Wait On The Lord - Psalm 27:14

 

Psalm 27:14

Wait on The LORD: Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your 🧡. Wait, I say, on The LORD!

WAIT: anticipatory expectation to see what God will do and is doing 

    Here the psalmist leads the congregation into a hushed worship. We are instructed to wait, to be still, to be of good courage. 

    And then The Lord will strengthen our hearts. He will make Himself known to the hearts of those who have anticipated His arrival. 

    The collective "we" waited from time immemorial for the arrival of The Messiah. But when He arrived, only a few were happy to see Him. Fewer still were willing to follow Him and do the things He instructed. 

    All who have received Christ as Lord of their lives, and Savior of their eternal souls, wait for the trumpet to sound and The Lord to gather His church to Himself.  We wait for the marriage supper of The Lamb and His bride. 

    After that we will wait, while we serve, through His thousand year reign (Revelation 20:1-5). After the thousand years has passed, Satan will be loosed upon the unknown numbers of people who have repopulated the earth, trying to take some of them with him through his deceptions (Revelation 20:6-8). 

    For a brief time we will wait yet again for Satan and his minions to be defeated (Revelation 20:9-10). Then we wait through the second resurrection, when the damned will be judged for their unbelief. We know they did not believe because their names were not written in The Lamb's Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15). 

    They wait too, knowing there is no more time to choose Christ.

  1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

For The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with The Lord. 

    So I encourage you now to "Wait on The Lord, and be of good courage." For waiting is hard but possible. Some folks will meet Jesus by way of the grave, some will meet Him by way of the air. Some of us die horrific deaths, some of us die by way of disease, some die of old age. Yet we wait on The Lord through it all. And through it all The Lord strengthens us with Himself. And that is enough to get me through the waiting. 

THROUGH IT ALL - Andrae Crouch (with his testimony, too!)

Keep The Faith In The Land of The Living

 

Psalm 27:13
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of The LORD in the land of the living.

DON'T LOSE HEART
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon The LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

KEEP THE FAITH
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in The Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

THE LAND OF THE LIVING

Psalm 116:9
I will walk before The LORD in the land of the living. (this life we have now)
John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I Am The Light of The World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life.” (the life eternal)

    Keeping the faith means that we believe The Word of God to be Faithful and True. We believe that Jesus Christ is God's Only Begotten Son. We believe that as The Son of God He gave His life in willing obedience to His heavenly Father's design for the salvation of they who would believe such.

John 3:16-18

16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting Life.

17. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

18. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God.

    Keeping the faith means that even though we live among unbelievers, we live not like them any longer. Though we once were sinners, lost and undone, now that we have placed our faith, our hope, in Christ Jesus for our salvation, we no longer live according to the desires of the flesh: we live according to The Word of God.

Ephesians 5:8

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in The Lord. Walk as children of Light.

Psalm 107:14

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.

Acts 26:18

'To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to Light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.'

    Yet, keeping the faith in the land of the living isn't going to be easy. While there are times we may enjoy the comforts of this life -- water, food, clothing, shelter -- many times we will endure trials and tribulations not uncommon amongst God's people.

    The life of the Christian is one of obedience to God, hope in Jesus Christ, and faith-walking with The Holy Spirit. It is a life lived in trust, trusting that God will always be with us regardless of how bad our circumstances become.     Keeping our faith while we live this life we have been given in Christ will bring us to the land of the eternally living: the heavenly places where God dwells.

Revelation 21:3

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Isaiah 6:1-4 (Isaiah's vision)

1. In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also The Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.

2. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.

3. And one cried unto another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is The LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory."

4. At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

Ezekiel 1 (Ezekiel's vision)

Revelation 4 (John's vision)

    Someday soon we who have believed on The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God for our salvation will arrive in God's eternal dwellingplace and take up residence in the place which Christ has prepared for us. The reward is worth the journey, regardless of how long it took us to get there, or how difficult the path was to walk.

ONCE I WAS A SINNER - classic hymn (choir)

IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL - classic hymn

HOLY (I SAW THE LORD) - Christ For The Nations Worship

Amazing Grace - Undeserved Favor of God

 Psalm 27:9

Hide not Your face far from me; put not Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of My Salvation.

Jeremiah 10:24

Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.

We are very thankful that our Lord does not mete out His wrath on us when we deserve it. That's Grace.

