No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.



Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

Some things that you want to do, like take revenge, is not for you to do. It's God's job to repay, and just becuz he doesn't do it on your perfect timing, doesn't mean he won't do it. The same goes for exalting people. Because, no matter what you say itt's not going to matter anyway.

psalm 116 - a thankgiving psalm

The psalms are narrowed down to three main subjects:
1. Lament
2. Praise
3. Thanksgiving
I've focused a lot on Praise and Lament psalms but right now I want to focus on Thankgiving Psalms.  A Thankgiving Psalm has four characteristics:
1. The call for praise
2. Problem
3. Solution
4. Praise
Now, the 4 characteristics go in the order given. Let's look at psalm 116 for an example:

1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;

he heard my cry for mercy.

2 Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came upon me;

I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD :

"O LORD, save me!"

5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

7 Be at rest once more, O my soul,

for the LORD has been good to you.

8 For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling,

9 that I may walk before the LORD

in the land of the living.

10 I believed; therefore I said,

"I am greatly afflicted."

11 And in my dismay I said,

"All men are liars."

12 How can I repay the LORD

for all his goodness to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the LORD.

14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD

is the death of his saints.

16 O LORD, truly I am your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your maidservant;

you have freed me from my chains.

17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you

and call on the name of the LORD.

18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people,

19 in the courts of the house of the LORD—

in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD.

The call for praise. It's the first part of verse one, the part in bold.

The problem is in verse 3

The solution is in verse 8

The praise is started in verse 13 but the most of it is in verse 19.

I did a little research, ( this is kinda rough,) but psalms has the word praise in it 176 times! The entire bible, ( I think this is a very rough estimation) Has the word praise in it 352 times. that's like..... a third of the word praise in that one book! David of course, also needs lot's of help asking God to save him at least 43 different times!

David's youth

Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD,  my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you. Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

He said that he trusted God in his youth and at birth. At birth!

"Train up a child in the way he should go, andwhen he is old he will not depart from it."

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.

What a comfort to have a God that shares your troubles. He's a merciful God, I mean, he's GOD! He doesn't have to came down andhelp us or share our burdens and troubles. And it's not only the big things, like losing a brother or sister, it's also the smaller things, like every woe  of a 2 yr. old. God's always there for you.

The Lord announced the word,

and great was the company of those who proclaimed it

 

Great was the company of those who proclaim it. Do we proclaim the words of God as strongly as we should? Do we proclaim it as boldly as we should?

 I'm gonna start to find a new blogger template. comment and tell me what ya think!

Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!

                                                                                                                                                             

Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy. 

 

 

 

 

I notice how David always talks so freely with God. Sometimes people only priase God for some thing good that happened, and some people talk to Godwhen something bad is happening. But David has it as more of his normal life. Praying became a need to him, like food or water. It's a need for all of us to pray, and David meets that need for himself.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us.

That verse should be everyone's prayer. Besides, who wouldn't want it to happen to them?

Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.

David seems to have a lot on his plate, being king, running from bad guys, fighting bad guys, sorting out king matters, and stuff like that, And you wonder how he has the time for writing psalms. I mean, he wrote 150 of them and every one of them are quite descriptive. On my last post he wrote one when he was in the Desert of Judah!

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Right now, David's got his priorities straight. This was a psalm when david was really in the desert. And he was thirsty.... Duh! But he wanted God more than anything in life right then, even more than life itself.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

It is good when there is a king or a high ruler (like a president) that knows the right path, becuz he can be a very strong infuence toward the people. It is his duty to be a good example and a leader that will not lead his sheep astray.

 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfullness reaches to the skies.

His love is great. And God has a bunch of love directed straight at me, even when I'm in a bad mood, maybe even especially when I'm in a bad mood.

Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack.  My slanderers pursue me all day long;  many are attacking me in their pride.

Iv'e noticed (It's kinda hard to ignore) that David is usually in a little bit of trouble.  Apparently they are coming at him all day long, no hope for bit of peace for the day, and he always has to run and hide, so he doesn't die.

On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, bring down the nations.

After always having to run away from the bad guys that are trying to KILL HIM!, I'd want them to be finished with too.

"In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?"

That's extremly true. What can man do to me?

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

Why does he do that? And why doesn't anybody stop him? Because he's a mighty man. People have an awe for cool strong guys and are willing to believe anything they say and think it's awesome. In our history book, about 100 A.D. there was a man, I forgot his name, but he was a great army commander and he claimed to be God. And guess what? People believed him. He never did any miracles, in fact, he died in battle, and they lost the war. But when Jesus came, they were expecting a mighty man who would save them from the Romans, not their sins. When the other "Mighty guy" came along, the people were all to ready to believe in him, just cuz he was mighty, and that was what they wanted.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence, or take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your savation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

That should be everyone in the whole entire world's prayer. Give me a pure heart, and a steadfast spirit.   Don't cast me away, or take your holy spirit away. Give me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing heart. That should be be everyone's prayer.

Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages.

God's not exactly the sneaky sort. He doesn't need to be. His enemies don't stand a chance against him, at all.

How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth! Sing praises to our God sing praises; sing praises to our king sing praises. For God is the king of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.

God is the MOST HIGH, the GREAT KING, the KING OF ALL THE EARTH. He's an amazing, awesome, wonderful, caring, and beautiful God. That makes him pretty worthy to be praised.