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Hear the devotional here: https://bit.ly/3lt1Itv
1 God, for your sake, help me! Use your influence to clear me. 2 Listen, God - I'm desperate. Don't be too busy to hear me. 3 Outlaws are out to get me, hit men are trying to kill me. Nothing will stop them; God means nothing to them. 4 Oh, look! God's right here helping! God's on my side, 5 Evil is looping back on my enemies. Don't let up! Finish them off! 6 I'm ready now to worship, so ready. I thank you, God - you're so good. 7 You got me out of every scrape, and I saw my enemies get it. (Psalm 54. The Message Version of the Bible)
Happy Thursday, ConCafe Family; and may God's opportunities make you a brilliant star of hope and peace with those who are in need. May God bring comfort, healing, joy, strength, peace, finances, etc to those who have been praying for those blessings. And may we do our part to bless God with our service and faithfulness.
The psalmist closes out the lectionary lessons for this week, whose theme has been pretty much along the lines of servant leadership. And as we studied a few weeks ago, the most common prayer in the Christian faith is "Help me, God!" And this one adds, "God, for Your sake, help me!" God is in the helping business. 24/7. if it were not so, we would always be in serious trouble.
David knew to trust in God, and his many accounts of his receiving help from God serve to strengthen our faith. We know in Whom to trust. We know our God is the final word in all things and in all situations. And if we need to have our situations resolved and cleared, God can do that. Even when we are desperate for assistance, God can help. And it doesn't matter who our enemy may be, even the chief villain, Satan himself, is a defeated foe. We may not have literal "outlaws" or "hit men" trying to get us, but the ones we do have are real enough and bothersome enough to make some want to quit and give up. And even though we may think God is not doing anything for the moment, the next moment our enemy is defeated. David's message, Don't give up! And when it's over, it's time for worship and our time to say thanks to God.
The account that David gives is that God is good all the time (yes, and all the time, __________!). If God can get David out of every scrape, God can get you and me out, too!
PRAYER: Loving God, grant us the victory over that which troubles us; and for those of us praying, "Help me, God," rush to their side and help them! Bless those who travel, those who can't walk, and those who need a quiet reassurance of Your peace; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be the peace that passeth all understanding in someone's life today.
Receive my blessings of peace and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
