Psalms of Honesty
How many times have we come to a place in our lives that sent us tumbling to our knees, head bowed in exasperation? With no other thoughtful words coming to mind, we simply and desperate cry out, “God, save me!” I’ve been there. Weirdly, I have never felt closer to God than in those times of disillusion and despair.
As God-Followers we come to these places on our journey here on earth that overwhelm us and bring us to a point of giving up. Giving up isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, it is a good thing when we are finally giving up self to know God and what HE wants…after we have exhausted all efforts on our own! And no, I do not know why we wait so long!We don’t always understand why we are in a particular situation or trying circumstance, but we know God is there. He knows the why, the beginning and the end of the trial. We have to also give up wanting to know the why. It gets in the way of forthcoming solutions and the outcomes that God will provide. Wondering why blinds us to God’s work in us and in the situation.
It may have nothing to do with us or what we have done. But it will have everything to do with how we respond, yield, and be flexible as we experience yet another growth spurt on our journey in Christ! It might have something to do with who we will blame. or not, instead of looking from the inside out of our own hearts and minds. It will be a test, for sure, to see how we will respond when others, who have looked at us as God-Followers, will make fun of our imperfections, setbacks and failures. “Look at you, now! We thought you knew God, but now…” Jesus knows. He was jeered as He hung on the cross for OUR sin! It may have everything to do with how we will view the imperfection in ourselves and know that we need God every hour of every day.
Psalm 69
A David Psalm
God, God, save me!I’m in over my head,
2 Quicksand under me, swamp water over me;
I’m going down for the third time.
3 I’m hoarse from calling for help,
Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.
4 I’ve got more enemies than hairs on my head;
Sneaks and liars are out to knife me in the back.
What I never stole
Must I now give back?
5 God, you know every sin I’ve committed;
My life’s a wide-open book before you.
6 Don’t let those who look to you in hope
Be discouraged by what happens to me,
Dear Lord! God of the armies!
Don’t let those out looking for you
Come to a dead end by following me—
Please, dear God of Israel!
7 Because of you I look like an idiot,
I walk around ashamed to show my face.
8 My brothers shun me like a bum off the street;
My family treats me like an unwanted guest.
9 I love you more than I can say.
Because I’m madly in love with you,
They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
10 When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting,
All it got me was more contempt.
11 When I put on a sad face,
They treated me like a clown.
12 Now drunks and gluttons
Make up drinking songs about me.
13 And me? I pray.
God, it’s time for a break!
God, answer in love!
Answer with your sure salvation!
14 Rescue me from the swamp,
Don’t let me go under for good,
Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
This whirlpool is sucking me down.
15 Don’t let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.
16 Now answer me, God, because you love me;
Let me see your great mercy full-face.
17 Don’t look the other way; your servant can’t take it.
I’m in trouble. Answer right now!
18 Come close, God; get me out of here.
Rescue me from this deathtrap.
19 You know how they kick me around—
Pin on me the donkey’s ears, the dunce’s cap.
20 I’m broken by their taunts,
Flat on my face, reduced to a nothing.
I looked in vain for one friendly face. Not one.
I couldn’t find one shoulder to cry on.
21 They put poison in my soup,
Vinegar in my drink.
22 Let their supper be bait in a trap that snaps shut;
May their best friends be trappers who’ll skin them alive.
23 Make them become blind as bats,
Give them the shakes from morning to night.
24 Let them know what you think of them,
Blast them with your red-hot anger.
25 Burn down their houses,
Leave them desolate with nobody at home.
26 They gossiped about the one you disciplined,
Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.
27 Pile on the guilt,
Don’t let them off the hook.
28 Strike their names from the list of the living;
No rock-carved honor for them among the righteous.
29 I’m hurt and in pain;
Give me space for healing, and mountain air.
30 Let me shout God’s name with a praising song,Let me tell his greatness in a prayer of thanks.
31 For God, this is better than oxen on the altar,
Far better than blue-ribbon bulls.
32 The poor in spirit see and are glad—
Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!
33 For God listens to the poor,
He doesn’t walk out on the wretched.
34 You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth;
Also ocean and all things that swim in it.
35 For God is out to help Zion,
Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah.
Guess who will live there—
The proud owners of the land?
36 No, the children of his servants will get it,
The lovers of his name will live in it.
SOMETHING TO CHEW ON…
David was innocent this time of the accusations of his enemies who hated God and therefore hated him. When we read the psalm, we find David confronting the Lord with three important concerns.
“God, Save Me”: When his enemies blasphemed God, they blasphemed David, and their attacks against David were attacks against God, and David felt them. David had a great zeal for God’s house and had received the plans for the temple from the Lord. He had gathered the materials for its construction. It takes no special gift to discover Jesus in this psalm and to see the way people treated Him when He was ministering on earth.HEART CHECK:
Is loving God and following Him just to good to be true for humans to wrap their heads around, accept and live?
“Judge My Enemies!”: Judgement is in God’s hands, not ours. Only our Perfect, Sinless God can be the final judge of what is not pleasing to Him. In contrast to what David prayed; Jesus prayed, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”
HEART CHECK:
Where is our heart when others accuse us, gossip about us and malign our character? How quickly do we forgive…even when there is no apology and never will be?
