Let God Arise!

 Let God arise,

Let His enemies be scattered;

Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.

As smoke is driven away,

So drive them away;

As wax melts before the fire,

So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

But let the righteous be glad;

Let them rejoice before God;

Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.—Psalm 68:1-3

The Lord gave the word;

Great was the company of those who proclaimed it:

"Kings of armies flee, they flee,—Psalm 68:11

Let God arise,

Let His enemies be scattered;

Such a wonderful verse to meditate on today as I go about my day.  LET GOD ARISE! 

These words from the beginning of Psalm 68 reminded me that when I surrender to God and give Him the preeminence in my life, my enemies scatter.  Praying today that the Spirit of God would use it as a catch-phrase to get my attention and remind me to call upon Him for help. 

Here is another from the same Psalm…

The Lord gave the word;

Great was the company of those who proclaimed it:—Psalm 68:11

When the word is proclaimed, God arises and His enemies scatter. The people were not victorious because of their great might but because of their great God. Not by might not by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts. Beloved…today walk in His power and grace!  Proclaim His word.  Believe His truths and grab hold of His promises. Share them with those around you and watch the enemy scatter. 

Father…I need You every moment of every day!  As I cry out to You today, arise in my heart!  Bring the light of Your glory, Your grace, Your wisdom, and Your power into every situation I face. You dwell with the humble…You care for the afflicted and the oppressed. You are my God of mercy…of tender compassion. You go before me in good times and in bad and bring me safely though both.  

So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:

"Rise up, O LORD!

Let Your enemies be scattered,

And let those who hate You flee before You."—Numbers 10:35

26 Arise for our help,

And redeem us for Your mercies' sake.—Psalm 44:26

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.—2 Corinthians 4:6

2 But to you who fear My name

The Sun of Righteousness shall arise

With healing in His wings;

And you shall go out

And grow fat like stall-fed calves.—Malachi 4:2

Blessed be the Lord,

Who daily loads us with benefits,

The God of our salvation!

Selah—Psalm 68:19

On Getting Wisdom and Understanding…

 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."

Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"

But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."

Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us."

So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."—Matthew 15:10-20

I like this about Peter…he still wasn’t “getting” the Lord’s explanation of the saying about foods and was not content until Jesus explained it again. I want to be like Peter.  I want to have a holy discontent when it comes to understanding what I read in Scripture. Beloved…what Jesus did for Peter here, His Spirit does for us who believe today.  

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine.—John 16:12-15 (emphasis mine)

Father, 

Give me a heart that desires to understand in a deeper way the truths found in Your word. Help me to draw close and remain in Your Presence until Your Spirit speaks to my heart. Forgive my impatience. Forgive my inability at times to focus. Keep me from yielding to the distractions around me.  I don’t want to miss out on time anything You have for me. In Your infinite love, please draw me, your wayward and easily distracted daughter, into the secret place of Your Presence.   Give me sound wisdom and clarity of thought. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. In Your name, O God, will I set up my banner. Oh, grant me according to Your heart’s desire and fulfill all my purpose!  

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things which are revealed and disclosed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may do all of the words of this law.—Deuteronomy 29:29

I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the LORD,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.—Isaiah 45:3

The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,

And He will show them His covenant.—Proverbs 25:14

The king answered Daniel, and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret."—Daniel 2:47

Get wisdom! Get understanding!

Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;

Love her, and she will keep you.

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

Exalt her, and she will promote you;

She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.

She will place on your head an ornament of grace;

A crown of glory she will deliver to you."—Proverbs 4:5-9

On the Excellence of Wisdom…

Does not wisdom cry out,

And understanding lift up her voice?

She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,

Beside the way, where the paths meet.

She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,

At the entrance of the doors:

"To you, O men, I call,

And my voice is to the sons of men.

O you simple ones, understand prudence,

And you fools, be of an understanding heart.

Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,

And from the opening of my lips will come right things;

For my mouth will speak truth;

Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;

Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

They are all plain to him who understands,

And right to those who find knowledge.

Receive my instruction, and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choice gold;

For wisdom is better than rubies,

And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

And find out knowledge and discretion.

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;

Pride and arrogance and the evil way

And the perverse mouth I hate.

Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;

I am understanding, I have strength.

By me kings reign,

And rulers decree justice.

By me princes rule, and nobles,

All the judges of the earth.

I love those who love me,

And those who seek me diligently will find me.

Riches and honor are with me,

Enduring riches and righteousness.

My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,

And my revenue than choice silver.

I traverse the way of righteousness,

In the midst of the paths of justice,

That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,

That I may fill their treasuries.

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,

Before His works of old.

I have been established from everlasting,

From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth,

When there were no fountains abounding with water.

Before the mountains were settled,

Before the hills, I was brought forth;

While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,

Or the primal dust of the world.

When He prepared the heavens, I was there,

When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,

When He established the clouds above,

When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,

When He assigned to the sea its limit,

So that the waters would not transgress His command,

When He marked out the foundations of the earth,

Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;

And I was daily His delight,

Rejoicing always before Him,

Rejoicing in His inhabited world,

And my delight was with the sons of men.

"Now therefore, listen to me, my children,

For blessed are those who keep my ways.

Hear instruction and be wise,

And do not disdain it.

Blessed is the man who listens to me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at the posts of my doors.

For whoever finds me finds life,

And obtains favor from the LORD;

But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;

All those who hate me love death."—Proverbs 9

Prayer: O, for more Grace!

Prayer: O, for more Grace!

Charles Spurgeon

OUR Father, Thou dost hear us when we pray. Thou hast provided an advocate and intercessor in heaven now; we cannot come to Thee unless Thy Holy Spirit shall suggest desire, and help us while we plead. We would ask that the subject which caused such conflict to Paul may be beyond conflict with us; may we know the Christ and have Him to be our all in all. We would have the conflict about others, but may we be past it for ourselves. 

He is everything to us; more than all in Him we find. We do accept Thee, Lord Jesus, to be made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We will not look out of Thee for anything, for everything is in Thee. Our sin is pardoned, our sinful nature is subdued; we have a perfect righteousness; we have an immortal life; we have a sure hope; we have an immovable foundation. Why should we look beyond Thee? Why should we look within to ourselves, knowing that Thou shalt be the only well from which we will draw the living water, the only foundation upon which we will be builded. We would thrust out new rootlets this day, and take fresh hold on the blessed soil in which grace has planted us. 

O Saviour, reveal Thyself anew, teach us a little more, help us to go a little deeper into the divine mystery. May we grip Thee and grasp Thee; may we suck out of Thee the nutriment of our spirit; may we be in Thee as a branch is in the stem, and may we bear fruit from Thee. Without Thee we can do nothing. 

Forgive, we pray Thee, Thy servants, any wanderings during the past. If we have forgotten Thee, forget not us; if we have acted apart from Thee, forgive the act. Blot out the sin. Help us in the future to live only as we live in Thee, to speak, and even to think,, as in union with our living Head. Take away from us all life which is contrary to the life of Christ; bring us into complete subjection in Him, until for us to live shall be Christ in every single act of life. May we walk humbly with God in joyful faith in the finished work of Christ. 

Saviour, look on Thy beloved ones, and give blessings according to our necessities. We cannot pray a prayer that would comprise all, but Thou canst, Great Intercessor, plead for each one, and get for each one of us the blessing wanted. Are we depressed? Give us stronger faith. Have we become worldly? Pardon this great offence and lead us more into spiritual things. Have we become joyous, but have forgotten the Source of Joy? Lord, sweeten and savour that joy with the sweet perfume of Thine own presence. Have we to preach, and do we feel weak? Oh! be our strength. Are we engaged in the Sunday-school, and have we seen little success? Lord, teach us how to teach; give us our boys and girls to be our spiritual reward. Are we sickly? Have we those that vex us because they are unholy and ungodly? This, indeed, is a terrible trial to many; Lord, help them, both in their personal sickness and in this great spiritual trouble. 