We are thankful that 'The Lord is My Helper' is more than just a Name or Title of our God. That He really is our Helper, helping us in this new life He has given us through the blood which He has shed on the cross, and the empty grave in which He once had lain. That's Grace, too.

He has promised to never leave us, nor forsake us. Grace.

Though we stumble or even fall, He picks us back up, stands us upright and guides us on this narrow path in which we walk. Grace.

God is with us in the beginning of our born-again life, remains with us as we remain faithful in our new life in Christ, and brings us through death's threshold into His eternal kingdom. Grace.

Psalm 30:5

For His anger endures but a moment; in His favor is Life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

This, too, is Grace.

❤

AMAZING GRACE

{John Newton-1779}

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound

that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

was blind, but now I see.

'Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear,

and grace my fears relieved;

how precious did that grace appear

the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

and grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

as long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

and mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

a life of joy and peace.

When we've been there ten thousand years,

bright shining as the sun,

we've no less days to sing God's praise

than when we first begun.

Fearlessness In Enemy Territory

 Psalm 27:1

Of David. The LORD is My Light and My Salvation—whom shall I fear? 

The LORD is The Stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread?

    When The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer, our whereabouts are revealed to us. We have been living in enemy territory for so long that we have become accustomed to this way of life and do not know any other way. 

    But God will not have His people living in darkness now that The Light of His Love and Salvation have taken up residence within them. God's Word reveals who our enemies are and where we have been living. It shows us The Way out is forward not backward. 

    Move forward we must, if we want to obtain the promises of God for ourselves. We are no longer a people lost in the darkness of our sins: we are a people seeking the kingdom of God, that we might receive the provision of God. We read our Bible with the intention of gaining divine wisdom that God's Holy Spirit can impart such wisdom into our hearts, where He has written The Word of God when we believed on The Name Above All Names--Jesus Christ--for our salvation. 

    We have a strong desire now to share this Good News with everyone we know, but fear raises its ugly head and threatens to bring us down if we continue to speak The Name of Jesus. Fear must flee. And it must take its companions with it: Dread and Doubt. Our hearts are filled with God's Son and God's Spirit now: there is absolutely no room left for fear. We are fearless.

FEARLESS 

When entering enemy territory:

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for The LORD your God, He it is that does go with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you. 

FEARLESS

Faith-based divine deliverance from the enemy:

1 Samuel 17:37

David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and The LORD be with you.

FEARLESS

Fear God and all other fears fall away:

Matthew 10:28

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

FEARLESS

When The Holy Spirit is at work in the believer, fear leaves; Love and a Sound Mind, the mind of Christ, empowers us to do that which God has called us to do. 

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

FEARLESS

We speak The Truth with boldness: we are ready to give an account of why we believe what we believe, in the face of opposition.

Acts 4:29

Now, Lord, behold (look on and act against) their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word. 
FEARLESS

False witnesses will rise up against us and testify that we have slandered The Lord God. People will be paid or coerced to condemn our work for The Lord. However, we will continue to proclaim the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ with our dying breath.

Read Acts 6:8-15 through Acts 7

Acts 6:13

They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law."

FEARLESS

Through faith we accomplish God's purpose for our lives. Fear would keep us down and back, but fearlessness keeps us moving forward that we may grasp hold of the promises of God.

Hebrews 11:33, 34 (AMP Bible)

Who by faith [that is, with an enduring trust in God and His promises] subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, extinguished the power of [raging] fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty and unbeatable in battle, putting enemy forces to flight.

Deuteronomy 28:7

The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.

Joshua 23:10

One man of you shall chase a thousand: for The LORD your God,He it is that fights for you, as He has promised you.

FEAR &  DREAD UPON OUR ENEMIES

Exodus 15:16

Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of  Your arm they shall be as still as a stone; till Your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, whom You have purchased.

WE ARE THE LORD'S PURCHASE & WE ARE FEARLESS

1 Corinthians 6:20

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 7:23

You were bought with a price [a precious price paid by Christ]; do not become slaves to men [but to Christ].

FEARLESS - Jasmine Murray

The Soul's Longing

 

Psalm 27:4

One thing have I desired of The LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of The LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of The LORD, and to inquire in His temple.

