PSALM 38
David chastened with sickness by the LORD verse 1- 8
O LORD – rebuke me not in YOUR wrath
neither chasten me in YOUR hot displeasure
for YOUR arrows stick fast in me
and YOUR hand presses me sore
There is no soundness in my flesh because of YOUR anger
neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin
for mine iniquities are gone over mine head
as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me
My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness
I am troubled
I am bowed down greatly
I go mourning all the day long
for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease
and there is no soundness in my flesh
I am feeble and sore broken
I have roared by reason of the
disquietness of my heart
David expressed a feeling of loneliness verse 9- 12
Lord – all my desire is before YOU
and my groaning is not hid from YOU
my heart pants – my strength fails me
as for the light of mine eyes
it also is gone from me
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore
my kinsmen stand afar off
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me
and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things
and imagine deceits all the day long
David prays for deliverance verse 13- 16
BUT I – as a deaf man – heard not
and I was as a dumb man that opens not his mouth
THUS I was as a man that hears not
and in whose mouth are no reproofs
for in YOU – O LORD – do I hope
YOU will hear – O Lord my God
For I said
Hear me – lest otherwise they should rejoice over me
when my foot slips
they magnify themselves against me
David confesses his sin verse 17- 22
For I am ready to halt – and my sorrow is continually before me
for I will declare mine iniquity
I will be sorry for my sin
BUT mine enemies are lively – and they are strong
and they that hate me wrongfully
are multiplied
they also that render evil for good
are mine adversaries
BECAUSE I follow the thing that good is
Forsake me not – O LORD – O my God – be not far from me
make haste to help me – O Lord my salvation
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 O LORD, rebuke me not in YOUR wrath: neither chasten me in YOUR hot displeasure. (3256 “chasten” [yacar] means to instruct, rebuke, to punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience, discipline, admonish, exhort, or teach)
DEVOTION: Most of us grow up with our parents. There are children that are put in homes that their parents don’t want or can’t have but the majority grow up with their birth parents.
Here we find that once the LORD enters our lives, we know that HE is going to discipline us, so that, we are obedient to HIS Word. HE gives instructions to all parents on how to raise their children in the Word of God.
HE wants all children to be obedient to parents who honor HIM. HE has rules that parents are to follow to help their children understand what HE expects, as well as, what the parents expect for those who want to honor the LORD.
Discipline is not easy for the parents or the children. It is easy for the LORD to set the rules to follow but not easy for children to learn and parents to teach. So parents say they don’t want to discipline their children because the love them too much. That is a lie.
If we love our children, we want them to know the LORD and obey HIM because we know that that is the only way to heaven. It is also the only way that our world will have the right rules to obey.
The Bible gives enough instruction to help any parent with their children. If the Word of God gives us a discipline, we need to know it and follow it if our children are going to honor the LORD with their lives.
Parents need to set the example of what a individual looks like that is trying to be obedient to the LORD. They will fail at times and need to explain to their children that they failed but have asked the LORD’S forgiveness and their forgiveness.
CHALLENGE: We need to be willing to admit when we are wrong and show our children that we have to obey the LORD as well.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
:3 “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones, because of my sin.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). (Anger 2195 זַעַם [zaʿam /zah·am/] n m. From 2194; TWOT 568a; GK 2405; 22 occurrences; AV translates as “indignation” 20 times, “anger” once, and “rage” once. 1 anger, indignation. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: God is angry! To realize that the Lord of all, who has the power to do as He wishes, is angry can be a terrifying thought! To feel the extent of God’s disapproval and know that it is directed toward me is heartrending. David begins his prayer addressing the real problem, his sense of alienation from God. His sickness, guilt, and hostile human relationships are all secondary to the primary issue. David’s opening plea to God graphically portrays his feelings as being like those of God’s enemy, shot through by His “arrows” which “pierce [him] deeply.” The pain goes right to his heart. Simultaneously, God’s “hand presses [him] down,” much as a parent might discipline a child by restraining him physically from moving away. Thus David feels weighted down under the heavy “hand” of God.