Have we dear ones whom we love with all our hearts, who pine before our eyes? Lord, have pity upon them and restore them, and give them patience to bear pain; and give us resignation to Thy will in this matter. Whatever the trial of Thy servants, make a way of escape that we may be able to bear it. Our great concern, however, is to grow in grace and to become like our Master. We struggle and we struggle, but how small our progress! Lord, help us in any matter in which we have felt defeated. If we have been betrayed through want of watchfulness. Lord forgive and help another time. If any of Thy servants have lost the brightness of their evidence, give them to come to Christ as sinners if they cannot come as saints. And if through Satan's temptation any are sorely put to it even to keep their feet, hold them up; and if any have fallen, help them to say, “ Rejoice not against me, O, mine enemy; when I fall I shall arise.” 

Now look in great mercy upon those who are unconverted; Lord save them. Some are quite careless; Lord, they are dead; come and quicken them. We cannot see, but Thou canst. Oh! that some of the most obdurate and hardened might be softened by the touch of Thy Spirit this very day; and may others who are not careless, but who are even seeking after eternal life, but who are going the wrong way to work, may they be shown their error, may they be led in the way by Thee, may they look, and, looking, live. We know how many of them are wanting to be this and that before they take Christ to be all in all; may they cease their seeking by finding everything in Christ. As Thou art a prayer-hearing God, and a God of pardon, issue many a pardon from Thy heavenly court today, sealed with the Redeemer's blood, signed with the Father's name. Oh! today, Lord, ere men grow old in sin, ere they die in their sins, save them with an everlasting salvation. 

God bless our country and our Sovereign; God bless this city; may there be no disquietude between the different orders of men — the employer and the employed; but may there be a general spirit of goodwill given to the people of this city, and do Thou prosper us. 

Remember all people, especially the poor, the widows and the fatherless, and any that are depressed in spirit, whose depression tends to the failure of reason; the Lord restore them, and such as are dying. O Lord, let them not die without hope, and may Thy believing people learn to pass away without even tasting the bitterness of death. May they enter into rest, each one walking in his own uprightness.

 Save this age from its own intellectual pride; give back the spirit of simple faith in Christ, for we desire His glory. “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.”

David’s Mighty Men…

 Now these were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.—1 Chronicles 11:10

I Chronicles 11:10-47 lists the names and some of the exploits of David’s leading mighty men…aka his might warriors.  These are the men who helped him become King.  These are the self same men that the Bible says this about when they first  joined themselves to David while he was fending off King Saul’s attacks. 

And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.—1 Samuel 22:2

When I first read that scripture many years ago, I almost felt sorry for David. I mean, there he was running from King Saul relentless attacks and as if that trial wasn’t sore enough, God brings him a group of distressed, indebted, and discontented men to lead.

Those men, as my mom would say, were God’s blessings in disguise. They didn’t look like much when they first joined themselves to David but as they spent time with him, followed him and imitated him a pretty amazing transformation took place. David’s group of rag tag discontents came forth changed men. Forever to be known as David’s mighty men. 

Sound familiar…Beloved…Jesus is our Perfect Leader.  The more we LOOK to Him, the more we begin to look LIKE Him.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;

I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

On the Prayers of C H Spurgeon…

I bought a book recently of Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s pulpit prayers. What a gift it has been to read and pray through his beautiful, scripture filled intercessions. His heart for his flock is so evident and His heart for God even more so.  As I read and pray through them the Spirit of God not only fills me but He is also using them to teach me how to pray using Scripture. God’s words of truth quicken me and His right desires begin to crowd my heart. 

Who talked with God as Spurgeon did?  One person writes that prayer seemed to be the instinct of His soul and the atmosphere of his life.  As I read them, I hear a man who had so steeped himself in the word of God that it had become the very fabric of who he was.  His heart seems to be in the very presence of his God. 

Father…May the Spirit filled words prayed so long ago by this precious saint of the Lord be an inspiration to each of our hearts and draw us nigh unto You. We want to live so entirely in your Spirit that we are ever ready (as Spurgeon was) to pray.   By Your Spirit then, help us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Remove from us those things that interfere and weigh us down. Make our very souls steadfast and united in the fear of Your precious name. May Your love shed abroad in our hearts help others to be drawn to You and desire Your Presence as ours does when we read the prayers of your exemplary servant, Charles Spurgeon.  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.—Colossians 3:16-17

Leaving one of Spurgeon’s prayers here…be blessed!

