For forty years I led you through the desert … yet your sandals did not wear out." Duet. 29:5
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
This is a prayer for every day. Days when you’re happy. Days when you’re sad.
Days when you’re healthy. Days when you’re sick.
Days when everything’s going your way. Days when it seems everything’s going against you.
Days when the sun is shining. Days when it rains.
Days when the LORD is on his throne. Days when –wait– there aren’t any other kind.
“When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.”
Lay thee down, O Death,
And with the last of my strength
Shall I with confidence step across thy ancient planks
To that bright land beyond,
Where I shall behold the face of Him
Who forever humbled thy dark, proud frame
And made thee but an unwitting bridge to paradise.
“No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. …For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.”
It is the glorious hope of the resurrection that is the source of our joy.
“Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who… [speak] the truth from sincere hearts.”
All who sincerely desire to worship the LORD may do so. There is an open invitation. If the door to heaven is locked, it is locked from the outside.
Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”
One does not become an atheist as a result of a rational, purely intellectual search for truth. There is certainly evidence enough in this finely-tuned universe for the existence of God.
No, it is ultimately a decision of the heart. Fools say in their hearts…
“Therefore, LORD, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation, even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.”
If you would live a truthful life in the midst of a lying generation, you must continually pray for wisdom and carefully guard your heart.
“Arise, O LORD!”
David pleads with the LORD to act, to intervene, to stand up from his throne as it were, and judge the nations.
“What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”
Because there is a God, in one sense there really are no mere mortals. There is no mere anything.
On the other hand, if there were no God, everything would have a mere status, for everything would be meaningless.
“For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.”
There is no problem, no obstacle, no besetting sin, no frustration, no anxiety, no feeling of failure, no change in attitude, no small victory or major accomplishment which the LORD does not fully understand. And He understands because He cares. So pour out your heart, Christian, pour out your heart.
“The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD will answer my prayer.”
It is enough to know that the LORD has heard my petition. Because he is faithful, he will not ignore it.
How can the LORD hear my petition, as well as the petitions of millions around the world, even offered at the same time?
In the words of a thirteen-year old boy in my Sunday School class, “No one knows. He’s God.”
