{"id":3639,"date":"2020-07-23T19:26:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T02:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=3639"},"modified":"2020-07-23T19:26:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T02:26:50","slug":"hobart-herd-devotional-psalms-75-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=3639","title":{"rendered":"Hobart Herd Devotional – Psalms 75-77"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013 Psalms 75<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   I am so glad that this Psalm of thanksgiving\nfollows Psalms 74.  As God brings us\nthrough the hard times, we come out the other side with thanksgiving and praise\nfor His power and deliverance.  All this\nhappens not necessarily because the Lord has changed the situation, or even yet\nas defeated the enemy.  But thanksgiving\ncomes when our faith is lifted and restored to believe that God in His time\nwill bring justice and salvation.  I pray\nsometimes in the midst of the worst struggles not knowing how God is going to\nanswer, but trusting that He will answer in the time and way that is best.  Do we really trust God to act justly in His\ntimely manner?(vs.2-3)  God is a\nRighteous Judge and only He can bring true justice and peace.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   In verses 4-8 we find the warning to the\nwicked.  There is a warning for the\nboasting and pride that brings our downfall. \nThe description is of the lifting of their horns in confident strutting\nlike a bull elk, and the stretching of their neck to bugle their supremacy over\nall the other bulls.  Just remember that\nGod is the final Judge, and He is the One who lifts you up and brings you down\n(vs. 7).  The cup of God\u2019s judgment is\ndescribed as a strong drink that we must drink down even as it burns.  Not just a sip, but drinking the whole thing\n(vs.8) down to the last drop and the worm at the bottom.  I think sometimes we forget that it is a\nterrible thing to find ourselves in the hands of an angry God.  Praise the Lord, because of the Lord Jesus Christ\nand the power of His blood, we can find forgiveness and know that there is no\ncondemnation to those who are in Christ!(Rom. 8:1)  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Our answer is that we will praise the Lord\nand give thanks that when we humble ourselves before Him, He will lift us up.  1 Peter 5:6-7, 6   Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that\nHe may exalt you at the proper time,  7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

casting all your anxiety\nupon Him, because He cares for you.(NAS) \nDon\u2019t forget to thank Him and praise Him in the hard times, this keeps\nus humbly looking to Him in faith and trust that in due time, He will lift us\nup, and in the mean time we can cast our cares on Him knowing that He cares for\nme!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Father, it is easy to thank you and praise\nyou in the good times, but it takes Your Spirit\u2019s control of my heart and mind\nto give You thanks in anticipation of Your power in the hard times.  May I never forget that You are the Righteous\nJudge, and You will bring down the proud and lift up the humble.  Help me to humble myself before You in\npraise, adoration, and thanksgiving, knowing that You will lift me up as I cast\nmy cares on You.  In Jesus Name,\nAmen!  Pastor Rob<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013\nPsalms 76<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   It seems that every few generations, we need\nto be reminded or the Greatness of God and the way He takes care of His people\nand brings devastation on their enemies. \nOne of the fears I have in the world today is the lack of remembering\nthe history of the great wars of the last 160 years.  From the Civil War to the World Wars, to the\nwars in the Middle East, we should have learned our dependency on the\nLord.  When we ignore what God has done\nin the past, we are doomed to repeat the process and pain in the future.  If you study the great battles of history,\nyou soon learn that they were won not because of military might, but because\nGod brought mistakes of generals, storms, and fears into play.  Our dependency to trust in the Lord to fight\nfor us, and the respect and fear of the enemy of our God\u2019s power in the past\nwhat decides the victory that is ours in Christ.  Because of His Great Name and His tent of\npresence in Zion, God\u2019s people were protected and feared by their enemies.(vs.\n1-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   In verses 3-9, we have the description of\nall the things that God has done to protect His people and the calamity that\ncame on those who fought against them. \nArrows, shields and swords broken, wheels falling off chariots, valiant\nwarriors like Goliath, killed God\u2019s guidance of the stone from David\u2019s sling.  When the Children of Israel came to the\nPromised Land, the Canaanites nations were trembling in fear of the God of\nIsrael which gave the Israelite armies the winning edge as God fought for them\nand with them.  Verse 7 says it all: \u201cYou\nalone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry?\u201d(NIV)  In the past God rose up to defend the\nafflicted and judge the wicked and He will do it again.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Our call is to keep that which I\u2019ve\ncommitted unto Him against that day!  Do\nyou know the One you have believed in and trust Him to keep us and our\ncommitment to Him until He calls us home.