Psalm 59 - 10.1.24
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 59:16,17 "...I will sing of Your strength and will joyfully proclaim Your faithful love in the morning. For you have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble. To You, my strength, I sing praises, because God is my stronghold ---my faithful God."
OBSERVATION: So, what caused David to praise God here in this psalm? Let's go back a bit: King Saul was after David. He wanted him dead! He was jealous because after David had come back from killing Goliath, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. As they celebrated, the women sang: "Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands." Saul was furious and resented this song, and he watched David jealously from that day forward.
The next day an evil spirit sent from God took control of Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear, and he threw it, thinking, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David got away from him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David, but left Saul. Saul resigned David and made him commander over 1,000 men. David led the troops and continued to be successful in all his activities because the Lord was with him. When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him.
Saul's daughter, Michal loved David, but David didn't consider himself a good match because he was a poor man who was common, but Saul told his servants to tell David that he desired no other bride-price except 100 Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies. Actually, Saul intended to cause David's death at the hands of the Philistines. When David and his men went out and killed not 100, but 200 Philistines and presented their foreskins to the king, Saul gave his daughter to David to be his wife. But when he realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter loved him, he became afraid of David, and Saul was David's enemy from then on!
Saul ordered his son, Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but since Jonathan liked David very much, he told David that his father intended on killing him, and to be on guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there. Saul sent men to David's house to watch and kill him in the morning. But Michal warned him to run for his life that night or he would be killed in the morning.
David fled, and he, along with his men hid in the back of a cave. Saul and 3,000 of his men were coming to get him! Not knowing that David and his men were in there, Saul went into that very cave to relieve himself. David secretly cut off the corner of Saul's robe, but his conscience bothered him because he had sworn to the Lord that he would never do such a thing to the Lord's anointed, and he persuaded his men not to rise up against Saul.
David went out of the cave, and called to Saul and showed him that he could have killed him in that cave. King Saul wept aloud, and told David that he was more righteous than he was for doing good to him after all the evil that he had done to David. "May the Lord repay you with good for what you've done for me today." Then Saul knew that David would be the next king, and the kingdom of Israel would be established in his hand, and he asked Saul to swear that he would not cut off his descendants or wipe out his name from his father's family. David agreed.
APPLICATION: This brings us to the answer as to why David was singing praises to God. At the beginning of this Scripture David was crying out to God to deliver him from his enemies, and to protect him from those who were rising up against him. And at the end of the psalm David gave all the glory to God for how He had answered his prayer, and delivered Him.
God answered David's prayer. He miraculously intervened! King Saul, who was out to get him, was delivered into David's hands, but David chose to spare him because he was God's anointed.
David experienced God's love and mercy, in the good times as well as the bad, and He knew that God's love was boundless. He knew he could cry out to Him, and receive the help that he desperately needed. As David's life was being hunted down, and as he was hiding out and running for his life from the one who wanted him dead because of his jealousy, David remained faithful to the Lord by not harming King Saul, even when he had the opportunity to do so!
When others fail us, we can trust that God will handle the situation in His perfect way, and His perfect timing. We can ALWAYS depend on God's availability and on His unfailing love!
PRAYER: Thank You Lord that we can learn from David's life that even in the grimmest details of his life, He was able to keep his trust in You. He was honest about his feelings, and transparent regarding the desperate need that he was in. As You were David's Helper, his source of strength, and his Fortress, You are ours as well! You are the One we can run to and be safe when our lives are in danger. I pray we will not only pray to You, but that we will praise You THROUGH the trials that we face. You are such a good and faithful God to us! I pray we will have stories like David of how we have put our faith and trust in You, and how You have met us in our times of need.
- Robin Orefice
Acts 21 - 9.30.24
Scripture
Acts 21:13-14 NLT
“But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Observation
Paul is on a journey heading back to Jerusalem and as he sails along the way and makes pit stops in each city, he is always met by local believers who provide him hospitality. Amongst these local believers, there are some who have the gift of prophecy. They urge Paul not to go back to Jerusalem because the Holy Spirit gave them a vision that Paul would be met by these Jewish leaders, and he would be bound and beaten. But Paul is on a mission here… a mission to share the gospel of Jesus. Paul is not going to let anything, not even being jailed or the fear of death, get in the way of completing his mission.
Application
The safest place you can ever be is inside the will of God.
I remember talking to a Missionary who traveled the world. I asked them if it was scary for them to travel to places where Christians were not welcomed; places where Christians would be imprisoned, beaten, and persecuted for sharing their faith. They responded by reminding me, “The safest place you can ever be is inside the will of God.” You see, like Paul, they knew the mission that God called them to. They knew that their mission was to tell others about the love of Jesus. Whether it was sharing with their neighbors, their co-workers, or even going to another country where they didn’t even speak the language, they knew God had called them for this specific purpose. They knew that wherever God had called them to go, that He would be with them, guiding them, protecting them, and providing everything that they would ever need. The faith they showed me was something I truly admired and respected.
So when I hear the Holy Spirit speak to me and tell me to go somewhere so that I can share the Good News about Jesus with someone, I try to remember people like Paul, or the people working the mission fields. These people left their comfort zones and the fear of the unknown behind. Instead, they trusted in God’s perfect will. It is the safest and best place we can ever be. 😊
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.”-Psalms 91:1-2
Prayer
Father God, You are the Rock that I lean on. You are my Shield, my Protector, and my Provider. I will trust in Your good and perfect will. I pray that I can live an obedient and disciplined life like Paul, going wherever You take me, and sharing the Good News with whoever You tell me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽
-Moses Gaddi
Deuteronomy 23 - 9.27.2024
Scripture - Pick one verse that stood out to you.
Deuteronomy 23:21-23
If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.
Observation - What about this verse stands out to you?
Maybe it is because I feel the winds of change blowing in my life again, I have become more reminiscent of late. As I read Deuteronomy this morning and was, as per usual, struck by its rigidity, my heart and my brain were also struck by several moments in my overly-zealous youth, when I made promises to You, that I shouldn’t have…
I probably should have asked for forgiveness again and right away. Instead I just sat here shaking my head at my younger self letting a small tidal wave of misbehavior resurface, and remind me of what I had been like.
I apologize, Lord. For it all. I think about my youth and I can’t help but wince at times (and not just at times during my youth). I am so lucky that You have been patient with me. So loving with me. My hope is that I can continue to grow in Your wisdom and love.
Application - How will you apply this to your life?
Matthew 5:33-37
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
I want to continue to put this into practice today, Lord Jesus.
Prayer - Write out a prayer.
Forgive me Lord, I have but ignorance as my poor excuse. As the years have rolled on I have become better at controlling what enters my mind, what is conceived in my heart, and what comes out of my mouth. But I can be better. Let my yes be yes and let my no be no. I aim to become a man of my word. Help me to work at this and grow deeper in this principle, Lord. I thank you for being so patient with me all these years. I am still not sure why I have been given such a great opportunity to continue growing in you, but I am grateful for every second that I have been given. I thank You so much for your wisdom Lord. With Love. In the name of Jesus do I pray, amen.
-kenneth lee