His words and expressive phrases tell how deeply agitated the psalmist is over this separation.
When we feel the weight of displeasure by someone we love, we attempt to regain that sense of relationship and intimacy with them. David does as well and his confession is revealing the depth of his desire to be reconciled to the Lord again.
Do we hurt when we know that the Lord is displeased with our actions or words! Do we weep over the sin that causes the Lord to be angry? Our sensitivity and passion for the Lord is revealed by our apathetic or desirous hunger for the Lord’s approval!
CHALLENGE: Spend a few moments with the Lord to ensure your closeness to Him! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
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: 9 Lord all my desire is before YOU, and my groaning is not hid from
YOU. (585 “groaning” [‘anachah] means sighing, the act of groaning or expressing pain or disapproval by utterance, expression of grief, moaning, or sounds or expressions of emotional or physical pain.)
DEVOTION: We can’t hide what we are feeling from the LORD. HE knows what is going on in our lives and why. HE knows our every sin and our every accomplishment. HE is watching over us if we are one of HIS children.
Once we become a child of God we want to please HIM with our actions. Sometimes we are not thinking when we do things that displease HIM but other times we know that HE will be displeased and don’t seem to care.
When our parents give us rules to follow or tasks to perform we are suppose to follow them, as long as, they don’t go against the laws of God that are found in the Word of God.
So each day we have to make decisions based on what we know of our parent’s rules and the LORD’S rules. These rules should agree if our parents are genuine followers of the LORD.
Here we find that King David knew the rules the LORD expected him to follow but has not followed them. He knows that because of his actions he should be chastened of the LORD.
We have a habit of knowing the rules of God and seeing if we can just break one of the little ones but there are not little sins in God’s eyes. We have to confess as David does that we fail to live up to HIS expectations of us and ask HIS forgiveness and move on in obedience.
CHALLENGE: Confession of sin is not easy but it must be done to keep our fellowship with the LORD in place. HE will chasten us for our sin but HE will also forgive us our sins if we ask HIM. Our grief should be evident to HIM if it is real!
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 15 For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: YOU will hear, O Lord my God. (3176 “hope” [yachal] means to wait, expect, or tarry)
DEVOTION: Chastening of the LORD is never easy to face. Remember that the LORD chastens only his followers. The first step in HIS chasten seems to be weakness. The second step is sickness. The final step in HIS chastening is death. This is recorded for us in I Corinthians 11.
A point to remember is that all sickness is not a chastening of the LORD because of sin. Some sickness is from the LORD to have HIS glory shown in healing or HIS power in those who are afflicted with sickness.
One problem that David faces is that his family and friends all leave him during his time of chastening. This is when those who are fellow believers are supposed to come along side and help someone who has fallen to get up. It is not a time to leave them alone. Fellow believers should always be MINISTERS of reconciliation. They should want to do all they can to get a fellow believer back into close fellowship with the LORD.
The other problem is that those who are outside of the LORD’S family and sometime those who are fellow believers love to gloat over his chastening. They enjoy seeing him suffer. They make fun of him and make him the blunt of their jokes. The unsaved world loves to give those who are followers of the LORD a hard time when they sin. They love pointing a finger at those who follow the LORD but have personal failures. The answer is that all believers still sin after they are saved. They don’t become perfect until they are with the LORD. The only one who was perfect as a human was the LORD Jesus Christ.
The LORD is disciplining David for his sin. He doesn’t like the spanking. He doesn’t like to have God angry with him. David knew he did wrong. He could feel it in all parts of his body. He could feel it in his relationships with his lovers and friends. His friends turned into enemies, even through, the sin was not against them. David went from conviction of sin to confession of sin.
He wanted to reestablish a relationship with the LORD. He wanted forgiveness. How do we feel when we sin? Do we feel the chastening of the LORD? David felt the chastening.