(2 Tim. 1:12)  We need to keep on keeping our vows and\ncommitments that we have made to the Lord so that the world can see our Great\nGod and learn to fear Him.  It is not by\nmight our by power but by His Spirit we have victory!(Zech. 4:6)  He is the one that breaks the spirits of the\nrulers of this world and brings protection and victory for His people.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Father, I have forgotten that wisdom is not\nthe only thing that starts with the fear of the Lord, we also are dependent on\nYou to bring the heart and power of the enemy by trusting in Your protective\npower.  Help me to walk faithfully in the\nfear of the Lord, keeping my commitments to You and allowing You to reveal\nYourself to the world as You fight on my behalf.  In Jesus Name, Amen!  Pastor Rob<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hobart Herd Devotionals\n\u2013 Psalms 77<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   We have all been in Asaph\u2019s shoes.  He was so concerned about the state of his\npeople and their relationship with God that he could not sleep.  He prayed and cried out to God day and night\nand night and day.  He would remember God\nand worried about what God might do to straighten things out and then worry\nsome more about how he was going to make it through that dilemma.  He couldn\u2019t close his eyes to sleep, and he\nwas so distraught that he couldn\u2019t speak.(vs. 1-3)  He remembered the God of their history and\nmused and fretted.  It got so bad that he\nthought maybe God had changed: 7   “Will\nthe Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8       Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise\nfailed for all time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

9       Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his\ncompassion?” Selah(NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Sometimes things get so hard and so bad that\nwe begin to think like this.  We are so\nconcerned about our nation, community, family, and friends that we can\u2019t sleep\nand so we pray.  Then when God doesn\u2019t\nseem to answer our prayers, we wonder if maybe He doesn\u2019t hear our prayer; or\nmaybe He has changed His mind about being a God of lovingkindness, mercy and\ngrace.  We begin to doubt that He cares\nfor me and really knows the situation I am in. \nWe doubt that He has the situation under control or has our best\ninterest in mind.  If we are honest, we\nhave to admit that we have been there at some point in our relationship with\nGod.  So how do we change our heart and\nmind to faith in the One True Living God!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   In verses 10-20 23 see what Asaph did to\nallow God to change his outlook on life. \nAsaph began to appeal to the years of loving relationship with God.  He began to Count His Blessings!  \u201cWhen upon life\u2019s billows you are tempest\ntossed, When you are discouraged thinking all is lost, Count you many blessings\nname them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.  Are you ever burdened with a load of\ncar?  Does the cross seem heavy you are\ncalled to bear? Count you many blessings every doubt will fly, and you will be\nsinging as the days go by.  So amid the\nconflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged God is over all; Count\nyour many blessings angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your\njourney\u2019s end.  Count your blessings name\nthem one by one; Count your many blessings see what God hath done.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   This is exactly what we need to do in order\nto change our hearts and minds to look to the God we know Who will fight on our\nbehalf.  Psalms 77:13-15, 13   Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so\ngreat as our God? 14         You are the\nGod who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. 15   With your mighty arm you redeemed your\npeople, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah(NIV)  Talk about a change in perspective and a\nchange of heart!  I have never looked at\nthe Red Sea and thought what it must have been like as a Sea to look at God\ncoming to open a path for the Israelites to walk through on dry ground.  Verses 16-20 describe things from the Seas\npoint of view as it watched their God and Creator come to do a miracle through\nthem.  Sometimes we think our problems\nare to big, but really our God is to big for our problems.  He is in control and will lead us through\neach and every difficulty until He calls us home.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Father, Change my heart.  I look around me and my heart becomes so\nburdened and discouraged that I can\u2019t sleep or concentrate.  Focus my heart and my eyes on You so that I see\nthe problem through Your eyes.  Help me\nto count my blessings as I remember all You have done for me.  In Jesus Name, Amen!  Pastor Rob<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hobart Herd Devotional \u2013 Psalms 75    I am so glad that this Psalm of thanksgiving follows Psalms 74.  As God brings us through the hard times, we come out the other side with thanksgiving and praise for His power …<\/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\/3639"}],"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=3639"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3640,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3639\/revisions\/3640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}