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12/10/11 THE RIGHTEOUS WILL PRAISE YOUR NAME

12/10/11 THE RIGHTEOUS WILL PRAISE YOUR NAME
Psalm 140:1-13                                         Saturday, December 10, 2011
Key Verse: 140:7                                     Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

“7 Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle.”

Dear Lord, thank you that you are my strong deliverer and my shield. It has been a hard week and several things are driving me to become hard hearted and isolated inside. My only solution is to come to you and drink deep of your living water. What else can I do? There is no other way. Please help me to draw near to you this morning. I pray for Steve, that he may grow in faith and that he me may love Jesus and follow God’s word throughout his life and find clarity and strength and healing. Please grant me one word of God to hold onto. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

1. The Lord is my strong deliverer (1-8).

Verses 1-8 read, “Rescue me, LORD, from evildoers; protect me from the violent, 2 who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day. 3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips.[b] 4 Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet. 5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. 6 I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, LORD, my cry for mercy. 7 Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle. 8 Do not grant the wicked their desires, LORD; do not let their plans succeed.”

David was always surrounded by evil men before and after he became a king. Their hearts devised evil plans. They hurt him with poisonous slanders. David was helpless, yet he did not despair. He cried out to God to protect him, “O Lord, my God, my strong deliverer, shield my head.” The head is the most important, yet vulnerable part in the day of battle. David cried out to God so that the desires of the wicked would not be granted and they would not become proud by succeeding in their plans.

I need to have my head protected from despairing, fatalistic and fearful thoughts. I need to protect it with faith and with the knowledge of salvation. I am in doldrums because I am thinking of despairing thoughts. But I need to lift my heart and my mind up to Jesus and the kingdom of God. I must fill my heart and my mind with the good things of God and his word. I realize that there are very few people who will stick out their necks in order to stand by my side. There are a few and thank God for that. But Jesus is there to calm the storms in my heart. He is there always. My heart and life are secure in him. I thank Jesus, my deliverer.

2. The Lord secures justice for the poor (9-13).

Verses 9-13 read, ““9 Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them. 10 May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise. 11 May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent. 12 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. 13 Surely the righteous will praise your name, and the upright will live in your presence.”

David’s prayers seem too extreme. He asked God to cover the heads of those evil men with troubles, to let burning coals fall upon them that they may be thrown into the fire, and to let disaster hunt them down. However, he did not avenge himself. He put them in God’s hands. He trusted in the Lord who would secure justice for the poor and needy. He was sure the upright would survive and would praise God eventually.

Surely the righteous will praise God’s name, but the wicked will not be established in the land. Not many people are being established nowadays, in the land. Most people are struggling to survive and hopefully they can have enough to keep them fed and sheltered throughout their lifetimes. I am surviving. Am I established in the land? Barely. Both in a spiritual sense and also in a spiritual sense. But Jesus is giving me a sure footing, where I would have surely fallen long ago. God upholds justice for me and he upholds my cause. But my problem is that he has made things so secure that I ask myself, “Where is the excitement of living? Where is the thrill of the chase?” I need to learn the secret of faith and applying the adventure of faith and obedience to my life.

Prayer: O Lord, when evil oppresses us, we are helpless. But thank you for being our strong deliverer. Help me cry out to you in all situations.

One Word: Shield my head




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