{"id":3285,"date":"2020-05-16T20:27:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T03:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=3285"},"modified":"2020-05-16T20:27:12","modified_gmt":"2020-05-17T03:27:12","slug":"hobart-herd-devotional-psalms-17-18-5-16-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=3285","title":{"rendered":"Hobart Herd Devotional – Psalms 17-18 – 5-16-20"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013 Psalms 17 \u2013\n5-15-20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   This Psalm is both a prayer of request for\nrefuge and preservation in the face of our enemies, and a song of praise and\nworship to the God Who is our refuge, strength, and portion in life.  We need to recognize that apart from God we have\nand are nothing!  Many times in the darkest\nnight and hardest of times we are tempted to forget that we belong to God and\nHe is our everything.  We can do nothing\nwithout Him and without Him we have nothing to offer to this sinful world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   David prays to God from the strength of\nwalking in God\u2019s truth and being faithful to God in the way he lives.  Now we know that this was not always true of\nDavid and it is not always true of our lives. \nWhen we are walking in God\u2019s will and way, it is easier to know and feel\nthat God is there for us and hasn\u2019t abandoned us.  Someone once said it this way, if you feel\nthat God is not near and does not hear, who moved?  Truly God has promised to always be with us\nand not forsake us.  This doesn\u2019t mean He\nis always happy with us and or actions and attitudes, but like a parent with a disobedient\nchild, He loves us and is always there for us. \n  6<\/sup> I call upon you,\nfor you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. 7<\/sup>\nWondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from\ntheir adversaries at your right hand. 8<\/sup> Keep me as the apple of your\neye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, Psalms 17:6-8 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   These\nverses remind me that when I pray to the Lord, He will answer me because of His\nsteadfast love.  He truly is the Savior\nof those who seek refuge in Him.  I love\nthe words of comfort and strength that under the shadow of His wings I can take\nrefuge.  What a picture for us to hold\nonto.  I remember when my Mother was on\nher death bed and the whole family was surrounding her, singing together and\nenjoying the presence of the Lord in a hard time.  Mom was so happy to see everyone that she\njust laid there with a smile on her face wiggling her toes in rhythm with the\nhymns and songs we were singing together. \nEvery now and again, I would reach up and tug on her toe and remind her\nthat her favorite child was there with her, and she would grin and shake her\nhead as everyone knew that we were all her favorite.  When I hear David say to God, \u201cKeep me as the\napple of Your eye, I think of God being able to say to each one of us, You are\nthe apple of My eye!  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Father, thank you for being my refuge and\nstrength, allowing me to hide in the shadow of Your wings and trust that You\nlove me with a steadfast love!  I truly\ndo not deserve to be the apple of Your eye, but I am glad that You have shown\nYour love for me in ways that will always let me know that I am.  May I live in such a way that You are seen as\nthe God I love with all my heart, soul, strength and mind.  In Jesus Name, Amen.  Pastor Rob<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013 Psalms 18 \u2013\n5-16-20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   At some point in David\u2019s running from King\nSaul, God miraculously provided an escape and victory.  This song was written in thanksgiving to God\nfor His deliverance and safety.  One of\nmy favorite choruses from my kids Christian school days is found in the verses\nof this chapter.  I will call upon the\nLord, Who is worthy to be praised.  So\nshall I be saved from my enemies, I will call upon the Lord.  The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock, and\nmay the God of my salvation be exalted. \nI remember the kids would lift their arms and grunt after the words\nliveth, and Rock.  It was worship of God\u2019s\nstrength and power of protection and salvation!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   This is a long chapter as David could not\nstop worshiping God for all He had done in protecting, providing and delivering\nhim from his enemies.  Do You feel\noverrun, maybe things seem so far out of control that you can\u2019t see a way\nthrough.  You need to read this chapter\nand begin thanking God ahead of time for the way He has taken care of you.  How many times has God delivered you from\ntragedy and trouble.  We will never know\nthis side of heaven.  Trust that He is\nYour Rock, Your Salvation, Your Deliverer. \nOne of our favorite choruses at Hobart is \u201cGod Will Make a Way\u201d.  God will make a way, where there seems to be\nno way.  He works in ways we cannot see,\nHe will be my Guide, hold me closely to His side.  With love and strength for each new day, He\nwill make a way, He will make a way!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Father, thank You for being my Rock, my Fortress,\nmy Deliverer, my Salvation, in Whom I can trust.  Help me never to lose sight of Who You are\nand what You have done and will do for me. \nMake a way for me today!  In Jesus\nName, Amen!  Pastor Rob<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013 Psalms 17 \u2013 5-15-20    This Psalm is both a prayer of request for refuge and preservation in the face of our enemies, and a song of praise and worship to the God Who is our …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[142],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3286,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285\/revisions\/3286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}