Prayer: To the King Eternal 

OUR God and Father, draw us to Thyself by Thy Spirit, and may the few minutes that we spend in prayer be full of the true spirit of supplication. Grant that none of us with closed eyes may yet be looking abroad over the fields of vanity, but may our eyes be really shut to everything else now but that which is spiritual and Divine. May we have communion with God in the secret of our hearts, and find Him to be to us as a little sanctuary. 

O Lord, we do not find it easy to get rid of distracting thoughts, but we pray Thee help us to draw the sword against them and drive them away, and as when the birds came down upon his sacrifice Abraham drove them away, so may we chase away all cares, all thoughts of pleasure, everything else, whether it be pleasing or painful, that would keep us away from real fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 

We would begin with adoration. We worship from our hearts the Three in One the infinitely glorious Jehovah, the only living and true God We adore the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. We are not yet ascended to the place where pure spirits behold the face of God, but we shall soon be there, perhaps much sooner than we think, and we would be there in spirit now, casting our crowns upon the glassy sea before the throne of the Infinite Majesty, and ascribing glory and honour, and power and praise, and dominion and might to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 

All the Church doth worship Thee, O God, every heart renewed by grace takes a delight in adoring Thee, and we, among the rest, though least and meanest of them all, yet would bow as heartily as any worshipping, loving, praising, in our soul, being silent unto God because our joy in Him is altogether inexpressible. 

Lord help us to worship Thee in life as well as lip. May our whole being be taken up with Thee. As when the fire fell down on Elijah's sacrifice of old and licked up even the water that was in the trenches, so may the consuming fire of the Divine Spirit use up all our nature, and even that which might seem to hinder, even out of that may God get glory by the removal of it. Thus would we adore.

 But, oh! dear Saviour, we come to Thee, and we remember what our state is, and the condition we are in encourages us to come to Thee now as beggars, as dependents upon Thy heavenly charity. Thou art a Saviour, and as such Thou art on the outlook for those that need saving, and here we are, here we come. We are the men and women Thou art looking for, needing a Saviour. 

Great Physician, we bring Thee our wounds and bruises and putrifying sores, and the more diseased we are and the more conscious we are today of the depravity of our nature, of the deep-seated corruption of our hearts, the more we feel that we are the sort of beings that Thou art seeking for, for the whole have no need of a physician but they that are sick. 

Glorious Benefactor, we can meet Thee on good terms, for we are full of poverty, we are just as empty as we can be. We could not be more abjectly dependent than we are. Since Thou wouldest display Thy mercy here is our sin; since Thou wouldest show Thy strength here is our weakness; since Thou wouldest manifest Thy loving kindness here are our needs; since Thou wouldest glorify Thy grace here are we, such persons as can never have a shadow of a hope except through Thy grace, for we are undeserving, ill-deserving, hell-deserving, and if Thou do not magnify Thy grace in us we must perish for ever. 

And somehow we feel it sweet to come to Thee in this way. If we had to tell Thee that we had some good thing in us which Thou didst require of us, we should be questioning whether we were not flattering ourselves and presumptuously thinking that we were better than we are. Lord Jesus, we come just as we are; this is how we came at first, and this is how we come still, with all our failures, with all our transgressions, with all and everything that is what it ought not to be we come to Thee. We do bless Thee that Thou dost receive us and our wounds, and by Thy stripes we are healed; Thou dost receive us and our sins, and by Thy sin-bearing we are set clear and free from sin. Thou dost receive us and our death, even our death, for Thou art He that liveth and was dead, and art alive for evermore. 

We just come and lie at Thy feet, obedient to that call of Thine, “ Come unto Me all ye that labour and I will give you rest.” Let us feel sweet rest, since we do come at Thy call. May some come that have never come till this day, and may others who have been coming these many years consciously come again, coming unto Thee as unto a living stone, chosen of God and precious, to build our everlasting hopes upon. 

But, Lord, now that we are come so near Thee, and on right terms with Thee, we venture to ask Thee this, that we that love Thee may love Thee very much more. Oh! since Thou hast been precious, Thy very name has music in it to our ears, and there are times when Thy love is so inexpressibly strong upon us that we are carried away with it. We have felt that we would gladly die to increase Thine honour. We have been willing to lose our name and our repute if so be Thou mightest be glorified, and truly we often feel that if the crushing of us would lift Thee one inch the higher, we would gladly suffer it. 