THE ONE THING

The good portion - Luke 10:42

The goal - Philippians 3:14

SEEKING AFTER

The open door - Matthew 7:8

The kingdom of God - Matthew 6:33

TO DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD

The house of praise - Psalm 84:4

The house prepared for me - John 14:2, 3

TO SEE HIS BEAUTY

The glory of The Lord - Exodus 33:18-23

The face of The Lord - 1 Corinthians 13:12

TO HEAR HIS VOICE

The heart cries out - 1 Kings 8:28-30; Psalm 63:1

The soul yearns for permanent residence - Psalm 84:2; Matthew 5:6

IN HIS TEMPLE

The holy dwelling - Habakkuk 2:20

The believer is a living stone in Christ Jesus, The Eternally Living Stone - 1 Peter 2:5

Fearless: Trust in The Lord - Psalm 27:1

 

Psalm 27:1

Though an army encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear;

Though war may rise against me,

In this I will be confident.

What will I be confident in? The knowledge that THE LORD IS MINE and I am His. The knowledge that THE LORD IS MY LIGHT, MY SALVATION, and MY LIFE (verse 1). 

Regardless of how the world attacks we who are of the kingdom of God, we have nothing to fear, nothing to dread. For THE LORD IS WITH US. 

MY LIGHT

John 8:12

Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I Am The Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have The Light of Life.”

MY SALVATION

Romans 10:9

That if you confess with your mouth The Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

MY STRONGHOLD

Habakkuk 3:19

GOD The Lord is My Strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.

WHOM SHALL I FEAR?

Isaiah 8:12, 13

“Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread.

The LORD of Hosts is The One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded."

Be Fruitful

 

DELIGHT IN THE LORD

Psalm 1:1-3

[1] Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

[2] But his delight is in The Law of The LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.

[3] He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

💚💕💚

    To delight in The Law of The Lord is to take great joy in that which we both read and hear, especially when we read it aloud. And while some cannot hear with the ear, they will hear with the heart. Though the Word cannot leave the mouth, with the heart salvation is believed, and The Word remains in the reader/the hearer/the listener/the believer.

Jeremiah 15:16

Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.

💚💕💚

BE FRUITFUL

A life lived in Christ yields a spiritual fruitfulness that nothing in this world compares to. The result of Delighting in The Lord is shown by the actions of the heart as one Fruit:

Galatians 5:22-23

[22] But the fruit of The Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

[23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

💚💕💚

    Righteous living is a Christ-centered lifestyle. Everything we do revolves around our commitment to being faithful witnesses of The Testimony that is within us. We may come off to some people as 'better than' or 'holier-than-thou' types, but we are merely men and women, boys and girls, who have chosen to believe that The Word of God is TRUE. And that this Word is God's Only Begotten Son Who was sent by God to deliver mankind of the punishment of our sins. [John 3:16-18].

    And when The Light that is in us shines into the darkness of the hearts around us, the dark hearts either rebel against The Light of God's Love and taunt us, or they believe The Light is God's Love and receive the same Light into their hearts.

    Right living is having The Divine Word of God be the compass for our interactions with each other, whether the people with whom we interact are believers like us, or unbelievers who refuse to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. This Word tempers our words with the Love of God.

💚💕💚

    In a world where hatemongering is plentiful, we choose to Love one another the way Christ has loved us. We love unconditionally. The color of our skin does not impede God's love within us. Neither gender nor culture will keep us from sharing God's Love with each other. We love because God is Love and God's Love lives in us.

    When we are born again into the family of God through our belief on The Name of Jesus Christ, we are receive His Spirit, as well. {Acts 2:38 "Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in The Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit.}.

    For where One goes, The Other One must go. {The baptism of The Holy Spirit is separate, it is to be immersed in The Spirit and empowered to share the gospel in another language without the benefit of special schooling to learn it [Acts 2:1-12}].

💚💕💚

    We are justified in Christ and sanctified in The Spirit upon repentance and belief.

    2 Thessalonians 2:13

"But we should and are [morally] obligated [as debtors] always to give thanks to God for you, believers beloved by The Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through the sanctifying work of The Spirit [that sets you apart for God’s purpose] and by your faith in The Truth [of God’s Word that leads you to spiritual maturity]." {AMP Bible}

    What a wonderful God we worship! He not only gives us His Son Jesus Christ to save us, but He gives us His powerful Holy Spirit to sanctify us! Peter [1 Peter 1:2] tells us that we are "sanctified by The Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ". Paul tells the church in Corinth [1 Corinthians 6:11], "washed, sanctified, justified in The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ and by The Spirit of our God"!

