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Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your might. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. For the insolent have risen against me the ruthless seek my life; they do not set God before them. But surely, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil. In your faithfulness, put an end to them. With a freewill-offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. (Psalm 54)
Gracious and tremendous Thursday blessings to you, dear Friend! May this be a day of amazement and wonder of how awesome you find God to be in your life. May it be God's hands you see helping and blessing you as you seek to bless God and God's people today. I ask you please add to your prayers, the family of Mr. Salomon Marroquin, who died yesterday. Solomon was a dear, sweet man, who was very active in my church El Mesias UMC in Mission, Texas. He was indeed a Renaissance man; he had been in some Hollywood movies, helped bring a book to life as a movie set in the Valley; wrote a book about the life of Sgt. Freddy Gonzalez, a Vietnam hero who died saving his troops; and served as the Office Manager for Congressman Kika de La Garza, longtime congressman from Mission, Texas. I shared with my class, how Mr. Marroquin was the true power of the congressman in our area. With his stage and movie experiences, he had made several beautiful sets for our Christmas play, and it was he who made "Roman," the Roman solider whose armor was used in many a sermon. I thank God for his life and ask God's comfort be with Blanca, his wife, and Melinda his daughter. Thank you for your prayers. Pray for one another, pray for yourselves.
Imagine having to hide from your enemy. An enemy with a mighty army and with a strong desire to kill you! Such was the motivation behind David's writing this psalm. He was trying to save his life by hiding from King Saul. Saul wanted his son to be king, and he himself was not ready to leave his throne as King of Israel; but God had made it clear that his ruling days were over, and that David was the anointed king and replacement for him. Saul's only thought was to change the course of his history by killing David.
The words are those of one truly seek to be kept alive; and David knew that only in God could he trust. He prays and asks that the words of his prayer be that which bring his protection. David knew that the main reason Saul was losing his throne was because God no longer occupied a place in Saul's heart; but David proclaims as should we, "God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life." Such a great faith in God is what we need and we need to share with all who will listen that God has blessed us and we would not be where we are today had it not been for God being our strong helper and upholder of our lives. God blesses us and takes care of those who seek harm against us. We can join David's song as we too sing, "God has delivered me from every trouble and my eye has looked in triumph on those who came against me."
We may not have true, physical enemies, but even if we did, God is still our helper. If our enemy is fear, God can defeat fear with trust and hope. If our enemy is illness, we can cry out to God, for God is not only our helper, but also our healer. If our enemy is this or that, God is the counter to whatever is afflicting us. Many a day we have found a coin on the ground and the first thing that either Nellie or I say, is what is written on American currency, "In God We Trust." And we say it loud and claim that penny as a blessing.
Is God your trust?
PRAYER: Loving Father, in You we find our hope and joy. Even in the face of many enemies, we find help in You. Lord, what a wonderful word is upholder; be our upholder of my life. Pick me up when I am down, and gently place me where I need to be when I find myself not where it is that You would want me. Let me be a blessing to all through You. This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Maybe you can be an upholder for someone today and then point to God and say, "He's the one upholding you!"
Eradio Valverde
