The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!
He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me,
who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me.
Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.
He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
to David and to his descendants forever.
Psalm 18:46 – 50, NIV
Have you ever caught yourself reading along in the Psalms or in Isaiah, nearly skimming through the Scripture, looking to get to the good part! I have!
That’s because … it’s always there! Just keep reading! In the worst of circumstances, when things seem most impossible, here comes one of those, “But God…” passages.
With the exception of total apostasy, and sometimes despite it, the glory of the Lord prevails. His glorious lovingkindness and the glory of His mercy and the out-raying of His truth and goodness win out, time after time after time. Glory to His Name!
There have been some dark moments in this Psalm. We have seen the Psalmist face torrents of destruction, cords of the grave and snares of death – was he just exaggerating?
There have been enemies and foes, all sorts, disasters, battles and attacks without number, but the Psalmist was made the head of nations.
I submit to you today, my dear friend, that those of you, those of us who are praying for nations, are at the head of those nations. We do not lead by mandate or dictate, but by our prayers and petitions which, if we pray according to the will of God, are more sure. (1 John 5:14, 15)
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14, 15
What leader would not like to know before he prayed that he would have the thing he asked? The problem is, of course, that so few ask of God, and of those few, how many petitions are in accordance with His perfect will?
Not leaders of nations only, of course. Leaders of families, of schools, of businesses, and yes, of churches. I hope you attend a church where the good and the entire will of God is your pastor’s delight.
For today, and in light of all we have discovered and experienced through Psalm 18, set your gaze upon someone you know and love who is in one of those very dark places, we ask without an agenda of our own what is God’s perfect will for that one, listen, trust His Spirit and His voice, and pray accordingly.
As Dennis Jernigan sings, “When the Prodigal comes running home, I (we) won’t be the one he sees!” He will see Jesus!… and wonderfully, in part, through our prayers.
Louis XIV of France
Hyacinthe Riguad, death of the artist, Wikipedia
Marketplace Monastics 