    So let us now, or continue to, Delight in The Word and Be Fruitful in Him.

💚💕💚

WASHED IN THE BLOOD - Antrim Mennonite Choir

LIVING FOR JESUS - a capella

Be Fearless

 

    To hope in The Lord is have full confidence in His Word, that what He has said, still says, and will say is not only Truth, but also Faithful. God Does Not Lie. What He says will happen. Not only to the believer but to the unbeliever, as well. 

    The person who hopes in The Lord is blessed: we are happy, we are content. And in our contentment in our Lord and our God, we are fearless.

💚🤎

HOPE IN THE LORD
Jeremiah 17:7, 8
(7) But blessed is the man who trusts in The LORD, whose hope is in Him.
[8] He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit. 

💚🤎

    Our sustenance comes from being rooted and grounded in The Word of God. These roots go deep within our spiritual existence. Grounded simply means we have a firm Foundation on which to build our lives, and that Foundation is Christ Jesus, The Living Word of God. It is living in Him and He in us that strengthens the core of our walk, our day to day living. 

💚🤎
BE FEARLESS
Psalm 1:1-3
(1) Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
(2) But his delight is in The Law of The LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.
(3) He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

💚🤎

    To be Fearless is to have a close relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is knowing that when He goes before us and we follow close after, that nothing will get in the way of having God's will accomplished within us and ahead of us. Every obstacle is overcome; every road block is dismantled. Every trial we go through and every tribulation we encounter He is with us. As long as we are living in Christ and Christ and His Spirit are living in us, what is there to fear in this life? Nothing.

    We become mighty warriors of praise and prayer when we continue to exercise our faith throughout our days. We lean on Jesus for understanding, for we understand nothing in and of ourselves. We hope in Jesus for our salvation, for the judgments of God are final and eternal in death.

     It is in this life only, while we draw breath and are able to reason, that we can have the Hope of Salvation living in us now. It is in this place -- life -- that we must make a decision whether or not we are going to believe The Word of God, the WHOLE Word of God, that will determine our destination after death. 

💚🤎

    We are bold as lions. We are shrewd as snakes. We are harmless as doves. We are fierce, for we are Hopeful and Fearless. 

Goodness & Mercy of God

 

Psalm 23:6

Surely Goodness & Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of The LORD for ever. 

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

The Goodness of God is visible.
    Psalm 34:8 

O taste and see that The LORD is good: blessed is the man who trusts in Him.

The Goodness of God is for those who seek Him.

    Psalm 34:10

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek The LORD shall not want (lack) any good thing. 

    Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

The Goodness of God is the foundation of our faith in Christ Jesus.

    Proverbs 3:5

Trust in The LORD with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding. 

    Isaiah 26:4

Trust in The LORD for ever, because GOD The LORD is The Rock Eternal.

    1 Peter 2:6, 7

“For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a Stone, a Chosen and Precious Cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The Stone which the builders rejected has become The Chief Cornerstone.”

THE MERCY OF GOD

The Mercy of God blots out transgressions.

    Psalm 51:1, 2, 9

1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness: according to the multitude of Your tender mercies blot out my transgressions (willful disobedience which breaks the covenant relationship with God). 

2. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity (guilt), and cleanse me from my sin (the moral breach between God and man).

9. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

The Mercy of God intercedes between judgment and restoration.

    Micah 7:18-20

18. Who is a God like You, Who pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, because He delights in Mercy. 

19. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

20. You will give Truth to Jacob And Mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old. 

    Romans 8:34

Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.

    Hebrews 7:25

Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

The Mercy of God never fails.

    Lamentations 3:22, 23

22. It is of The LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

23. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

    Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that The LORD your God is God, The Faithful God Who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

    James 3:17

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

    This Goodness and this Mercy not only follow me all the days of my life, but are integral in living a holy and righteous life in Christ while I draw breath and after death claims my body. For in Christ, Who is The Resurrection and The Life, I have Life Eternal, which I have only begun to live on this side of eternity, but will continue to live on the other side of eternity. 

    God's Goodness and Mercy are ever-present in The Person of God The Son, for The Son of God is Eternal, Everlasting. This Goodness and Mercy was sent from God The Father (John 3:16) to save the world from the condemnation of their sins if they would only believe in The Name Above All Names (Philippians 2:9) that is The Name of  Salvation (Romans 10:13). 

