Trust in the Salvation of the Lord

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest my me enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13)

 

Have you ever had the feeling that God has forgotten you? David had come to that point to pen this Psalm, feeling that God had long withdrawn Himself from his presence. David would come into King Saul’s court and play the harp for him, even after he had been anointed as the next king. After numerous attempts on his life by the king, He finally fled from the presence of Saul (1 Samuel 21:15-22) to the cave of Adullam. Then there is a space of an unknown duration of time. David is completely alone except for his fears and troubles, which followed him into the cave.

 

As a believer, regardless of the extent of our spiritual maturity, it’s possible to reach low points in our life where we actually feel that everyone—even God—has abandoned us. David had a very close relationship with God, so much so that he was the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:8). And yet, he was having this terrible cave experience. Notice how he did not try to hide his feelings, nor, do we see him complaining to others about his state. Instead, he cries out to God alone with complete honesty about being weak, failing, and being troubled. He had hit rock bottom! Do you feel like you’re in that cave right now, that pit of despair? Like David you are right where God wants you, and as you hit rock bottom, you need to realize that you’re not alone. Because at the bottom is the Rock. David realized that, and saw that he could only trust in the salvation of the Lord, not himself or anybody else. The turning point for David was when he cried out to God in prayer. We must remember that when we are in our own caves of despair. Rise above the downward pull of all your emotions and look up and talk to the Lord, for He has not abandoned you! Ask Him to consider and hear you, and to enlighten your eyes. Trust in His salvation! Remember this, to feel abandoned means once we were not.

 

 

 

 

Dale LaFrance               (please look up Psalm 34:8)

Is Your Speech Godly

Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the lord cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things, who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?” “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.” (Psalm 12:1-5)

Godly speech is not something we are born with or even taught. So, where does one acquire godly speech? The best way to answer that question is to see what Jesus said about it in Luke 6:45. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Godly men cease to be godly when they engage in speech that is insincere as we see in our focus passage. This takes place because they have filled their hearts with the things of this world instead of the things of God, which is primarily hiding Gods word there, Psalm 119:11. Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

When man disregards the Word of the Lord, and no longer hides it in his heart, and instead fills it with worldly things, he rebels against God. We are told what comes from a human’s mouth springs from the issues of the heart in Proverbs 4:23. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. We need to realize that disrespect of God’s authority and self-will are not merely matters of independence; they lead to excesses and unaccountable behavior resulting in the oppression of others as described in the last part of our focus passage.

The small member of our body, the tongue, is the hardest to control. Words said can so quickly lead to trouble. We so often speak too quickly, to harshly, without thinking, or out of anger and pride. Taming the tongue and controlling what we say takes discipline and diligence, and most of all, the power of the Holy Spirit (see James 3). When we set aside time every day and fill our hearts and minds with God’s Holy Word, and then meditate on them, we are more apt to bring forth pleasing and uplifting words, which is godlier. Give glory to God with all that you speak!
Dale LaFrance (please look up Ephesians 4:25-32)

Faith in the Lord’s Righteousness

The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lords’ throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence his soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.
(Psalm 11:4-7)

As we read the Psalms we can see a repeated theme: God sees and eventually punishes all evil, regardless of how unseen and unpunished it may appear to be. We have all seen those who live wicked lives and prosper in the process and wonder why and how they get away with it. There are those who may be tempted to walk away from their faith in God whey they see this going on with no end, which is exactly what the Lie Whisperer would want us to do. It would be dishonest to say that the struggle is not real to stay the course, especially in the midst of suffering and pain. We can see in our focus passage that it is a test of the righteous person’s patience and faith when he sees wicked men committing injustice. The Lord waits momentarily to see who will remain loyal to just ways. We must also bear in mind that momentarily waiting may seem like it will never end, 1 Peter 3:8. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day

David’s advisors and friends look to the earth alone for a solution while he himself looks to heaven. They, like many people today, judge by the appearance of the moment. As followers of Christ we should act like David. We should exercise our faith in beholding the righteous, sovereign Ruler of the world. Even when justice is suspended or subverted, we must remember that the Eternal Judge has not been blind on His throne. God will pour out His justice (see Genesis 19:24) out on the wicked just as on Sodom. This will occur in God’s timing not, so do not lose hope or faith in Him. He has, and will always judge righteously. Psalm 34:17 reminds us that God hears and answers. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. He then will reward those who have been made righteous through the redeeming blood of His sacrificed Son. Our reward will be a face-to-face fellowship with our Heavenly Father in heaven. Oh what a day that will be!

Dale LaFrance (please look up Proverbs 3:5-6)

God Will Bring Justice on the Wicked

But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, to repay it by Your hand. The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness until You find none. The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations have perished out of His land. Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more. (Psalm 10:14-18)

Living in a fallen world, we can see that many times the wicked cannot be restrained by the righteous in society. This is not a new dilemma; it is an evil that has been around since the fall of man. The Lie Whisperer loves to take people captive in so many ways spiritually and physically. Regardless of the oppression many if not most feel forsaken by God, which is exactly how the Lie Whisperer would want you to feel. When you read through both Psalm 9 and 10 you can see how King David chose instead to go to prayer (Psalm 9) and give thanksgiving for the Lord’s righteous judgments, and then how he sang a song (Psalm 10) of confidence in God’s triumph over evil.

There are many throughout history and even today who question God because of all the suffering, and also pose the question of “when will You deliver us or return for us?” As followers of Christ the Spirit within us will prompt us to pray as David did, when we see or ourselves are going through times of being downtrodden. The Spirit of God revealed deliverance to David as we read in our focus passage and we know it came to pass at the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath and when asked to read, He read this in Luke 4:18-19. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” He has not forgotten the downtrodden. He did come as promised to set the captive free and to give sight to the blind. All people who reject the truth of Jesus Christ are the ones who are held captive by Satan’s lies. Because of his lies, they are also blind to the spiritual truth that the Son of God brings to them, which then oppresses them. The children of God cannot expect true kindness, truth, or justice in this fallen world, especially from those who reject our Lord. However, we can take comfort in knowing that the once suffering Jesus, now reigns as King over all the earth, and of His dominion there will be no end. We have been given a foretaste of deliverance here on earth, one day soon Satan will be under our feet, because of the victory of Jesus Christ at the cross.
Dale LaFrance (please look up Isaiah 61:1-2)