{"id":3611,"date":"2020-07-16T09:49:59","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T16:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=3611"},"modified":"2020-07-16T09:50:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T16:50:13","slug":"hobart-herd-devotional-psalms-71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=3611","title":{"rendered":"Hobart Herd Devotional – Psalms 71"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013 Psalms 71<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   This is a Psalm of praise for the older\nbeliever!  As I look back over 30 years\nof ministry in Hobart Community Church, I can honestly say that the Lord has\nnever failed to be there for me.  As I\nthink of David looking back over his youth, I would hope that he could see the\ncontinual hand of God on his life.  From\nthe battles as a shepherd boy with the lions and the bears (1 Samuel 17), to\nthe battle with Goliath, David had seen God fight for him and bring\nvictory.  Then we see the battles with\nSaul and God\u2019s protection and refuge for him. \nI can just see David writing in his devotional journal, reminding\nhimself of the many times when God stepped in and became his strength and refuge,\nbringing victory through it all!  In\nverses 1-4 you hear David call on the Lord to be His refuge and fortress again\nas He has before.  Not only did he need\nGod to be His Rock and Fortress, but to also be His Deliverer from the hand of\nhis enemies.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   I love verse 7 which describes the life of\nDavid as a \u201cportent, wonder, miracle\u201d to those around him.  He was like the cat with 9 lives as God\ncontinually came through for him in the face of insurmountable odds.  I must say that God has done the same for\nme.  I have been blessed with the Lord\u2019s\nPresence, Strength, Comfort, Protection, and Power in unconceivable\nsituations.  There have been times when I\nhave felt that I should write a book on the situations of a small town pastor,\nand how God uses them to minister His grace to others.  God has been my hope and my confidence and I\nwill truly praise Him more and more as I grow older.(vs. 5, 14)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   While David calls on God to continue to be\nthere for Him, in verses 18-19 we find his request taking on a new\npetition.  Psalms 71:18-19, 18         And even when {I am} old and gray, O\nGod, do not forsake me, until I declare Thy strength to {this} generation, Thy\npower to all who are to come.  19    For Thy righteousness, O God, {reaches} to\nthe heavens, Thou who hast done great things; O God, who is like Thee?(NAS)  David wasn\u2019t just interested in being rescued\nfor his own sake, but he wanted the opportunity to declare the strength and\npower of God to the generations that followed him.  I have witnessed the passing of a number of\nHobart saints over the years, and the testimony to the faithfulness, love and\npower of God in their lives, even in the midst of their final moments have left\na lasting impression on my life and my faith in the Lord.  I now hope that when my time comes, I will be\nable to declare the faithful love and salvation of the Lord to all who I come\nin contact with.  Psalms 71:23 \u2013 \u201cMy lips\nwill shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee; and my soul, which Thou hast\nredeemed.\u201d(NAS)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Father, may my life be a testimony to Your\nloving faithfulness to me.  I don\u2019t want\nto just cry out to You for rescue, but I want to be a testimony of light to\nthose who don\u2019t have the light of hope in You. \nMay I be a portent to those who need to see the wonders of our God.  In Jesus Name, Amen!  Pastor Rob<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013 Psalms 71    This is a Psalm of praise for the older believer!  As I look back over 30 years of ministry in Hobart Community Church, I can honestly say that the Lord has never failed …<\/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\/3611"}],"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=3611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3612,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3611\/revisions\/3612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}