Good day dear friends. A Prayer Update and Praise: The Rev. Virgilio Vasquez-Garza's eye pressure dropped to normal levels! Thank you for your prayers!
Today's Psalm is Psalm 20: 1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion. 3 May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. (Selah) 4 May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans. 5 May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. 7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. 9 Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call. (NSRV)
This was my grandfather's favorite psalm. Carlos Valverde came to faith late in life and he also learned to read late in life. Once he could read he started reading the Bible. I remember as a boy watching him hand his checkbook to the cashier to fill out the amount for his purchase and then seeing Popo make his X on the signature line. Later I remember hearing that he was attending classes to learn to read. He loves the Spanish version of this psalm especially verse 7: Estos confían en carros, y aquéllos en caballos: Mas nosotros del nombre de Jehová nuestro Dios tendremos memoria. In Spanish the word "carros" modernizes it a bit in that it can be the word for cars. This spoke to my grandpa because he had always been fond of cars and bought what I considered really cool cars during that time. Yet when he came to faith his love for God took the place of cars.
The psalmist knew of God's protective and responsive power and thus the awesomeness of his words in this psalm. The pesonal experiences with God allowed him to write these promises for us. Can we say that God no longer responds nor assists us when we ask? No! Ours is the victory when we trust enough to call on God.
PRAYER: Loving God, make ours the victory with a faith to trust you enough to call on You to bring us help when we need it. May our faith give us more love for you than in any earthly thing. May nothing stand in Your place; for Your place should be first in our hearts. In Jesus' precious and powerful name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
