DAY 10.
Today we turn to Psalm 143 for our meditation and to look at the prayer of David as he pours out his complaint to the Lord and there are many people over the centuries prayed like this.
He pleads for six issues and we do well to look sat the response of God in the promises of His word to find the answers to each of them.
The list include Lord 'hear me' v 7, 'cause me' v 8, 'deliver me' v 9, 'teach me' v 10, 'lead me' v 10 and 'quicken me' v 11 so here goes.
'Lord hear me' v 7 is a cry of a desperate soul in urgent need of assistance from the Lord
and the word 'speedily' come quickly to my aid.
'Hear me' is a serious request from one in danger as the turmoil of life is pressing on them and they long for relief and the Lord alone can give it.
Well we listen to the word of God and find that He does hear our prayer and several promises are given to us to claim to fulfill it.
Psalm 4 v 3 provides a key to open this promise 'But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto Him'.
The Throne of Grace is approached with confidence by those walking uprightly in the Lord Jesus because they come in answer to His invitation.
He is willing to hear our prayer and will answer according to His will plan and purposes, so often we come with repetitive prayers that seemingly find no answer because He does not answer according to our desires.
We are so selfish even as Christians looking at the me, my and mine in our prayer times of course we add on a few prayers for others.
In our Psalm the Lord has set aside His people to walk humbly with Him and it for them to present their requests to Him in the knowledge that He will answer us.
Psalm 17 v 1 carries on this theme the urgent request accompanied by the thought that we are praying according to Gods will and purposes.
We present ourselves first of all in repentance and humble submission then we can expect the Lord to answer us speedily.
There is a second promise that we need to claim in these circumstances, the Lord says 'call upon Me' Job 14 v 15 'and I will answer thee' an emphatic promise that we can claim.
We do not pray blindly or without reason but rather we can come to the Throne of Grace in the knowledge that our heavenly Father has invited us there to bring our prayers.
We can go a step further with the promise of God because He reminds us that whilst we are calling He has answered us Isaiah 65 v 24.
The second issue in Psalm 143 v 8 is 'Lord cause me' the word 'cause' means to freely or without contention help us to know Gods lovingkindness at the break of day.
The thought is knowing the way ahead in the midst of the pressures of life so that we walk according to the path of righteousness and not be deviated from it by circumstances.
We all need the presence of the Lord with us, not just on Sunday when we go to church but to know and experience His lovingkindness all the days long.
The theme of Psalm 5 v 8 is reiterated here with the strong desire to know and to do what is right and v 11 reminds us of the confidence we have in trusting the Lord 'He will defend us'.
The Lord is constantly bringing us into situations that are to great for us on our own to conquer but in doing so wants us to draw from the divine supply that He has made available to us to enable us to overcome.
It is not the supply that is the problem but it is our submission for His will to be done in and through us that causes us most problem.
The third issue in Psalm 143 is in v 9 'deliver me from my enemies' two features of the prayer, 'deliver' and 'enemies' need out attention because all of us know the truth of them.
'Deliver' is a word that runs through the Psalms as a golden thread as it is the cry of the saints continually as they seek to walk on the path of righteousness.
It is a fact that we are more aware of the perilous situation that we find ourselves in the closer we draw to the Lord.
'Deliver' means to pluck out of the hand of the oppressor or enemy, to preserve and rescue by the power and strength of our Superior Lord.
In Isaiah 35 v 4 we have a beautiful promise that we can claim 'He will come to save or deliver you', the moment we call we find He is there to help us.
He could have stopped us getting into the mess in the first instance but we are such
arrogant people and like to do things our own way though we fall so often when we do so.
Isaiah 35 is a chapter on the path of holiness, it is not read or preached on very often today but never the less it stands out to the observant soul giving them hope when things go wrong.
We still can do our own thing even when walking on the right pathway, thoughts, words and deeds that are self perpetuated can come unstuck and wee cry out for the Lord to deliver us.
Jeremiah facing crisis after crisis in the nation is encouraged by the Lord to enjoy His promise in 1 v 8 'I am with the to deliver thee'.
Jeremiah knew the pathway of holiness was a rock strewn one with many difficulties but he knew the promise and clung to it.
We need to draw close to the Lord to hear His voice revealing such promises to us but the truth is the promise is open for all God fearers to claim.
'Lord teach me' v 10 is the consequence of deliverance because we soon realise that we usually get into the difficulty through our own bad judgement.
We need to be taught how to live on the pathway of holiness, we do not walk into it but we do walk upon it, it is the Holy Spirit who induces the spirit of holiness and righteousness in us.
'Lord teach me to do Thy will' comes from the heart of the obedient soul seeking to become the person that out heavenly Father wants us to become.
A Christ like character is made and not born, the teaching goes on throughout life because there are many hidden to the word but not to God thoughts and words flowing from us that should not be there.
The Lord instructs us through His word and the Holy Spirit enlightens to the teachable soul in the ways of truth practically.
We should note that word 'practical' because the ways of the Lord are very practical effecting every part of our being.
'Lord lead me' v 10 to 'lead' means guide, steer and to conduct us in our daily living we are asking the Lord to keep us on the right path.
The promise of His word that 'He will guide us by the eye' Psalm 32 v 8 and we must live close to someone to be guided by their eye.
The intimacy of relationship is drawn out here and the closer we draw to the Lord the greater this stands out, He directs in all things those who live close to Him.
So to the last issue 'Lord quicken me' v 11 there is a great art in spiritual recovery, first yield to the hand that comes to save you, second dust yourself down through repentance and third learn to lean harder on the Lord.
Three simple points that come to you from personal experience, from one who has learned the lessons the hard way.
'Quicken' comes eleven times in Psalm 119 and two meanings are used, twice it means to hasten quickly the other nine point to returning to the former state of righteousness.
We need to look up the references the first two vs.50 and 93 bring out the word of God when applied quickens us and leads us back to the right track.
The other nine strung through the long Psalm refer to the reviving and restoring of the soul that is languishing or struggling behind.
