“Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplication. 7. In the day of trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.”
Someone mentioned to me one day that a lot of my articles are based on Psalms. I thought about that and came to the conclusion that since I am in the process of reading the Bible through all of the time, and there are one hundred fifty psalms, a lot of my Bible reading time is spent in psalms because there are so many of them, and they teach us a lot about life and about God. The text that I have used today is a case in point. David gives a wonderful description of God in the entire 86th psalm, but verses 4-7 especially spoke to my heart. In verse 4, David was rejoicing in the Lord and was in a spirit of prayer. He stated it “I lift up my soul.” When David thought about God, he was touched in the deepest part of himself – his soul. When is the last time that you meditated on God and He touched your soul? I asked myself the same question and concluded that I don’t do it nearly enough. In verses 5-7, David points out why he chose to go in this way. David meditated on the goodness of God: “For thou, Lord, art good.” There are many people who dwell on the judgments of God, and dismiss Him. That is a bad mistake, because God is not just a wrathful deity; rather, He is the God who sent His Son into the world to die for our sins. Take a little time today and meditate on the ways that God has been good to you, and you will feel Him in your soul. If you can’t think of the ways that God has been good to you, you need to do some soul searching and discover, or rediscover the ways that God has been good to you. What about your family? What about your children? What about your grandchildren? What about your Christian friends? What about the fact that you live in this great country? What about the fact that he died on the cross for you that you might have everlasting life as well as a relationship with Him. These ought to give you a few hints about how good God has been to you. David meditated on the forgiveness of God: “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive." I don’t know what point in his life that David wrote this psalm, but if you know the full story of David, there was plenty for God to forgive. I like to think that David wrote this psalm after he wrote Psalm 51, which was David’s prayer for forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba. Take a little time and read David’s heart cry to the Lord to take him out of the misery of his guilt. We should praise God, for He is a forgiving God, who will cast our sins behind us and lead us on to a better life. The problem with a lot of people is that they think that they have no reason to be forgiven. Whatever you need to be forgiven for today, take it to the Lord in prayer and you will find that He is still “plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Him.” David meditated on the willingness of God to hear his prayer: “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” David didn’t have to wonder if God would answer him; he knew that God would answer him. He will answer you too. He might answer immediately, or He might tell you to wait for the answer, but He will answer. He is, after all, Sovereign God, and He will answer you based on what is best for you. I have heard people say that they prayed and God did not answer. This is because they do not realize that God answers in His time. Take a little time today and meditate on these verses and draw closer to the God who is good, who is plenteous in mercy, ready to forgive and to answer your prayers. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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