    Surely. With confidence I can say, God's Goodness and God's Mercy follows me (walks closely with me) all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of The LORD for ever (John 14:2, 3; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Revelation 21:3, 4; 22:14). 

    

Blessed Are The Righteous - Psalm 1:1

 

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers.

WALKING WITH THE WICKED

    The wicked are themselves deceived and seek only to deceive others, including the righteous, if possible. 

    Proverbs 12:5

The plans of the righteous are just, but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.

    Ephesians 5:11

Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

THE WAY Of SINNERS - Proverbs 2:12-17

    The way of sinners is the way of evil, and therefore, it is not The Way of the righteous. The evildoer lies and has a hypocritical tongue. The evildoer enjoys evil and takes great pleasure in it. Their path is not strait, and their words are perverse. The prostitute and the adulterer tempt and seduce. Their ways are traps and snares for the unwise, the unsuspecting.  

THE COMPANY OF MOCKERS

    A mocker is a person who derides The Truth of God's Word. The mocker is scornful of righteous ways. Intolerance and hate spew from the mocker's mouth. Pride, arrogance, and self-righteousness rise up in their hearts and violence perpetrates harm and death to the target of their derision. 

    To keep company with such is to keep company with death and destruction. This, too, is not The Way of the righteous. Contempt drips from their lips. Rebellion against The Authority of God has taken up residence in their hearts. Of such the believer is not to align themselves with, for they are corrupt and divisive. 

    The mockers persecute, torment, are scornful of, belittle, and ridicule the righteous. To mock is to lampoon, scoff, jibe, jeer, sneer. It is intended to dissuade the righteous from The Way by speaking words which could torment the mind and cause the weary heart to be discontent, fearful and doubting. 

THE RIGHTEOUS ARE WISE

    But the faithful, righteous, born-again believer who is filled with The Word of God daily and listens to God's Holy Spirit, The Voice of Wisdom, will not be so easily dissuaded, nor overcome by the evildoers, the workers of iniquity, of this world. The righteous are blessed by their God because they walk in His Way of Holiness, in The Path of Righteousness. 

    Psalm 40:4 - The righteous trust in The Lord. They listen not to the prideful, nor to the liars

    Psalm 112:1 - The righteous fear The Lord and greatly delight in His commandments

    Proverbs 3:13 - The righteous find wisdom and acquire understanding

    Proverbs 12:5; 16:3 - The plans of the righteous are just

    Proverbs 11:30; Daniel 12:3; James 5:19, 20; Jude 1:22, 23 - The righteous win souls to The Lord 

BLESSED ARE THE RIGHTEOUS - A Few Scriptural References of Such:

    Matthew 5:3-11 - Be Attitudes

    Psalm 144:15 - Who Choose The Lord

    Psalm 128:1 - Who Fear The Lord & Walk in His Ways

    James 1:12 - Who Perseveres Under Trial

    1 Peter 3:14 - Who Suffer For What Is Right

    Luke 11:28 - Who Hear The Word & Obey It

    Romans 4:7, 8 - Whose Sins Are Covered & Forgiven 

            And, ultimately,

    Revelation 19:9 - Who Are Invited To The Marriage Supper of The Lamb

    

    

    

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Nineteen

    

 

Psalm 83:16, 18

 Fill their faces with shame, 

That they may seek Your Name, O LORD.

That they may know that You alone, 

Whose Name is The LORD, 

are The Most High over all the earth.

    Israel being under attack is nothing new. But there is coming a time when all of Israel's enemies will cease to exist. Until that time, knowing who they are may be a big help in aiding her. And while it may not seem  so on the surface of The Word, Asaph is, indeed, praying for Israel's peace. But in order for Israel to be at peace her enemies must be destroyed. 

    In Psalm 83, Asaph sings a prayer to God, asking first off that God not be silent at this time. 
Psalm 83:1
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. Do not keep silent, O God; Do not hold Your peace or be still, O God. 

    Second, he asks God to see the tumult going on down here. And who is making all this great noise against Israel.

Psalm 83:2

For behold, Your enemies are in tumult, And those who hate You have raised their heads [in hatred of You]. 

    The word 'tumult' is derived from the Aramaic word 'hamah', which means: clamorous, concourse, cry aloud, be disquieted, loud, mourn, be moved, make a noise, rage, roar, sound, be troubled, make in tumult, tumultuous, be in an uproar;  roar, boisterous, become disturbed, disturbed, howl, make an uproar;  to be in great commotion, to rage, war, moan, clamor. 

    Does any of this sound familiar in our day now? Those who hate God will always come against God's people, both His elect and His church. When they raise their heads, they are not humbling themselves to God. God's enemies defy Him and refuse to recognize His Authority. They repent not, nor do they see any reason to. 

    Asaph tells God how their enemies have come against them. 

Psalm 83:3, 4

They concoct crafty schemes against Your people, And conspire together against Your hidden and precious ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation; Let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

    Scheming and conspiracies always begin in the dark, in the hidden realms, where men's eyes cannot see clearly, and the heart holds deceit and treachery. A person may say one thing with their lips, but their true self is hidden. However, when many oppose the few, the many congregate and plan their modes of attack and domination together.     Since they care not for Israel's God, they care little for Israel and Israel's allies. 

But God knows all hearts, and even Israel's enemies will eventually fail and fall permanently. Until then, we must stand together against them and with her. 

    Asaph speaks of alliances formed amongst the ten nations who have come against Israel. They are people of one mind: destroy Israel and wipe it off the face of the earth (vs4). The desire of Israel's enemies will never be fulfilled. Though many of us will die in conflicts with her enemies, we will never fully be destroyed, for we are God's people and Christ is our Hope and Salvation.

Psalm 83:5-8

For with one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against You—the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagarenes. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; they have become an arm for the sons of Lot. Selah. 

    Ten nations, ten kingdoms, whose uniform desire is to destroy Israel. And ultimately The Holy God she worships. These kingdoms Asaph is praying against. He lists her enemies and in so doing tells God that all of these nations have formed an alliance against Him, against His God. (God knows who His enemies are, but this last prayer of Asaph is for our benefit, as well).

    God's desire is for all to be saved from eternal damnation. That's why He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. [2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16-18] But not all will desire God's salvation plan because God is Holy and His people need to be holy to stay in His holiness. That's why we are given God's Holy Spirit, Who reveals God to us through God's Word. 

    Our enemies do not want to be holy and they rage against us in every evil way they can. Not just in warfare with guns and knives, but in warfare of the mind and heart. If the enemy of our souls can get a foothold in the door of how we think and what we think, then his whispers penetrate our decision-making. Our enemies use words that incite violence and death to be perpetrated upon us. 

    But let's return to the ten kingdoms here. The descendants of these nations who were fighting against Israel in Asaph's time are still fighting against Israel in our time. Their kingdoms were of great size and their armies were strong. But in their unified goal to destroy Israel, their armies and armaments increased. They were 'Goliath' against 'David'. They still are. And we know how that battle turned out. What is there to fear when God fights for His people? 

    In Psalm 83:9-17 Asaph asks God to bring down these ten nations, to destroy them completely. Not just for Israel's benefit, but that these kingdoms would 'ever be ashamed and terrified' of Israel's Holy God. But just before that verse (17), Asaph says something about these nations that seems to be out of context, but isn't. 

    Psalm 83:16

Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your Name, O LORD.

    Asaph prayed for deliverance on God's enemies. He prayed for their salvation through God. He prayed for them to know the shame of their ways and to repent of their wicked ways. He prayed that they would seek God's Name. Seek to know God. Seek to know God for their God, that they would be God's people. He prayed for them to come to the knowledge of saving grace. For all of these things happen when we seek The Name of The LORD. And speak It. [Romans 10:9-13]. 

    Those who refuse to seek The Name of The Lord even today are only seeking their own undoing. Their time will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. Every eye will see Him Whom they pierced. [Revelation 1:7; Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 53:5]. Those who seek to destroy God will find themselves destroyed in the end, unless they repent now and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, is God's plan of salvation, is God's only begotten Son, is God's Right Arm of Righteousness. 

    Psalm 83:18

That they may know that You alone, Whose Name is The LORD, are The Most High over all the earth.

    We, like Asaph, are to pray for our enemies. We are to ask God to bless them with our blessings. Namely, salvation and deliverance. But also in ministering to their needs: with food, drink, and clothing; with medicine and shelter; with visiting the imprisoned. To console and comfort. To share what we have been given by God with those who do not yet know Him personally. [Matthew 25:31-40]. Why? That they may KNOW that God Is The Lord.