Let It Go – Day 18 of 75 Days
// July 13th, 2011 // 217church, 75 Days
Scripture Read: Psalm 35, 36
Key Verse: Psalm 35:12
“They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.”
Observation:
Throughout this Psalm, David is struck with hurt, pain & confusion. The people in these verses he refers to as lions, were people he once cared for & treated as family & friends. The depth of hurt he felt, he knew only God could repair. “Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!” Psalm 35:24.
Application:
I think it’s safe to say everyone, at some point, has felt like David in this Psalm. There is hurt confusion when you care for people deeply and then are wounded by them, feeling deceived and betrayed. When we live by the flesh, we instantly want to get angry in return or hurt them as they hurt us. The last thing we want to do turn to God or even worse, pray for them. David knew only the Father could make this pain go away. In today’s society, we need to remember substances, substitutes and getting even isn’t going to make peace in our hearts or take the strife out of our life. As hard as it is we have to remember to give what we do not understand to God because only He can be our vindicator.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for being our vindicator and saving us from those who seek to see our destruction. Help me to release the anger & pray for people who wound me. Be with us and protect us from harm & lift us from our places where we feel our cries go unheard. Do not allow us to play the victim. Thank you for your love, grace & guidance and keep us on the narrow path to you Lord.
By Sandy 217staff team
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Psalm 36 lays out the basic differnce between the wicked and righteous. The wicked do not fear God. He makes himself god and sees no wrong in what he does. On the other hand, the righteous get lost in the awe and wonder of who God is. God’s love never quits no matter what, it stretches across the universe reacing out to the objects of his affection, sinners lik you and me. God does what he promises to do and never wavers blanketing the world like the coluds. God does what is right day in and day out like the Rockies he will not be moved, solid and steady. His justice is inescapable it is as vast and deep as the oceans. He shows no partiality like the crashing of the waves on the shores. God is the deliverer of all creation. Creation groans for the day he will restore all things. He rains on the wicked as well as the righteous. How awesome is our God? How can I not want to please him? Every time I stop and think about God and who he is it blows my mind away.
God makes it very simple for us…wicked & righteous, we tend to complicate things and make it all about what we want to do. Thanks for your post
I was blown away by Psalm 36:8 “The delights of your house will be showered on them; you will give them drink from the river of your pleasures.” (Bible in Basic English) Seriously, the image of the “delights” of God being showered upon me and being able to drink from the river of “pleasures” of God! Come on! How amazing is that? YET, (I always seem to have a “yet”), I have to be aware that the “delights” and “pleasures” of God are not like the delights and pleasures of this world. Ever make something wonderful for your kids to eat that you know they’re gonna love but they turn up their nose at it. “But you haven’t even tasted it.” we’ll say. “Try it. You’ll like it.” Psalm 34:8 says “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” We get all excited about the delights and pleasures of ‘this’ world often ASSUMING they are better than what God has to offer when we won’t even “taste and see” that what He has is good.
Being able to “drink from the river of the pleasures of God” like it’s some ‘magical fountain’? It sounds so AMAZING ‘yet’ the reality is, He’s been offering it to me all along and how often have I been less interested in His “delights” and more interested in ‘other’ delights? But passing up on “the pleasures of God”? What the heck is wrong with me? His pleasures are perfect and pure. They fulfill and satisfy my deepest ‘needs’ despite the fact that sometimes my deepest ‘longings’ are elsewhere. Okay, sometimes He’s offering ‘manna’ when I want ‘milk-shakes’ but the sweet delights of this world that He would have me avoid come with consequences and chains. God’s goodness is more to be desired than worldly pleasure, wealth or fame. But what is it about this concept that is so wonderfully fresh to me today: “the pleasures of God” ? Cuz’ I need to hear what God has to say: “Try it. You’ll like it.”
Thank you for this great site of blessing so needed at this precious time of need in my life .Yes I’m seeking God’s kingdom first and have begun to make changes in my life. Please pray that I get all my medical benefits social security so that I can get out of this bad live in relationship and live my life for the Lord.
Thanks,
Jacquelyn J