David, however, put his trust in the LORD’S ability to forgive. He didn’t trust in his lovers or friends to forgive. We have to do the same in this life. The LORD is very longsuffering with us when our friends and lovers are not. Who are we supposed to put our eyes on? Keep them on the LORD, HE will never let us down or not forgive us when we confess our sins. Eternity is fixed for those who truly trust in the LORD but daily fellowship is a matter of confession. We are ones who have the expectation that the LORD will forgive us and hear our prayers.
We need to praise HIM each time HE shows us HIS lovingkindness. Remember that HIS mercy is new every morning. Are we praising HIM each morning???
A final thought is that sometimes the LORD sends trials in a Christians live to cause him to grow. HE is purging old habits away. It is not because of sin that these trials come but because the LORD wants an individual to become more fruitful. This happened in Job’s life. It can happen in the life of any believer. Paul’s thorn in the flesh was for the glory of God.
CHALLENGE: Don’t be a Job comforter when a fellow believer is going through a trial. We are to be ministers of reconciliation to our fellow believer. We are to be an encourager to a fellow believer. There are enough other people who like to give a believer a hard time.
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:18 “For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.” (“Sin,” 2403 חַטָּאָה [chattaʾah], 1 sin, sinful. sin, sin offering. 2a sin. 2b condition of sin, guilt of sin. 2c punishment for sin. 2d sin-offering. 2e purification from sins of ceremonial uncleanness. [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.]
DEVOTION: The title of this psalm is “a psalm of David, to bring to remembrance” (verse 1 in Hebrew). So the title says that David wanted to remember it. One other psalm has this title, Psalm 70. Both psalms deal with David’s struggles with his enemies, and his pleas for God’s intervention. Many of David’s complaints in Psalm 38 also have a Messianic fulfillment in Jesus’s death on the cross (as in Psalm 22).
But David also recognizes that he has sinned and asks the Lord for His forgiveness. This word can mean either a specific sin or the general state of sinfulness that describes our fallen nature. David does not appear to confess a specific sin in this psalm (more likely it was composed during the time he was running from Saul and his army). Yet, David also recognizes that we are frequently not aware of our own sins or the impact they have on others.
For the believer, sin still continues to affect us because of our fallen nature (Romans 7:14-25), and we long for the day when we will be fully sanctified before our Lord. That is why we need to ask the Lord for forgiveness every day. This is not an “I am just a worm” sort of prayer (which is based in our own insecurity and lack of self-worth), but a prayer of coming before our Lord and asking Him to restore us to full fellowship with Him (based on our realization of our need to have fellowship with Him throughout the day). We also need to be quick to call sin what it is throughout the day and agree with God about it. Both of these are reasons why David wanted to remember this psalm.
CHALLENGE: Is there any area of your life where you need to get a grip on your sin? Are there any relationships you need to restore based on your past sin? God wants us to truly be sorry for our sin and agree with Him about the steps we need to take. (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Humility before God verse 5- 14
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Confession of sin by David verse 15- 22
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Prayer of confession verse 15- 22
Doesn’t want LORD to forsake him verse 21
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 15, 21
Anger of the LORD verse 3
Lord – Adonai (Master, Owner) verse 9, 15, 22
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 15, 21
O Lord my God verse 15
Lord my salvation verse 22
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Lovers verse 11
Friends verse 11
Kinsmen verse 11
Enemies verse 19
People who hate verse 19
Adversaries verse 20
people who render evil for good
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Sin verse 3, 18
Iniquities verse 4, 18
Foolishness verse 5
Snares before believers verse 12
Speak mischievous things verse 12
Imagine deceits verse 12
Rejoicing over fall of believer verse 16
Foot slips verse 16
Hate verse 19
Evil verse 20
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Rebuke verse 1
Chasten verse 1
Rest verse 3
Troubled verse 6
Desire verse 9
Hope verse 15
Prayer verse 15, 16
Sorry for sin verse 18
Follow good verse 20
Help verse 22
Salvation [deliverance] verse 22
