I carried you. ( Isaiah 63 v 9 )

We continue looking at Psalm 27 ,so let us consider the last part of v 9,and v 10,in v 9 we read,'Cast me not off, forsake me not,O God of my salvation' ( E S V).He prays the unthinkable that in this, his time of need, he would be left alone, bereft of the very presence of His God. For any believer this is the worse  possible scenario,how could they cope?,the fact is they couldn't,some times for Christians who are suffering great trials ,they must identify with the words of the Psalm,or like Job who cried out ,'Oh, that I knew where I  could find Him'  (  Job 23 v 3 ). There is popular poem I will leave it with  you,It is called, 'Footprints in the sand'.'  'One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes   from my life flashed across the sky. each scene I noticed footprints in the sand,sometimes there were two sets of  footprints,other times there was one only. . This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,when I was suffering anguish , sorrow or defeat. I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, you promised me Lord, that if   I  followed you,you would walk with me always.         But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life,there has been one set of  footprints in the sand.. When I needed you most, have you been there for me.?. The Lord replied,''The years when you have seen only one set of  footprints, my child,is when I carried you''. 

He will not Fail you. ( Psalm 121 )

We considered Psalm 27 v 8,were God invites David to talk to him,so what did he say to God?,v9  we have him feeling very conscious of his faults and failings, he does not come to God on the high ground of perfection,but that of a saved sinner,who needs his Gods help.I heard a so called preacher who said that one should not pray that you are not worthy,one of the greatest hymns ever written was ,'Just as I am',the writer was Charlotte Elliott.It  was at a time of great weakness, she felt so unworthy,so she wrote that wonderful hymn,the first verse starts with these words,'Just as I am without one plea,but that Thy blood was shed for me,and that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,O Lamb of God, I come ' In Revelation 5 v 4,we read,'no one was found worthy'. The fact is, are acceptance with God is depending on Jesus ,righteousness, ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 30 ) .David further declares to God ,'You have always been my helper', God does not get tired of helping us,He does not say,O here they come again,no He does not say that,rather throughout scripture God assures His children of His help.  CP Isaiah 41 v 10/ Psalm 50 v 15, reads ,'Then call on me when you are in trouble,and I will rescue you,and you will give me glory'.I end with a verse from a hymn by John Newton,'His love in times past,forbids me to think.,He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink. Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review,confirms His good pleasure ,to help me quite through'.

It is good to talk. ( Psalm 27 )

Psalm 27 v 8 in the,New Living translation', reads, 'My heart has heard you say, '' Come and talk with Me'',And my heart responds, ''Lord I am coming''. This Psalm starts with  words of real confidence,that the Lord is his light and salvation,so right away we are made aware that he knows God,he is light,Jesus said if we follow Him ,we will not walk in darkness ( John 8 v 12 ).He speaks of God as his salvation ,can you say that you are saved that you have  asked  Jesus for forgiveness?.If we are to have confidence that the Lord will help us,we need to be in a right relationship with Him. He goes on to say that the Lord was his, fortress and protector, ,and no matter what comes against him  he will be confident.this is followed by his desire after God and to be always near him.and will preserve him and he will offer praise and thanksgiving.Then we come to v 8 God speaking to his heart,inviting him to come and  and talk to him,it obvious that he was facing real difficulties, if you are a Christian you will face difficulties, real difficulties. The question is this, what do you do?,the answer ,go and pour your heart out to your Lord, make him your first port of call,hear his voice speaking to your heart,go and talk to God.

There is an answer. ( John 3 v 16 )

A prisoner on death row in America, said,'Is there ever a good way to die?',of course death comes to all,a man who was facing execution was asked,you have a choice as to how you will die,they waited for his answer,and he replied,'I would like to die of old age'. But is there an answer to that question,is there a good way  to die?,yes ,we cannot stop death ,it is an appointment we all have to keep. We know this, there is no escape, resistance is futile,it will happen, this is not a cheery subject, it is not meant to be, the answer to this question is the most important thing you will ever hear in all your life.I do not exaggerate,first let me quote part of a verse  from the book of  Revelation ,chap 14 v 13,'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord'.it simple means those who have trusted Christ as their Saviour, the old  hymn  says,  'He died that we might be forgiven ,and go at last to heaven.' Yes death is not the end,there is an after life,where we will spend eternity ,in heaven or hell,depends on whither we have trusted or rejected Christ.If God is speaking to you now and you want to trust Christ,there is a little prayer  you can pray,'Come into my heart Lord Jesus,come into to stay, come in today,come into my heart Lord Jesus Amen'.

Stigma ( 1 Corinthians 12 v 9 )

I wonder if you have ever thought,how contrary the apostle Paul's honesty is to many people attitude,when he speaks very honestly about his thorn in the flesh ( 2 Cor 12 ). Especially when he doesn't reveal what it was, we know what people are like, I wonder if he was alive today,what would people be saying?. one can imagine,whats he hiding from us,why doesn't he tell us what it is,we have a right to know. Lets have him up before the leadership we must consider our reputation,its not good enough,we need to know.He can't be our Pastor,we can't have him preaching in our church,we want a strong man of God,we do not want a person with a thorn n the flesh,we hear also that he has been in prison. Well you get the picture,   people can be very cruel,if you don't live up to their standard,as Christians ,we are meant to be different than the world.I remember a Pastor a godly man who suffered from mental illness, and he was told by another minster that he should not be in the ministry. Now mental illness takes many forms,it can be very severe,and very disabling ,it sometimes can effect the personality. Of course there is a stigma attached to mental illness.so one can imagine that if one was a minister,one would not like anyone to know,it could affect their position as a leader. Remember mental illness is an illness,and like any person who is ill they ,should be supported,let us remember weakness does not disqualify anyone from serving God..

The heart ( Psalm 19 )

Last time we considered a prayer,with words from Psalm 19 v 14, 'May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart ,be pleasing in your sight, O Lord,my Rock,and my redeemer'. We considered our words,next let us consider ,the ,'meditation of my heart'.this is something that this person practiced,it did not just happen,he made a deliberate decision, to meditate.He speaks of the heart.Vine puts it like this,the heart,' Came to stand for man's entire mental and moral activity,both the rational and the emotional elements.In other words,the hidden springs of the personal life'. We are thinking emotional beings.and often our emotions,take over our thinking,which leads to our actions,David looked at a very beautiful woman bathing,his emotions were stirred, and they took over his thinking,which led to adultery.. So we can appreciate why the Psalmist prayed what he did,he wanted that his emotions and thinking would  please God. Focusing on the wrong things,can lead us into wrong things,things that can destroy us, and others.Here is a man who wants his life ,his words,his inner being,to be pleasing to his God.If we read Psalm 19 we are told that the glory of God can be seen in the heavens, then the wonderfulness of God's word, and the positive results of obeying God's word.Then he finishes by opening himself  up to a holy God, acknowledging his sinful nature,and a desire that God would keep him from sinning. He ends with these wonderful words,'O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer'.We need not to be driven and controlled by our emotions ,there is victory in Jesus.

Words ( Colossians 4 v 6 )

Here is a prayer, 'May the words of my mouth,and the meditation of my heart,be pleasing in your sight, O Lord , my Rock,and my Redeemer', ( Psalm 19 v 14 ).It is a simple prayer,yet very challenging ,for it deals with two aspects of our being,our words,and our hearts.Consider how many wrong words being spoken at this time,hateful words,vain words,filthy words,spiteful words,foolish words, deceptive words,harsh words.Our Saviour said, 'But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned'.( Matthew 12 v 36 - 37 ) Here Jesus is responding to evil things said about Him by religious leaders,there is coming a day in which they will be judged,and on that day they will be speechless. The great prophet Isaiah confessed, that he was a man of unclean lips , and I live among a people of unclean lips ( Isaiah 6 v 5 ), Consider, as Christians is our speech ,any different than the non-Christians?,do we take the name of the Lord in vain?,do we tell lies?,how many sinful words have you spoken?.There is forgiveness as Isaiah experienced, C P V 6 - 7 .Let us remember if we confess our sins that God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins( 1 John 1 v 9 ),even the sinful words of our mouth.