.

Psalm 70:5
But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

We need God to be our help. We need God to be our deliverer. We must rush to our knees in desperate prayer.

But then, we must wait on Him.

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Abraham had to wait on the Lord. When he took matters into his own hands and rushed into trying to have the promised child, it didn’t go so way. The consequences of that move still troubles Israel today.

When Lazarus was sick and they needed Jesus to come, He took two days to get there. By then Lazarus was dead. Mary and Martha blamed Jesus for not rushing to get there. But Jesus said this in response, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." - John 11:4

Jesus explained further in John 11:14-15, "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him."

The purposes of God cannot be rushed. We must learn to wait on God. This is what faith is.

Psalm 33:20-21
Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.  For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.

Do you trust in His Holy Name? Then rush to Him in prayer and cry out to Him in your need and your fears. Then wait on Him. He is coming. And when He comes? Just as He raised Lazarus from the dead, He will lift you up to new life. He will be your help and your deliverer.

Hurry to Him. Then wait upon Him.  

Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 40

I struggle with having patience. I want things now and the world we live in has become a “now” society. Satan doesn’t help us in this area and any time we don’t get an immediate answer to prayer, he tries and convince us that God is not listening to us or He is not going to answer. The devil is a liar and he works through deception. In Psalm 40, we are again reminded that we can trust in God as we wait upon Him.

Psalm 40:1-3

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

So, how do we get through those times when God wants us to wait upon Him, yet our enemy is tempting us with doubt?

We do this by remembering. We remember who God is and we remember the many times He has delivered us.

Psalm 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

Every time I commit to thanking God for all He has done for me, I find myself in a never-ending prayer. I used to wonder how I could possibly ever follow the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which tells us to “pray without ceasing.” Then I started spending more time thanking God for everything I could think of and I soon realized my blessings in Him are inexhaustible. As David said, there are too many to declare.

I long to be an obedient servant of God and to follow all His ways, yet I seem to fail daily. Recently I have been reading a book on praying through the scriptures and David gives us a perfect prayer in this psalm.

Psalm 40:11-13
Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me.  For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.  Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me.

That prayer was written for me. Then David gives us something to pray for all Christians.

Psalm 40:16
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!"

The truth is we all sin and fall short of His glory. David finishes this psalm with more great prayer content.

Psalm 40:17
Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.  

Jesus came to save us from our sins. We are poor and needy. He is our help and our deliverer. Please, Father God, do not delay in helping us to be more like Jesus. Amen.

Waiting On God

It has been often said that “patience is a virtue” and yet how many of us have mastered the art of waiting? We live a culture today that is always in a hurry. One trip on the roads and highways of our nation reveals the truth of this statement. Try driving the speed limit sometime and you will soon learn that, yes, we are all in a hurry.

As I continue to study the Old Testament and am currently in Genesis, I am amazed at the relevance of the lessons being taught in this ancient text. This morning I read the story of Abram and Sarai and how they responded to their perceived lack of urgency in God fulfilling His promise. If you aren’t familiar with the story you can find it in Genesis chapter 16. Basically God promised Abram that He would bless him with a child and through that child Abram would become the father of a great nation. Abram hits about 85 years old and starts to doubt. Sarai does more than doubt, she starts looking for her own solution as we read from Genesis 16:2 which says, “And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.”

I actually like the way the HCSB translation states her plan. It translates her to say, “…Perhaps through her I can build a family.” You know this is possibly one of the greatest mistakes our culture makes today. We try and build a family OUR way. In our youth we get into marriages that are not built upon the foundation upon which God intends us to. Divorce and the act of child bearing without benefit of marriage have destroyed the American family. In far too many families there is no father or his role is greatly diminished. Even in good, Christian marriages we are listening to man’s psychology, instead of simply applying God’s Word to how we live and how we raise a family. The truth is we do not listen to the wisdom God has provided us in His Holy Word. We think we need to do it OUR way. We believe our happiness is more important than bringing glory to God by committing ourselves to each other as parents and staying married. The truth is we don’t believe God’s promises any more than Sarai did. We have a lack of faith.

There is a very important truth that we must implant into our hearts. Get ready because it is a hard scripture.

Romans 14:23
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Pop out the last phrase of that reading. It says whatever is not from faith is sin. Anytime we step out of faith in God and His Word we are sinning. Let that sink in.

There is some really good news in the rest of the story as found in Genesis 16. You see the bad news of our sinful nature is counteracted by God’s immeasurable grace and mercy. Get ready, because here it comes.

Romans 5:20
The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

God’s grace will abound even in the midst of our sinfulness, but only if we recognize our sin and take it to God. 1 John 1:9 instructs us that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

None of this is a license to sin. Even though God’s grace and mercy will carry us through, the consequences of sin can and often are terrible. The son that came from the loins of Abram and Hagar, Ishmael, would become the father of another great nation of many people. From Ishmael would come the Arabs and they were and continue to be the source of great trouble for the nation Israel. The sins we commit today have a definite effect on our peace and on the peace of our generations to come.

Read the story of Abram and Sari and search out the great lessons in it for us as Christians. We must wait on the Lord. We must concern ourselves with what brings Glory to God, instead of what we think we need or want. And if we want peace and joy, then we must obey God’s Word.

I leave you with a scripture about waiting. My wife gave me a little visor pin many years ago when we were struggling through some hard times and it seemed as if God was never going to act.  On it was this verse.

Isaiah 40:31
 But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Are you weary friend? Feeling tired and weak? Cry out to Jesus. He will answer you but you must be patient. You can trust in Him.

Isaiah 40:28-29
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.