Psalm 140Just like David, God wants us to recognize our need for him. He desires for us to pour out our thoughts and feelings to him. God knows all things but he wants us to be willing to be transparent. Think about Adam in the garden. Adam hid from God in the garden. God knew exactly what Adam was doing and exactly where he was, but he still asked "where are you?" God wants to hear from us and talk with us. We are so silly to think we can hide from God. In this psalm, David asks the Lord for protection from his enemy. I love to read the prayers of David. It is encouragement to read the details that he pours out to the Lord. When I read verses eight through eleven I think about how honest am I with the Lord. Here David is telling the Lord exactly how he feels. He wants hot coals poured on the enemy's head. David wants them thrown into the fire and into a miry pit never to rise. This reminds me of the thoughts I have had about others who have mistreated me. Thoughts that I never felt like I could say to God because it was ugly. Things that I thought I would "hide" from God. These prayers of David teach me that God wants our honesty. He already knows my ugly thoughts but when I bring it to him openly it somehow seems to change my heart.
Psalm 141
I smiled with a little giggle when I read verse three.
"Set a guard over my mouth Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."
How many times has my mouth been the downfall. Those evil things that seem to fly out sometimes. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" Luke 6:45 "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it?" Jer. 17:9 I am not usually an outspoken person and most people would describe me as quiet but to those who are close to me know that I do have those moments of mouthy-ness. It sometimes comes as a surprise but it happens. What a great prayer to ask the Lord to be the guard of your mouth. Lord, keep me from saying stupid things. He knows our thoughts but we can repent for that in privacy with the Lord but once those words fly out there comes a whole set of issues. But my favorite verse in this chapter is verse five. "Let a righteous man strike me - that is a kindness..." It is such a blessing to have a godly friend correct me. It is never easy to hear someone tell us our faults but it is so much better coming from a person who loves you in the Lord.
Psalm 142
Verse seven is one of my favorite verses. "Set me free from my prison that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me." I memorized this verse a few years ago because I realized how much of a prison fear is to me. Fear has been such bondage in my life. I still pray this prayer at times when the fear comes over me. Things that keep us from giving God the glory and praise He is worthy of can be a prison. It separ
ates us from the Lord and we need to be set free.
Psalm 143
David is asking the Lord to listen to him and not to bring judgement on him. Verse nine is one
that stuck out to me because he is asking God to rescue him from his enemies but the most interesting part is when he says "...for I hide myself in you." Think of a little child who is acting shy or scared in a crowd of people. If the mom or dad is standing near by what does the child do?
He hides behind mom's (or dad's) legs, grabbing on to feel secure. This is what I think of when I read this verse. What security we can have when we hide behind Almighty God the very one who created us.
Psalm 144
Verses three and four say, " O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow." Our life is short, we should make it count for the Lord. Only God can give our life meaning and purpose. Give him praise for everything because without Him we are nothing. "Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the Lord."
Psalm 145
This is a psalm of praise. Praising God is a choice and we can never give too much praise to our God. He is worthy. He is gracious and compassionate. His kingdom is everlasting. God is faithful to all His promises. He is righteous in all his ways. "Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever."
Amy, when I read 141:3 "Set a guard over my mouth Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." I whispered a prayer as well! Lord, watch my mouth...help me to use it to praise you and not to hurt others.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I too was struck by the verse, "Set a guard over my mouth." Maybe I need a muzzle instead! So many times, I wish I could have taken back just those "few words" I let go. But you never can. Lord, help us to remember to watch what we say. What a beautiful post Amy with your examples of children "hiding behind" their parents. What a beautiful picture of God - what security we have indeed.
ReplyDeleteIt seems there is a common verse here, friends. :) "set a guard" ...."the door of my lips".....two huge topics. I find that most of the times my words have hurt someone, that it was not intentional, but a misunderstanding. However, it still makes me want to never open my mouth again! Realizing that's nearly impossible in my line of work, I ask forgiveness and invite the guard once again.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm.......I wonder what such a guard looks like????
that is something we all must learn to control. No matter how good we are at it, something bad always comes out when we least expect it. That is being human. God is so good and so great, he forgives us if we just ask, that is being a child of the King.
ReplyDeleteAmy - I really loved what you said at the beginning about God knowing our heart and not being able to hide from Him and God wanting us to open our hearts to Him. I had never thought about how that is evidenced by God asking Adam where he was even though He know where Adam was. That was a "light bulb" moment for me! I also agree with all the other comments about needing a muzzle for our mouths...the same goes for me!!! Once something has been said you cannot turn back the clock and take it back. So we need that guard over our mouths to prevent that from happening. I also loved your picture of the child hiding behind her mommy. What a fantastic analogy of the security we have in the Lord! Great post as always Amy!!!
ReplyDeleteThis post hit home for me, Amy. In my profession you must use your words on a daily (hourly) basis. Lord, help me to always use my words to encourage people and not tear them down. Our mouths can be so praiseworthy. You never know how much your words can mean to someone.
ReplyDelete