He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and let him behold My salvation.Psalm 91:15-16
This week we continue to walk with Hezekiah as we hear the Psalms he collected to guide him and encourage him on his journey. These ancient words are timeless. The situations faced in Hezekiah’s day, or David’s for that matter, continue to be repeated in each generation. If there is one thing we can learn from it all, it’s that human nature never changes! The pendulum of the Psalms swings from overwhelming joy and victory to unbearable sorrow and defeat. Where does one even begin to categorize the messages of the Psalms!!! But I believe there are some common threads that are constant for every generation.
1. God made us and He has the right to rule us!
2. If we stray from His ways, there will be consequences!!
3. If we live our lives trusting Him in every situation, we will walk in peace no matter what is going on around us!!!
4. God has promised victory in the end!!!!
5. God is worthy of praise no matter what is happening in our lives!!!!!
Is it any wonder that Hezekiah was so diligent to gather strength from these songs? No matter what he faced, he could either find the counsel, hope or insight that he needed. As you walk with Hezekiah, be sure to identify the words that speak to your life today. You may want to take extra time to look into the Psalms that God speaks directly to you. Just as with David, sometimes their message seems quite easy to understand, while at other times, their words are shrouded in mystery. Some of the thoughts God whispered to David were meant for his time, while others were prophetic and spoke of a time to come. God will still speak to us in that fashion today.
Let me give you a personal example. A number of years ago, I was speaking in the northern part of Michigan. Before I left, the pastor asked if he could pray with us before we began our five-hour trek home. He told me that God had given him a word for me. He went on to say that he hoped it meant something to me, because he really didn’t know why God had given it, but he felt there was something very specific and significant in its content. The verses were found in Psalm 91:11-12
For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
My spirit identified with the message, but I also had no real insight to their “deeper” meaning. As my friend who had accompanied me on this trip and I were heading home, there was a real sense of God’s presence around us. We both enjoyed basking in His peace and comfort. It wasn’t until we were just a few miles from my house and took the exit off the Interstate that we understood the words God had given. While we were on the exit ramp, there was a horrible noise that came from under the suburban and the vehicle seemed to have difficulty moving forward. Pulling off to the side of the road, I got out to see if the transmission had fallen on the ground! We called our husbands to come and rescue us. They hitched the car to the back of my friend’s suburban and headed towards home. They had only gone a short distance when the front tire separated from the axel and went rolling down the road. When our husbands investigated what had happened, they found that every lug nut holding the tire on had been completely sheared off!!! We had just driven a couple of hundred miles with some mighty powerful angels bearing us up, lest we strike our foot against a stone!
My encouragement to you is that, as you are reading, if God speaks something to you personally, write it down, date it in your Bible, highlight it in florescent yellow, or write it in your journal. Then watch God bring the fulfillment of His personal word to you. And when all is said and done, you will be able to easily do what is so often contained in the Psalms: You will be able to praise the Lord!!!
4 comments:
Hi Shirley, thank you for the commets. I really was looking for them.
I have two questions:
1.) Who are the korachites, who wrote the psalms, f.e. 45? Are they descendants of Asaf? Do they have anything to do with the people in Numeri 16? I don´t think so, but from wihc tribe do they come from?
2.) Psalm 44: Verses 18-20: Are they right? Do they really think, they didn´t forget God? When I read their history, that were very disobedient and fell in sind very often. Are they blind to see the truth? And then verses 24-27. I don´t know, if God would hear their prayers, if they wouldn´t repent! What is your opinion?
And then here are some thoughts about Psalm 45: I love Psalm 45, when I read this psalm today, by the way it is my favourite psalm, I saw the following picture in it: According to Hebr. 1,8-9 the king is Jesus. Who is the queen, I asked God and I thought that she must be Israel. Then the kings` daughter I think is the church, the king´s bride. And when it says: forget your people and the family of your father, he might say: forget the old testament law and turn to Christ, who is the fullfillment of the law. Verse 17 in the place of your fathers (the OT-priests) will reign your sons (the apostels a desiples of christ) of the NT. And then ALL people will praise you, the king of kings!! (Revelation 15,4) Pleas give me your answer when you have time.
Hi Luise. Sorry it has taken me so long to get to your comment, but I didn't want to just ignore it. You've asked some good questions that I believe should be addressed.
Question #1 Regarding the sons of Korah - The sons of Korah mentioned in the Psalms are truly the descendants of the same family found in Numbers 16. Fortunately, not all those who were Korahites followed the same path as Korah. We know this is so because Samuel was a descendant of Korah. (See I Chron. 6:16-29) Obviously this part of the family stayed true to YHWH!
Question #2 - The sons of Korah were speaking about their relationship with God. Although they had done nothing evil and had stayed true to God, the rest of the nation had incurred God's wrath. We know that even today, although we may walk in the ways of God and not turn from them, we will still be affected by God's judgment on a world of sinners. Earthquakes, famine, pestilence all speak of God's judgment and even the innocent are not immune to its effects.
Enjoyed your thoughts on Palm 45. Thanks for sharing!!!!
Dear Shirley, thank you for your answers! Love you! Luise
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