April 10
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MAKE HASTE TO HELP ME O LORD
11 As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me;
Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
12 For evils have encompassed me beyond number;
My iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see;
They are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!
14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
Who seek to snatch away my life;
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
May those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! – Psalm 40: 11-17
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“Make haste to help me, O Lord” seems like David is asking God to hurry up and rescue him. Some religious and legalistic people may seem that this is inappropriate for a servant of the Lord to command his Master and Lord. If you do not take this phrase out of context, you will see how much David knows his Master so well. He is confident that the Lord he serves is someone who made a lot of promises to him that he is sure to receive. It almost illustrates the relationship between a father and his child. His child knows that because his father loves him or her so much, he is able to ask anything from him that will be a deliverance from his enemies. He knows that the father will protect him. That is probably how God wants us all to come to him and ask confidently what he is willing to give us.
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ADORATION: Praise the Father, who is the greatest of all fathers.
CONFESSION: Forgive me when I do not intimately relate with you.
THANKSGIVING: Thank you for constantly being there for me, Lord.
SUPPLICATION: May we get intimate with our knowledge of our loving heavenly Father.
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REFLECTION
• What made David confident in asking God to urgently help him?
Tag Archives: O Lord?
How Long O Lord? ILMA’S VLOG
March 21
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HOW LONG, O LORD?
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
They have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food,
The flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
Mocked and derided by those around us. 5 How long, O LORD?
Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms
That do not call upon your name! 7 For they have devoured Jacob
And laid waste his habitation.8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
Let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name;
Deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
Be known among the nations before our eyes! – Psalm 79:1-10
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According to ESV study bible, this is a community lament. It was occasioned by a great disaster, most likely the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. It recounts the violence and unbelief of the Gentile conquerors and asks God how long he intends to allow such things.
The psalmist Asaph recalls how the conquerors defiled the Lord’s temple and how the Israelites have been mocked and laughed at because they haven’t been delivered by God. So, this lament is asking God how long will they be allowed to be trampled on by them.
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ADORATION: Bless the Lord who never leaves us or forsake us. He is steadfast in his love.
CONFESSION: Forgive me each time I get impatient when I don’t get answered prayers.
THANKSGIVING: Thank you for your patience with me Lord.
SUPPLICATION: May the Lord hear our prayers and may we have the mind of Christ as we lay down our requests to him.
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REFLECTION
• How can we learn to endure suffering during this time of adversity?