For oh! Thou blessed King, we would set the crown on Thy head, even if the sword should smite our arm off at the shoulder blade. Thou must be King whatever becomes of us; Thou must be glorified whatever becomes of us. 

But yet we have to mourn that we cannot get always to feel as we should this rapture and ardour of love. Oh! at times Thou dost manifest Thyself to us so charmingly that heaven itself could scarce be happier than the world becomes when Thou art with us in it. But when Thou art gone and we are in the dark, oh! give us the love that loves in the dark, that loves when there is no comfortable sense of Thy presence. Let us not be dependent upon feeling, but may we ever love Thee, so that if Thou didst turn Thy back on us by the year together we would think none the less of Thee, for Thou art unspeakably to be beloved whatsoever Thou doest, and if Thou dost give us rough words, yet still we would cling to Thee, and if the rod be used till we tingle again, yet still will we love Thee, for Thou art infinitely to be beloved of all men and angels, and Thy Father loved Thee. Make our hearts to love Thee evermore the same. With all the capacity for love that there is in us, and with all the more that Thou canst give us, may we love our Lord in spirit and in truth. 

Help us, Lord, to conquer sin out of love to Thee. Help some dear strugglers that have been mastered by sin sometimes, and they are struggling against it; give them the victory, Lord, and when the battle gets very sharp, and they are tempted to give way a little, help them to be very firm and very strong, never giving up hope in the Lord Jesus, and resolving that if they perish they will perish at His feet and nowhere else but there. 

Lord raise up in our churches many men and women that are all on fire with love to Christ and His Divine Gospel. Oh! give us back again men like Antipas, Thy faithful martyr, men like Paul, Thy earnest servant who proclaimed Thy truth so boldly. Give us Johns, men to whom the Spirit may speak, who shall bid us hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Lord revive us! Lord revive us; revive Thy work in the midst of the years in all the churches. Return unto the Church of God in this country, return unto her. Thine adversaries think to have it all their own way, but they will not, for the Lord liveth, and blessed be our Rock. 

Because of truth and righteousness, we beseech Thee lay bare Thine arm in these last days. O Shepherd of Israel, deal a heavy blow at the wolves and keep Thy sheep in their own true pastures, free from the poisonous pastures of error. O God we would stir Thee up. We know Thou sleepest not, and yet sometimes it seems as if Thou didst sleep awhile and leave things to go on in their own way. 

We beseech Thee awake. Plead Thine own cause. We know Thine answer, “ Awake! awake! put on thy strength, O Zion.” This we would do, Lord, but we cannot do it unless Thou dost put forth Thy strength to turn our weakness into might. 

Great God, save this nation! O God of heaven and earth, stay the floods of infidelity and of filthiness that roll over this land. Would God we might see better days! Men seem entirely indifferent now. They will not come to hear the Word as once they did. God of our fathers let Thy Spirit work again among the masses. Turn the hearts of the people to the hearing of the Word, and convert them when they hear it. May it be preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. 

Our hearts are weary for Thee, thou King, Thou King forgotten in thine own land. Thou King despised among Thine own people, when wilt Thou yet be glorious before the eyes of all mankind? Come, we beseech Thee, come quickly, or if Thou comest not personally, send forth the Holy Spirit with a greater power than ever that our hearts may leap within us as they see miracles of mercy repeated in our midst. 

Father glorify Thy Son. Somehow our prayer always comes to this before we have done. “ Father glorify Thy Son that Thy Son also may glorify Thee,” and let the days come when He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. Bless all work done for Thee, whether it be in the barn or in the cathedral, silently and quietly at the street door, or in the Sunday-school or in the classes, O Lord bless Thy work. Hear also prayers that have been put up by wives for their husbands, children for their parents, parents for their children. Let the holy service of prayer never cease, and let the intercession be accepted of God, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

From C H Spurgeon’s Prayers (Illustrated)

Charles Spurgeon, Berenice Aguilera