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
David (author of Psalm)
Doesn’t want the LORD to
Rebuke him in wrath
Chasten in HIS hot displeasure
Feels the arrows of the LORD
No rest in his bones because of his sin
His sins are over his head and heavy
Foolishness admitted
Mourning over sin
Disquietness of heart
Groaning
Light of eyes has gone out
Everyone has moved afar off
Like a deaf and dumb man
Wants LORD to hear him
Ready to halt
Sorrow is continually before him
Declares his iniquities
Sorry for his sin
Follows good
Wants LORD close to him
Wants LORD to make haste
Prays to the LORD of his salvation
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
38:9–12. David then described the effect of his suffering on others. First, his pitiable state lay open before the Lord (vv. 9–10). God knew that he sighed at the point of death. Second, his friends avoided him (v. 11). Third, his enemies spoke evil of him and planned ways to deceive him and ruin him (v. 12; cf. 35:4, 8; 40:14; 70:2). ( Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 823). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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David opened the psalm with “Lord—Jehovah,” and now he addressed God once more, this time as “Lord—Adonai—Master.” He will use both names in verses 15 and 21–22. For a brief moment, he took his eyes off his own sufferings and looked to the Lord, knowing that God saw his heart and knew all his longings. God knows what we want, but He also knows what we need. Then why pray? Because God has commanded us to pray, and “you do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2, nkjv). Furthermore, as we pray, God works in our hearts to give us a clearer understanding of ourselves and of His will for us. Prayer isn’t a theological concept to analyze and explain; it’s a privilege to cherish and a blessing to claim.
David’s focus now was on the people around him, and he felt abandoned and lonely. The people who should have encouraged and comforted him—his loved ones and friends—kept their distance, along with his enemies, who wanted him to die. David expected his enemies to plot against him (v. 12), gloat over his fall (v. 16), hate him, slander him, and return evil for the good he did to them (vv. 19–20), but he didn’t think his friends and relatives would turn against him. (See 31:11–12; 41:9; 69:8; 88:8, 18; Job 19:13–19.) “Sore” in verse 11 means “a stroke, a blow” and is sometimes translated “a plague,” the word used to describe leprosy. David’s family and closest friends were treating him like a leper and keeping their distance. They didn’t want to be contaminated! But before we criticize them, have we been obeying Galatians 6:1–2 and 2 Corinthians 2:5–11?
As he grieved over his sins and over the unconcern of his loved ones, David realized that his enemies were plotting to get him out of the way (v. 12). They talked about his ruin and destruction, and he heard what they were saying; but he did not reply to their threats or their false accusations. He knew he had sinned, so why put up a feeble defense? But he also knew that his accusers were sinning and really had no cause for deposing him. But suppose he did win his defense and then fall again (v. 16)? His enemies would then have a stronger case against him. So, the wisest course was to remain silent. That being the case, he kept quiet and turned the matter over to the Lord. He followed the instructions he had given in Psalm 37. (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., pp. 148–149). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
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Prayers surround a core of intense lament (vv. 2–20). In many ways David’s laments parallel those of Job. David’s perspective is that his painful plight is due, at least in part, to his personal sin. Organizationally, David’s opening and closing prayers in Ps 38 relate to two onslaughts by enemies. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ps 38:1–22). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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2. The Divine chastisement generally stimulates the cunning policy of the wicked (ver. 12). And thus it often happens that in the hour of Divine chastisement inward grief of soul is combined with outward exigencies. When wicked men see the good in trouble then they consider it a favourable time for executing their hellish schemes. They are unmerciful; they are cowardly; their strength is in stealth; they are malicious; they are ever active; they promote slander; they delight in lies. God only can defeat their cunning devices. (Exell, J. S. (1892). Psalm 36–38. In Psalms 1–87 (Vol. 1, p. 181). New York; London; Toronto: Funk & Wagnalls Company.)
