Psalm 5

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David. 1Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. 2Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. 4For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. 5The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong;6you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest. 7But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple. 8Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me. 9Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. 10Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins,  for they have rebelled against you. 11But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. ******************** The writer (ascribed to David in the introduction) is in trouble.  He has enemies who are trying to deceive him.  Where does he turn?  Sometimes we may not understand why people oppose us, but it doesn't matter.   He turns to God who can make his way straight- that is smooth and right.  Crooked ways waste precious time and life.  Truth is, if you do something good, you will have enemies.  If you are seeking to make a difference rather than doing nothing, you should expect it to be difficult because of the hassles of this life.  We all will face problems.  But the writer has patience because he has a God to wait on and trust in.  For those who have no outside help, impatience is the norm.  He waits until the morning, and prays that his enemies will be frustrated.      In the end, he prays for God's protection and blessing, and even rejoices ("Surely") in it.   For those who want to tell others about God, this is a great example.  Believing in God gives us an outside source of hope that allows us to face the problems of life with confidence.   Prayer: Lord, I may face many trials, but may I face them with you.  Thank you that I am not alone, and can wait on you to help me.  Help me to spread your love so others may also have this great source of peace and patience.

4/30/13- Not a Waiting Game

"The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in Him, so it is best for us to wait in patience-- to wait for him to save us."  (Lam. 3:25-26 GNT)

Thoughts:  Waiting on God is not a game.  It is not a way to manipulate God to give you what you want.  In fact, waiting is God's teaching us patience and grace.  Too many bad decisions are made in a hurry.
    Once King Saul was panicking because though his enemy was near, his soldiers were leaving out of fear or out of distractions from home (they were probably soldier- farmers for the most part).  Saul was supposed to wait on Samuel, but instead he assumed priestly power- power that was not his to take in order to hurry things up a bit.  In the end Saul lost his kingdom because of his lack of ability to trust in the Lord and wait on Him to do what He had already promised.
     So we lack patience.  We tend to want to be in control- and just want God to help us be in control.
    One of the Christian praying positions is to sit with open palms toward heaven.  It is a reminder that we have nothing in our hands, but we lift our hands to God who fills them with good things.
Today- remember patience, and remember to wait on God- even in the busy-ness.

Prayer:  Lord, we confess to you that we do not wait patiently for you to act.  Help us to work, but to work in patience- relying on your grace to save us at the proper time.