“Be Glorified, O Lord!”: He wanted the Lord to be glorified in his worship, his witness to the needy, in all of creation, and in all of Israel. He asked the Lord to protect and provide for the poor whom the sinners were abusing and exploiting. He saw a day coming when the land would be united and healed and the cities populated again. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps 122:6). “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).HEART CHECK:
And finally, we will continue to praise God or hold back until we are safely on the other side of our problem? Mm. We must evaluate our hearts before, during and after a trial.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Save us. Restore the joy of YOUR salvation in us. Hold our enemy, the evil one, at bay. Capture our thoughts from the evil one. Lift our thinking to Your higher, more positive, faith-filled thinking of what is pure, praiseworthy, true, noble, the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise not curse. Help us to think of Your grace so that we will behave more graciously.
In Jesus Name, Amen
1-4 Up with God!
5-6 Father of orphans,
11-14 The Lord gave the word;
19-23 Blessed be the Lord—
32-34 Sing, O kings of the earth!
How inconvenient it is shop for an item that most stores do not have. It is special to you for a specific reason. So the hunt goes on. It is hard to find but it is worth looking for in all the places you visit. When you finally find it, you shriek with joy, “Yes, it is here!”
We are the special item sought by God, Himself! (Stick with me here for a bit.) We are like no other item. We are like no other human. We are all created uniquely different by God who loves us and already knows our value. He knows the price for our soul well and does not have to search out our value on a clicker thingy. 
Once found, he marks us with a valuable price of mercy that no one else can afford to pay. He marks us with grace that leads to blessing and inheritance. That price can only be paid with the currency called Sacrifice. It is paid in full by Jesus Christ, God’s Son who laid down the price for our purchase. Wow. Amazing love, how can it be?
1-7 God, mark us with grace
We are under the curse of sin since Adam, but we can ask Jesus to take my curse and give me His blessing. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curses for us…” (Galatians 3:13) Our pastor put it this way, “Jesus dressed like us so we could dress like Him.” Jesus paid it all.
We are all desperate for blessing. We are all desperate to know our worth and value. Actually, we are all desperate for Christ.
Dear Heavenly Father,
In the background of reading our next prayer of praise to our God who is our salvation because of His mercy and grace wrapped up in limitless, unconditional love for us is the another song…How Great is Our God, Sing with me…
5-6 Take a good look at God’s wonders—
The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty
13-15 I’m bringing my prizes and presents to your house.
The turkey is in the oven and rolls are beginning to rise. All is well and quiet in the early morning hours of prep. As I go about the chores, I am also preparing my heart, mind and soul for praise to the One and Only God. May God’s glory be seen in me today. May thanks-living be seen in my behavior. May the peace of Christ rule in our home because of the rule of Christ in our hearts. 
2-8 We all arrive at your doorstep sooner
9-13 Oh, visit the earth,
There is only One who can cleanse us completely. He is the Source of real life, abundant life and life forever. God sent His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ to provide that complete cleansing. All we have to do is ask for it through a prayer of repentance and remorse. After the cleansing (forgiven of repentant sins), we discover we have extreme supernatural, beyond self-help, guidance in transforming our hearts and minds to be all that God intends for us to be. 
LET YOUR FIRST THOUGHT BE LOVE
2-6 Don’t let them find me—
Pure worship is like breathing. We worship without thinking about it, planning it, arranging it, or exercising it. Pure worship is laying down who we think we are and what we think we can do to God. “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” (Romans 12) This is worship. This is God.
God—you’re my God!
5-8 I eat my fill of prime rib and gravy;
Light of the world
David stops to wait and be still before God. He waits as long as it takes for David to realize all that God is. David realizes that his obedience in waiting leads to his assurance that he is standing in the right place, on solid ground, the rock that does not shift and move with circumstances around him. 
1-2 God, the one and only—
5-6 God, the one and only—
11 God said this once and for all;
As I walk now through the valley
In Jesus Name, we continue to pray and listen…
3-5 You’ve always given me breathing room,
SOMETHING TO CHEW…
Sincere, honest prayer is an exercise of our faith, trust and knowledge of God. It is an activity that draws us humbly to Him, admitting we cannot do this on our own and we need His help. Prayer is an admission that we need Him every hour to guide us to being our best while doing what He has invited us to be and do. Prayer aligns our hearts with His.
Yes, we are at our best when we leave the rest to God. So, what happened this week? I have been waiting for weeks for word of a plan of action so our part of the project could be accomplished. As the wait grew longer, I considered pulling out of the project only because I was wondering if maybe this was not God’s will for us at this time. I trust God but I don’t always trust my ability to hear Him well, so I prayed sincerely, “God, what do YOU want”? We do not want to jump ahead of your best for all concerned. Show this simple daughter of yours what is next. 
God did exactly that before my prayer was off my mind. God was at work before my prayer was uttered, preparing hearts, prompting minds and filling in the details a bit more. We have to always remember, God is working while we are praying. We have to be okay with the wait. It is in the wait that we grow our trust and faith. God is working before our prayer leaves our lips, during our prayer and after. God is ALWAYS at work. Unlike us who must rest between tasks. Prayer is keeping in rhythm with the ebb and flow of God’s graceful dance. Join God where He is at work. This is the best place to be! 
6-8 That’s when God spoke in holy splendor,
David cried out to God throughout his lifetime in humbled honesty, in sincere praise and with gratitude for God’s Presence. David never felt closer to God as when he is facing challenging problems.