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Ver. 12. They also that seek after my life, &c.] His avowed and implacable enemies, whom nothing would satisfy but the taking away of his life: these came too near him; for these, he says, lay snares for me, as Satan does for the souls of men, as the Jews did for Christ, and as wicked men do for the saints, Psal. 124:7. And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things; to the injury of his character and reputation: and imagine deceits all the day long; contrive artful schemes to deceive; see Psal. 35:20. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 689). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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12. “They also that seek after my life lay snares for me.” Alas! for us when in addition to inward griefs, we are beset by outward temptations. David’s foes endeavoured basely to ensnare him. If fair means would not overthrow him, foul should be tried. This snaring business is a vile one, the devil’s own poachers alone condescend to it; but prayer to God will deliver us, for the craft of the entire college of tempters can be met and overcome by those who are led of the Spirit. “They that seek my hurt speak mischievous things.” Lies and slanders poured from them like water from the town-pump. Their tongue was for ever going, and their heart for ever inventing lies. “And imagine deceits all the day long.” They were never done, their forge was going from morning to night. When they could not act they talked, and when they could not talk they imagined, and schemed, and plotted. Restless is the activity of malice. Bad men never have enough of evil. They compass sea and land to injure a saint; no labour is too severe, no cost too great if they may utterly destroy the innocent. Our comfort is, that our glorious Head knows the pertinacious malignity of our foes, and will in due season put an end to it, as he even now sets a bound about it. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 27-57 (Vol. 2, p. 201). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)
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He was deserted by his friends and derided by his foes: “My lovers and friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.”
We have now come to the clue for which we have been searching. What kind of disease was it in Israel which set a man apart from family and friends; which drove him as a dreadful pariah outside the camp; which caused him to roar his uncleanness whenever anyone started to approach? What fearful affliction caused the Jews to flee from anyone tainted with it? What was looked upon as the very stroke of God? Surely it was leprosy. David had become a leper! Or so it seems.
That fact alone, perhaps, would help account for the strange silence of the historians about David’s sickness. How could they record that about the best, the bravest, and the most beloved of all their kings? David does not hesitate, however. He says: “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore.” The word he uses for “sore” is the word specifically used in the Old Testament for the plague of leprosy. No wonder even his family fled from him. Had it been anyone but David, anyone but the king, he would have been driven outside the camp, forced to cover his lip, forced to cry unceasingly, “Unclean! Unclean!”
David’s sorrows were spiritual—the leper could have no place in the sanctuary. David’s sorrows were social—nobody wanted to come near him. (Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary (Vol. 1, Ps 38:11–12). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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2 Timothy 3
As Christians, we must be on our guard to follow the truth continually.
INSIGHT
The Scriptures are designed to be the basis of truth for leading a Christian to maturity in Jesus Christ. They are accurate and trustworthy, afford adequate knowledge, and lead to a godly, biblical lifestyle. They also yield a biblical ministry: “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (v. 17). A mature Christian is one who knows what he needs to know (knowledge), is what he needs to be (lifestyle), does what he needs to do (ministry), and is guided by the Scriptures in all of this.
(Quiet Walk)
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Evil People Hate God’s People
“Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.” (Psalm 139:21-22)
Once a conscious choice has been made to reject God’s truth and love, an individual begins to hate God and the people of God. The Scriptures are replete with these insights, but two references should suffice to establish the teaching—“they that hate the righteous shall be desolate” (Psalm 34:21) and “the bloodthirsty hate the upright” (Proverbs 29:10).
Don’t be surprised at the hatred of godly issues and people. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:18-19).
Perhaps more alarming than the widespread evidence that many are running full-tilt into the “broad way” leading to destruction (Matthew 7:13) are the few who have found the “strait gait” leading to eternal life and yet continue to remain indifferent to the crisis of evil surrounding our country, our churches, and our families.
Would God that our leaders would have the same passion the psalmist felt when he wrote, “Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law” (Psalm 119:53). Perhaps it is time that we each feel something of the godly sorrow that caused “rivers of waters [to] run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (Psalm 119:136) or sense an ache when we “beheld the transgressors, and [were] grieved; because they kept not thy word” (Psalm 119:158).
As our text notes, “I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.” “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me” (Psalm 101:6). (
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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KNOWING GOD
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:13
We may know, and should know, that we are in a relationship to God and that we possess His life. That is the nature of the Christian life. “Hereby,” says John, “know we”—we know it, and we are certain of it. John’s whole business in writing this letter is that we may have this knowledge: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).
