Tag Archives: Psalms

When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I – Psalm 61:2

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Have you reached your breaking point with a job, with a co-worker, with your spouse, or just with life? When you have reached the end of yourself is when God can do His best work. The bible says that God will not despise a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17); He will not break a bruised reed (Isaiah 42:3). Know that He is there even if you feel He is a million miles away. Cry out to Him, share your frustrations with Him, ask Him for His strength and wisdom. Then be still and let go in the knowledge that He loves you and He oversees your life. Most people make the mistake of going through hard moments in life on their own because they do not want to show weakness or they feel they need to be rock steady for their families. Remember that no matter how much of a rock you are, there is a higher rock than you. Lean on Him and let Him be your rock.

When I am overwhelmed, His love longs to overwhelm me

Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless – Psalm 60:11

A terminal illness diagnosis from a doctor. Post traumatic stress disorder from a jarring incident that left an indelible mental scar. A barren womb. There are many circumstances in life where no one but God is able to help; there are many circumstances and situations where the help of man is useless. For those who trust God, there remains a hope in those times. For those without faith, hope fades and turns into despair. Faith, leading to hope, changes the way we go through the vicissitudes of life. If you are going through a troublesome time, do not neglect your relationship with God but lean into it, as He is a very present help in our time of need. If you rely heavily on help from man, choose to develop your relationship with God. It is only a matter of when and not if a situation arises where the help of man is useless. Only God can solve any and every problem you could ever face.

I know that there is no trouble God cannot solve

The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies – Psalm 58:3

It is said that an apple does not fall far from the tree. When we embark on a journey of spiritual growth, our children benefit in the sense that some of the attributes we develop are transferred and become embedded in their nature. If we decide to stay in the flesh, then our fleshly nature shows up in our children, and our children go astray from the moment that they are born. If for no other reason other than the love of our children, we should embark on spiritual growth. The decisions we make have a generational impact. Choose to be a bright spiritual spot in your lineage and set up your children for success. Decide to exorcize the demons in your life so that you children do not have the same devilish issues and patterns in their lives. The best gift you can give your children is the gift of a better you.

 I choose to fight spiritual battles so my children can benefit from my victories

I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me – Psalm 57:2

We have a choice – live according to our capabilities or live according to God’s capabilities. When we choose to perform all things for ourselves, we live according to our own strength and self-effort. As such, our performance reflects our mood, nature, and character. When we feel great, we perform well. But when we feel poor, then we perform poorly. The truth is we do not have to live and perform erratically. When we engage God to perform all things for us, we live according to God’s performance; we live according to His strength – that is His grace and wisdom. When we rely on Him, we become conduits of His grace – meaning it is He who performs (as the head) and we are just his hands and feet. And because it is He who is performing, then everything our hands and feet do becomes successful. How wonderful it is when God conducts all things on our behalf.

 I will rely on God’s strength instead of my own

Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You – Psalm 56:12

To live to God is to live in alignment with the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, to make a vow to God is to commit to something in alignment with his will. It is only these types of vows that God recognizes and makes binding on us. What does it mean for a vow to be binding on us? It means that God expects us to fulfill those vows, helps  us to fulfill them, and will reward us for fulfilling them.  When we make vows that are not aligned with Him, then God does not recognize those vows and does not help us to fulfill them. Thus, the commitments that we make in alignment with God bring blessings into our lives and the lives of others through God’s power. This is more than enough reason to praise Him. We should also praise Him for not empowering us to fulfil vows that have nothing to do with Him; vows that end up hurting us and those around us.

 Vows that are aligned with God benefit me and others

You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book? – Psalm 56:8

God chooses to forget our sins but decides to capture every tear that we have ever shed. Just think about that for just a moment longer. God chooses to never forget our pain and conversely chooses to never remember our mistakes! Even if the pain is a result of your own doing, He deals with our pain as if we had nothing to do with it. Who else but God does this? Unlike man, God is not there on His throne saying, ‘serves you right’. With God, none of our tears fall to the ground. He is always there by our side when we cry. He puts our tears in His bottle and writes them in His book as a record. There is not one tear that we have shed in vain! One day, He will redeem all our tears and turn our mourning into joy. Though some days may be dark, we must remember that our pain will not last, and that joy always comes in the morning. God sees you and cares for you!

 God has not forgotten about me but knows my pain and desires to deliver me

When I am afraid, I will trust in You – Psalm 56:3

Courage is not the absence of fear but the strength to push forward despite the presence of fear. The supernatural strength we need to continue despite the odds comes from our faith in God. It comes from trusting in what He has spoken over our lives, knowing that He cannot lie, and knowing that what He speaks becomes reality. When operating in faith, fear no longer becomes the trigger for us to run away and abort our mission, but rather the trigger to run towards God. Are you afraid? Look away from your problems and look towards His promise! Let go of your worries so that your worries can fall into the hands of God. Do not allow fear to make any decisions for you – that privilege should belong to God and God alone. Let your fears draw you closer to God. As you draw closer to Him, His love casts our fear (1 John 5:18) and you’ll start living a life of triumph instead of a life of internal turmoil.

 When I am afraid is when I will choose to trust even more in God

Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God – Psalm 55:19b

God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He does not change. But we are not God. The reason God never changes is because He is perfect. As we are imperfect, we are supposed to change. We are supposed to be in a never-ending process of being conformed to the image of Christ as we strengthen our relationship with Him. If we do not change, it is because we have stopped getting closer to God through the renewal of our mind or we have chosen to be conformed to this world. When we do that, we lose the fear of God and start to develop the fear of man. Like fine wine, we are meant to get better with age. Let us not be counted amongst those who never change. Let us choose to get closer to God and by so doing develop a reverence and awe of Him.

 I choose to be transformed into the image of Christ by renewing my mind in the word

Evening and morning and at noon, I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice – Psalm 55:17

How often should we pray? The answer is always! We know this but praying always is easier said than done! We get lost in the busyness of life and get distracted by the many things we need to accomplish. To help counter this problem, both Prophet Daniel and King David had a daily routine of praying in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. Developing this discipline ensured that they involved God in their daily decisions. What does your prayer habit look like? Being intentional about spending time with God is key to developing our relationship with Him. Don’t leave it to your intentions. Instead, choose to program prayer into your daily routine.

 I choose to set aside time to build my relationship with God

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, for then I could bear it – Psalm 55:12

Betrayal and disloyalty can be very hurtful especially when we have poured our time, resources, and energy into building what we thought was a solid relationship. Yet, the life of Jesus tells us that betrayal can occur at any point. Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied knowing Him. Both of these men were sorry for what they did, and Judas could not live with himself. Still, the betrayal did not stop Jesus from achieving His life’s purpose. If you or someone you know has undergone betrayal, know that the person who has betrayed you has done it because of their own issues and that the impact (no matter how bad) is temporary. Know that they have mostly betrayed you out of weakness rather than wickedness. Do not let betrayal harden your heart towards people. Instead, choose to trust God and He will take away the hurt and redeem you.

 Betrayal may be part of my story but is not the end of my story