Psalm 69
9 Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
When people are skeptical of God, sometimes they may mock him, and are upset over the fact that you trust in him. This can be unpleasant, but God can take care of himself. I don’t know why someone would have such energy to be perturbed by a God they don’t think exists anyway.
Pray for skeptical people to be open to examining the evidence.
Psalm 68
But God will smash the heads of his enemies, crushing the skulls of those who love their guilty ways.
The violent language here doesn’t seem to be too much for those who trust in God. These words have been around for several thousand years and haven’t been “censored” out, yet. Regardless, if God is running around today crushing skulls or not, this passage has my attention.
Thank God for his mercy.
Now there are 1500 viewings of my video response to Donald Miller’s prayer last week. Also 44 comments, so far! This is an excellent opportunity to see how you can actually wade into the public square and make a few observations without being considered a “jerk.” Almost every single response disagrees with me on the post. Here is what I have learned so far in my first venture into YouTube video commenting.
May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.
When we see the word, “nation,” in the Bible it generally means “people groups or ethnic groups” as much as it means political entities of independent sovereignty. The impact of Christianity continues to expand in an amazing way in all people/ ethnic/ language groups. “…all the nations” may not be such a stretch.
Pray for those who share the love of Jesus in ____________(fill in the blank with any country).
Psalm 66
If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, my Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer.
If we are honest before God we recognize our need for his forgiveness and we receive it. If we are not honest as his people, we choose not to receive the forgiveness he has already given on the cross. It doesn’t do us any good if we don’t think we need it. If we don’t know God and we are not seeking him we don’t receive the benefits of that forgiveness because we are not aware it exists. If we don’t know God and are open and seeking, he will find a way to draw us to the place of confessing our sins and realizing the forgiveness that is already available.
Pray for openness before God.
Psalm 65
9 You take care of the earth and water it,
making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water;
it provides a bountiful harvest of grain,
for you have ordered it so.
We don’t worship nature, but we certainly worship the God of Nature. This Psalm captures the poetic beauty of the natural world and the privilege of our capacity to appreciate it, if we take the time.
Look at a flower closely today and think about what you see.
Psalm 64
7 But God himself will shoot them with his arrows, suddenly striking them down.
Theologian Miroslav Wolf has said ‘a Christian can’t be a true pacifist unless he/she believes in a God of Vengeance.’ While I am not a pure pacifist, I understand Wolf’s thinking. With so much evil and injustice done by humans, there had better be proper justice parceled out by God in the scheme of things. God will have his way and do what is exactly right. We all need Jesus.
Pray for God to show you the freedom of confessing unrepentant sin.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFo9BLXAWsI&hl=en&fs=1]
my first venture into YouTube video response…interesting and so high tech!
Got over 400 views in 24 hours. What is that all about?!
Psalm 62
5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. The soul is central governing force of who we are. That’s a tough job. Much more difficult than any human job there is. Why is that? Because our lives ultimately revolve around our soul. We are at the center of our existence. We are always “on” because we are, always. The only way we can experience true peace is through the design of the designer of our soul. God is the source. Rest is available. Pray for God to guide you to his peace.