Now we all possess this knowledge, and we must never be satisfied with anything less than that. This knowledge is to me the very essence of the New Testament teaching. What the Bible offers us is nothing less than this knowledge that God is in us and we in Him, and we should not rest for a moment until we have it. We have no right to be uncertain—“that ye may know.” Christians who are uncertain of these things are doing dishonor to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the work of Christ upon the cross, and to His glorious resurrection. We must not rest until we have full and certain assurance, confidence, and jubilation. The whole of the New Testament has been written in order that we may have it, and I argue that this is something that really must be inevitable. I cannot understand anyone who not only lacks this certainty, but who would even be prepared to argue against such a certainty.
As unbelievers we were dead; we had no spiritual life. A Christian must be born again, by faith, in order to have the life of God in his soul. So is it possible that we can have such life in us and not know it? I say that is impossible!
A Thought to Ponder
We must not rest until we have full and certain assurance, confidence, and jubilation.
(From The Love of God, pp. 95-96, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
WHAT IS LEGITIMATE IN PRAYER?
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Psalm 74:10
Pleas and arguments and requests are perfectly legitimate in prayer. Have you noticed how men of God prayed? They knew God was omniscient; so they not only made their requests known to Him but also pleaded with Him. And what I like above everything else is the way they argued with Him. Moses, for example, did so. On one occasion he came down from the Mount and found the people rebellious, and when he found God threatening to disown them and leave them to their own devices, Moses said to God, “You cannot do this.”
Look too at the man in Psalm 74. “O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?” (Psalm 74:10). He says in effect, “Lord, why do You allow men to do these things?” I believe God as Father delights in listening to such pleas and reasonings and arguments. This flabby generation of Christians seems to have forgotten what our fathers used to delight in when they talked about “pleading the promises.” They did not regard that as offensive. They had no sort of mock humility, but they felt they were entitled, according to this teaching, to go to God as the psalmist did and remind him of His own promises. They said, “Lord, I do not understand. I know it is my imperfection, but I am certain of these promises. Lord, help me to see how the promises are to be related to these perplexities.”
So it is perfectly right to plead with God; our Lord pleaded with Him. In His great prayer in John 17 our Lord argued with God by bringing His requests. He reminded God of His own promises and of His own character. I believe God delights in this as Father, and as we do these things in this way our hearts will be reassured before Him, and often we shall be amazed and astonished at the answers that we receive.
A Thought to Ponder: Pleas and arguments and requests are perfectly legitimate in prayer. (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Saved in Eternity, p. 37. )
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STORMS IN OUR LIVES
by Anne R. C. Neale
Our lives are filled with sunny days and stormy ones
We never can really predict the weather,
We also have stormy days in our everyday lives
Of things that come into our lives that we have to “weather”,
Losing a job, paying bills, an illness too,
These are Life’s Storms we have to live through,
But the “sunny days” are the best days that we know,
And we know God is with us with both stormy days and sunny days, that is so,
Life isn’t easy has been often said,
That is true, but we must learn to get through them until we’re dead,
But our spiritual life will be a utopia for us,
But we must Believe in God, have Faith, and In God we must Trust.
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Do not let any of the things of the world or past mistakes paralyze your hearts. I believe there are Christians who have allowed some of their past mistakes to paralyze them. You were so bright and cheerful in your spiritual life once, and then you made some tragic mistake or had something happen to you. You got out of it some how, and prayed and wept your way out of it. But it did something to you, and now you cannot lick it. Past wrongs that have been done to you, past failures, times you thought you were going to win and did not, or present sins or discouragement-these things are not mental at all. They are deeper than that; they are subconscious, and they prevent us from believing. I most urgently exhort you, and I trust God Almighty to deliver you; to sponge that out of your spirit; to sponge that out of your heart so you are not hindered by unbelief. (A.W. Tozer, Rut, Rot or Revival: The Condition of the Church, pp. 162-163)
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