Hobart Herd Devotional – Psalms 6 – 5-3-20
Have you ever been in so much pain that you thought God must be punishing you? That seems to be the background to Psalms 6. He describes pain so strong that his bones were hurting him. We don’t have an event in David’s life to connect directly, but we know from these verses that David felt like God must be punishing him in anger. Having had numerous bouts of kidney stone attacks, I know that pain can seem like a punishment from the Lord’s anger; most of the time it is just a consequence of diet and genetics of your family.
Then you add on the enemies that King David had in his life, from Saul, to family that turned against him, it seemed that the pain of David’s heart was a strong as his physical pain. I think we have all been in the position of having painful family and “friendships” that turn against us and the pain is maybe even greater then if we had been physically hurting. How do we move from pain and crying out to the Lord to the healing power of faith through prayer?
First we realize that we have a God whose lovingkindness, mercy and grace is always there for us.(vs. 4) We must realize that God hears our cries of pain and our prayers. Only He can deliver us. Verse 9 says, “The LORD has heard my supplication, the LORD receives my prayer.”(NAS) The two words we will focus on are “supplication” and “receives”. Supplication refers to a call for gracious favor in which God would stoop to our cry. The word receives means to accept that call and cry for gracious favor. I am so glad that when I call on the Lord, He stoops to my cry and accepts me with gracious favor. Truly when I call on Him in pain, I can know without a doubt that He hears, stoops, and offers His healing touch of grace to me heart and life.
Father, thank You for hearing me when I cry out in pain. I know that some of my pain is of my own making, but Your gracious lovingkindness still stoops to hear my cay and bring healing by Your grace. May I never take for granted the power of prayer in my distress, and may I always remember in faith that You care for me. Take away the despair of pain, whether it be physical or relational and bring me to Your loving arms for refuge and strength. In Jesus Name, Amen! Pastor Rob
Hobart Herd – Psalms 7 – 5-4-20
If you have ever been slandered or had enemies that seek to destroy you constantly, you are in the company of King David. David called out for God to rescue or deliver him many times in the Psalms, and this is the first time this word is used. One of the keys that is pointed out is that David took refuge in the Lord during this terrible time of attack. This was probably written while David was hiding out from Saul, and many of his enemies were taking the opportunity to talk and slander him while he was down and out.
David calls out to God to punish him if he deserved it, but as far as he knew, he was an innocent man of integrity that sought to love and serve God faithfully. David was told by his friends to just take Saul out and take over the kingdom, but David recognized God’s anointed call on Saul and would not take advantage of his position of already being anointed and called to be the next king of Israel. David trusts God to vindicate him and judge his enemies because God is a Faithful, Righteous Judge. Psalms 7:9-10, 9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.(NAS) I can trust in a righteous God who tries the hearts of men and is a Shield for those whose hearts are right with Him. I want to give thanks today for His righteous judgment on our sinful enemies, and His shielding of our hearts and lives as we serve Him in faithful righteousness.
Father, thank You for having my back. I can entrust to You my ways when I know that You are a God that knows all things and will make all things right. May I repent of the things that I have done wrong so that I can trust in You as my Shield. Thank You for shielding my heart and protecting me from the hate and anger against my enemies. Truly I can trust in You and love those that despitefully use and talk about me. Guard my heart and give me Your love for others. In Jesus Name, Amen! Pastor Rob