Light in Darkness

Psalm 141 English Standard Version (ESV)

Give Ear to My Voice

A Psalm of David.

141 

O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me!
    Give ear to my voice when I call to you!

2 

Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
    and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

3 

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
    keep watch over the door of my lips!

4 

Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
    to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
    and let me not eat of their delicacies!

5 

Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
    let my head not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

6 

When their judges are thrown over the cliff,[a]
    then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 

As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
    so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.[b]

8 

But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;
    in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless![c]

9 

Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me
    and from the snares of evildoers!

10 

Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
    while I pass by safely.

(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+141&version=ESV)

Have you ever been surrounded by wickedness?  The answer should be “yes”, because this world is wickedness.  However, there are times when we might see that wickedness clearer than we ever have before.  It would be so easy to just join the crowd and become a part of it.  But that is when we need to pray that we do not bend to their wicked ways.  People, especially wicked ones, have a tendency to draw us into their little schemes.  If we don’t join in we are ridiculed and made fun of.  What do we want to do?  We want to ridicule right back at them. 

David recognizes this and he doesn’t want to be like those who are wicked.  He asked the Lord to guard His mouth and keep watch over his lips.  At one time I had that verse posted on my computer at work and should probably put it there again.  Often times we can jump right in to the sin of a filthy mouth when we hear filthy language.   I am not talking just about cussing but the filthiness of gossip, slander, and just flat out unwholesome talk.  We get caught up in the news of the day and we become a part of it.

When we experience this, the One we need to go to is God.  We need to ask Him for strength to not succumb to the evilness around us.  David did this and even when he could have killed his enemy, he allowed him to live.  He could have so easily said, “He deserved it” yet he chose to honor the king, his enemy, and not to follow in his path.  In doing this He ultimately honored God.

We need to also remember that the righteousness man may have advice that we don’t want to hear but that God wants us to hear.  So often people just want to hear what is fluffy and nice.  But God has placed people in our lives who may rebuke us, if they are righteous it can bring us healing, if they discipline us, it is out of kindness.  A righteous person finds it difficult to do these things but knows that is what is best for their friend.  Don’t discount the words from a person who truly loves the Lord but rather pay heed to them.  Seek God and His Word and know, that even in the midst of darkness there is light and the light is God shining down on us.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila

What Should We Pray

Psalm 140 English Standard Version (ESV)

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

140 

Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
    preserve me from violent men,

2 

who plan evil things in their heart
    and stir up wars continually.

3 

They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
    and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah

4 

Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    preserve me from violent men,
    who have planned to trip up my feet.

5 

The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
    and with cords they have spread a net;[a]
    beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah

6 

I say to the Lord, You are my God;
    give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!

7 

O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
    you have covered my head in the day of battle.

8 

Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
    do not further their[b] evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah

9 

As for the head of those who surround me,
    let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

10 

Let burning coals fall upon them!
    Let them be cast into fire,
    into miry pits, no more to rise!

11 

Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
    let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

12 

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
    and will execute justice for the needy.

13 

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
    the upright shall dwell in your presence.

(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+140&version=ESV)

Sometimes I wonder why David had to endure such pain and agony.  I understand that when the Israelites turned from God and worshipped other gods how the One true God had to help them realize who He was.  He did that through placing them in exile or causing them to wander in the desert for 40 years.  Yet, David, a humble man, appointed by God to be king, has to run for His life because of an evil king.  Then I think, that is why David was a man after God’s own heart.  He would cry to God when He was in trouble.  David didn’t put his trust in man but rather God.  When David did messed up he didn’t make excuses for himself, rather, he confessed to God. 

Often times when trials and tribulations come our way we cry to God and our words are, “Why?” ; “Why me?”; “Why my loved one?” and the answer is always because of a fallen world.  When sin entered this world, it was no longer perfect.  Sin of mankind affects us all.  Our cry should be the cry of David to wipe the enemy out of this world and far from us. 

At some point, the righteous will see justice but until that time we must continue to remain strong in Him.  We must remember to put our trust in the One True God not in the circumstances of life.  Life will happen, trouble will come, but our God will sustain His people.  He will ultimately give us a place where there will no longer be any suffering.  We can remain strong by trusting Him and seeking Him with all our heart.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila

He Knows Us Better Than We Know Ourselves

Psalm 139 English Standard Version (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

139 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 

You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 

Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5 

You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.

6 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9 

If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 

even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.

11 

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”

12 

even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

13 

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.

15 

My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

17 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!

18 

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

19 

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
    O men of blood, depart from me!

20 

They speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies take your name in vain.[b]

21 

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

22 

I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

23 

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts![c]

24 

And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=ESV)

This, to me, is the most beautiful Psalm ever written and the content is so amazing to me.   To think, when no one else even knew I was conceived and I was growing inside my mother’s womb (before she even knew that), God knew who I was and He was forming me into His creation.  Wow, I have literally never been alone. 

Every time I read this Psalm I think of the DNA strand.  Does it not look like a knitting stitch?  How would David know that?  Yet his description of how he was knitted in our mother’s womb is so amazing to me.                                  

When one of my girls was little she prayed a prayer to God but she did it very quietly.  She conveyed to her sister that she wasn’t sure if God heard her or not but her sister reassured her that God can hear everything.  Yes, indeed He can, He can even hear our thoughts!!!  In fact, He knows our thoughts and our words even before they are even formed.  Wow, He is an amazing God.

What’s more, He even knows where I am.  I have to think back in the Garden when Adam and Eve were trying to hide from God, they couldn’t.  It reminds me of playing hide and seek with a 2 year old who hides in plan sight but we still ask, “where are you?” .   We can’t hide from God, we are in plan sight and He is always there with us.  Like we saw in our last passage He holds us in high regard!  Yet those who are haughty He knows from afar.   Notice that once again, He still knows where they are but He is far from them.  It is simply a choice that we have to make as to whether He is near to us or far away but we can never escape His presence.  Besides, who would want to?   Only the ones who are haughty and they can’t even escape Him totally.

We all have enemies.  Some of those enemies of life are just the everyday happenings of life.  It could be disease, substance dependence, relationships, workplace, time or lack thereof, and the list goes on.  Some of our enemies are people who have hurt us, those with whom it is hard to forgive, those whom we find it hard to trust.  David’s enemy was the king, who David had faithfully served, yet the king sought out to kill him.  Whatever or whomever your enemy is, God knows.  He has it under control and He is right there with you.  Take His hand, He is seeking you, you must seek Him with all your heart.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila