Five glorious reasons ( Psalms 50 v 15 )

Someone wrote ,'More things are wrought  by prayer than the world dreams of', it was our dear Saviour who said ,that we should always pray and never give up'. I pray  about many things ,and there appears no answer  is coming, I do not know why certain things have not been answered, there  are reason why, God knows, the words that comes  to my  mind is ,'How Long?,. How long will it be before  God will answer our prayers, and the answer is this, in His time .It may be after we have gone  to heaven ,that He will answer, yes in His time, and His word to you and me is simply ,'keep praying'. That is our God given task, ours is not to  reason why, but to keep on praying. But of course that  is only one aspect of prayer ,He will answer our prayers immediate, no long waiting period ,when we are faced with troubles, Writing about Psalm 50 v15 ,which reads, '' Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me'', Pastor Mark Altrogge highlights,' 5 glorious reasons to call on God in your trouble'.

                                    1/   It show that our Heavenly Father cares about

                                           our lives.

                                     2 /  It shows how willing the Lord is to help us.

                                     3/  It shows that  God knows we need simple commands. 

                                     4/  It shows that God gives sure and certain promises.

                                     5/  God delivers for His glory.

He finishes of by saying, ''When God says  , call upon Me in the day of  trouble, He intends to answer that prayer''.

Are you sinking. ( Deuteronomy 33 v 27 )

 On one occasion when the disciples were in a boat they saw someone walking on the water, and they were terrified, it was Jesus, who calmed their fears. But Peter said if it is you Lord, command me to come to you on the water. So Jesus said come, so Peter stepped out unto the water, but as he got nearer  Jesus ,he panicked ,and began to sink. Then we read ,' Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him.' There is a modern song I want to share with you. written by Keith and Kristyn called ,'He will hold me Fast'.

                                        He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast,

                                        For my Saviour loves me so, He will hold me fast.

                                        Those He saves are His delight, Christ will hold me fast.

                                        Precious in His sight, He will hold me fast.

                                        He'll will not let my soul be lost, He will hold me fast.

                                        Bought by Him at such a cost, He will me hold fast.

                                        For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast,

                                        Justice has been satisfied, He will hold me fast.

Trust Him. (Psalm 23 ) Psalm 37

Psalm 37 v  25, reads ' I have been young , and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken ,nor his descendants  begging bread.' David was old and as he looked back on his life he declares God's faithfulness to His children. God is faithful all the time, our Saviour encouraged us , He said that  our heavenly Father will care of His children, ( Matthew 6 v 25 - 34 )But I will share what William Plummer writes on this  verse, 'There  are  in Scripture many general principles stated, which are not universally true,, though they are commonly so, and exceptions to them are rare'. There  many examples in scripture of  God providing for His children. and his children's children. So trust Him child of God  for your needs ,and your children's needs the Lords is your shepherd you shall not want.

Prosperity ( Psalm 37 )

 You want to prosper ?,yes of course you do, well let  us consider Psalm 37  v 3 - 6 tells three things we must do three things,

                                                                 One.

                                   Trust in the lord and do good , Then you will live safely

                                   in the land and prosper.

               .

 Don't just profess to trust the Lord,  show the reality of that, by doing good, ancient Israel failed in this, they did evil, and so  they didn't prosper.

                                                                Two.                                                                                       

                                          Delight  yourself also  in the Lord  ,

                                          And He  shall give you the desires

                                          of your heart.

Consider that word delight , people delight in a multitude of things , but not the Lord, as Christians our greatest delight should be the Lord., the question is He?. Well, if you do ,He shall give you the desires of your heart, in keeping with His will.

                                                                Three 

                                          Commit your way to the Lord . Trust 

                                          also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Our ways, means all that concerns us ,commit  everything to God, everything, and He will honour that, all your endeavours, our going out and our coming in, Spurgeon  writes, 'Roll the whole burden of life upon the Lord. Cast away anxiety, resign  thy will, submit thy judgment, leave it all ,with the God of all.

                                                                                                        

                                             

                                             

                                              

Cease from anger. ( 2 ) ( 1 Peter 2 v 21 - 23 ) Ps37

  Let us consider v 7- 8  of Psalm 37 ,'Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him, fret not yourself  over the one that prospers  in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices. Refrain  from anger, and forsake wrath!  fret not yourself, it tends only to evil'. David experienced  harm  from people people who sought to hurt him  ,even though he had done them no harm. The first one was King Saul, time after time he sought to kill David, Saul hunted David like an animal .There  arose an opportunity for David to kill Saul CP 1 Samuel 24, but he didn't yield to the temptation, and he spared Saul's life ,it is Plummer who writes ,'He would  not hurt him, but left  his whole cause with God ,expecting  Him to send deliverance'. In 1 Samuel 25 we read of a man called Nabal who refused to help David ,and insulted him, and David was so angry that he were going to destroy him and his household. But Nabal's wife a wise person ,intervened with the result David ceased from his anger, and spared Nabal and his household.  Let us cease from our mad passions, and sinful anger, and leave God to deal with all such wrongs.

Remember. ( Psalm 107 )

Isaiah 63 v 7 ,reads, ' I will tell of the Lord's unfailing love. I will  praise  the Lord for all He has done'. I know life has its difficulties and things can get on top of us, and we forget just what the Lord has done for us. While not making light of the difficulties of life, take the words of the prophet and tell forth God's unfailing love to you, consider the pit He pulled you out of, and the  terrible He saved you from, even HELL. Consider how much it cost our dear Saviour to save you, look to the cross, on that cross ,He  took your punishment, that meant, at its worst experiencing the wrath of God. It does not stop there ,yes there is more, yes much more. John writes in amazement, 'What marvellous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it - we're called children of God! .Israel continually were told to look back and remember  God's pass blessing, His goodness ,mercy, and loving kindness. Mercy thankfully did not stop at the cross, the prophet Jeremiah wrote in a time of great suffering .

                                                Because of the Lord's great love

                                                we are not consumed, for His

                                                compassions never fail. They are

                                                 new every morning; great is your 

                                                 faithfulness.  ( Lamentations 3 v 22 - 23 )

                                                

Fret not ( Luke 16 v 19 - 31 )

 Psalm 37 is a lovely Psalm, it was written by David, a man after God's heart, yet a man for all that, so let us consider it , we will start at the very beginning. v 1- 2.

                                         Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do 

                                          wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like  

                                         spring flowers, they soon wither.

Psalm 73 deals with this also, there the writer is deeply disturbed  when  he saw how the ungodly  were prospering, so much so that he envied them, they didn't appear to have the troubles that the godly have. It was not until he sought God, that the cloud lifted, like v1-2  of  Psalm 34 v 1-2 ,he is reminded of there end, it will come, 73 v 18 ,reads God places them on slippery ground, and causes them to be cast down to ruin. Envy no one, especially the wicked, Herbert Lockyer writes,' Why envy the wicked, when the candle flickers into everlasting darkness'. Some translation use the word fret, instead of worry, they say that fret means ,'burn not thyself  with grief  or anger, I  occasionally get angry, and  sad, when I see how money grabbing  rascals are taking advantage of  refugees, their time will come, of that I am sure.