Psalm 140:1 – 144:15 (Continued)

June 09, 2011

Psalm 144 - A Prayer for Victory. It starts out with praise:

"Praise the LORD, my Rock, who trains me for war, who trains me for battle. He protects me like a strong walled city, and he loves me. He is my defender and my Savior, my shield and my protection..."

Then, after acknowledging who God is and what He does, the Psalmist asks the same question as Psalm 8:

"O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?"

The God of creation! How can it be that you care about us? Then he goes to the one who he as already acknowledged as LORD and asks Him to hold his enemies accountable.

"LORD, tear open the sky and come down. Touch the mountains so they will smoke. Send the lightning and scatter my enemies. Shoot your arrows and force them away. Reach down from above. Save me and rescue me (KJV - rid me and deliver me) out of this sea of enemies. They are liars; they are dishonest."

Then David tells God how he will praise Him for all He does, confirming again that is is God who saves. Then he repeats:

"Save me, rescue me from these foreigners. They are liars; they are dishonest."

Then David concludes the Psalm by asking God to bless him and his family and says:

"Happy are those who are like this; happy are the people whose God is the LORD."

That last line says it all. Happy are the people whose God is the LORD. David got it. He wasn't asking for what he wanted and for God's blessings first. No, he praised God—FIRST! The act of praising God first puts everything in the right order. It changes our perspective, and THEN we understand it is
                                                                        

God 

↓

Man.

The only way to begin to see the Hand of God working in your life (and open the door for His blessings), is to be in His Word and to ask Him what it is He wants you to do.

And now... the last six chapters in the Psalms. They are all about—PRAISE.

Addendum: 3/24/15 ~ Psalm 140:13 - "Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you."   

It was eight years ago when God clearly let us KNOW that we had to take a bold step—no matter what. We knew we were on a journey and embarking down an unknown path. While at times it was frightening to not be able to see where the path led or to know the length of the journey, we were SURE of one thing. We were not walking this path alone. We were walking on HIS footpath and we were determined to follow HIS lead.   

The promises of Psalm 140 mean even more to us today then they did on that summer day in July of 2007. (Her Name Was Jane) He IS our God. He HAS protected us. He WILL deliver us. "Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you."

Blessed be HIS name now and forevermore. 


Next Entry: Psalm 145:1 – 150:6