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3 points on prayer by the poor and needy

“Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy” Psa. 86.1 NRSV.

  • God hears prayer and wants us to pray to him in our need. He never ignores the faithful.
  • God answers prayer, so we may be confident in our asking. He never refuses to provide. He is generous and willing.
  • God receives prayer from anyone who belongs to him. He does not discriminate against those who do not belong to the elite.

(How to belong to God’s people? See this explanation. Ideas suggested from this devotional.)

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Guide me in your truth

Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long. Psa 25.5

Guide me in your truth and teach me,
You are God, I lean upon you;
Only mercy now can reach me,
All day long my hope is in you.

I’ve no sense of truth or justice,
No notion of what is good and right;
You, O God, are guide and compass,
For my path the constant light.

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Mind, emotions, living

“I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path” Psalm 119.104 NIV.

Love for and obedience to God’s word is the way to

  1.  A sound mind (understanding, grasping and discerning the truth),
  2. Reliable emotions (hate),
  3. Right living (path).

Points by J.A. Motyer, “Psalms” NBC21, p. 569.

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Refusing to be defeated

No matter how much the wicked attack, I refuse, O Lord, to be defeated. You free me from plowers on my back who make their furrows long and deep and painful. Repulse them, shame them, wither them under your powerful gaze. Let blessing pass them by, for they oppose your will and seek to harm your cause. Let all your people sing and praise your powerful name. With you is victory, with you is justice, with you are righteous deeds and eternal life.

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Let God’s love console me

Psalm 119.73-80

  1. Since God created us and gave us life, we ought to seek his guidance on how to live, 73.
  2. A life which has God as its hope gives joy to many, 74.
  3. It is not because God doesn’t love us that he disciplines us, but because he does, 75.
  4. Such love of God’s consoles us in all our disappointments and frustrations, 76.
  5. Delight in God’s law opens his compassion and frees us to live, 77.
  6. The righteous does not waste time agonizing over the arrogant, but focuses on God’s precepts, 78
  7. In the midst of opposition, God’s people come together for mutual strength, 79.
  8. We pray, at last, that the heart may be wholly devoted to God’s statutes to avoid humiliation before him, 80.
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Praying the Psalms: Psalm 1

The book of Psalms is filled with teaching, expressions of praise and thanksgiving, summaries of historical accounts, predictive prophecies regarding the Messiah, and utterances of prayer from David and others. It is a rich book, and we have shared some of its various treasures in past lessons.On this occasion, however, we begin an exercise in reading and praying through the Psalms. Our goal at this time is not commentary or explanation of difficult portions of the text. Our aim is to express our heart, using the sacred text as our basic form and outline. Although I am sharing my prayers through the Psalms, I encourage you to passionately pray through the Scriptures also on your own. It is a rewarding effort.

Source: AudioEvangelism.com – Praying the Psalms: Psalm 1

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Tossed on the Sea as Froth

Psalm 44

In spite of what befalls us,
We don’t forget the Lord,
We’re true to him who calls us,
Not false to his covenant word.

Our hearts have kept the faith,
Our feet strayed not from the path,
Though tossed on the sea as froth,
Though we have felt his wrath.

Rouse yourself from sleep,
O Lord, we sink in the dust;
Raise us up from the deep,
In you, our King, we trust.

—JRMatheny