Psalm 54

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Hey, hey, good morning and welcome to Coffee and Devotions.
It is Thursday morning. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all of the wisdom literature. Well, this morning we are at Psalm 54, a wonderful Psalm about prayer. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word ourselves.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for what a rich blessing it is to be your children, to get to call out to you. We pray now that you would speak to our hearts and that this might be the prayer of our own souls. In Jesus's name, amen.
Okay, here we go. Psalm chapter 54, Psalm 54. Why don't we go ahead and turn our Bibles there together? Psalm 54. to the chief musician with stringed instruments, a contemplation of David, when the Ziphites went out and said to Saul, is David not hiding with us?
Now this is an interesting thing. I wanted to point out one of the people watching said, I had never thought about the headings before. And so I wanted to spend a quick second. This is kind of academic, but that's okay. In the Hebrew and in the Greek of the Psalms, That's verse one. In English, it's put up at the superscript. You know, it's often changing its font and stuff like that, but it is part of the scriptures. And so we should read it like that. So, oh, hey, Karen, good to see you this morning. So here we go.
Save me, oh God, by your name, and vindicate me by your strength. Hear my prayer, oh God, give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and oppressors have sought after my life. They have not set God before them. Selah. Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil. cut them off in your truth. I will freely sacrifice to you. I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he has delivered me out of all trouble, and my eye has seen its desires upon my enemies." We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best word or the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? A, what is this about?
Well, somebody's just betrayed David, right? The Ziphites have gone and they've told Saul that David is with them. They're betraying him. They're handing him over into the person who has been throwing javelins at him, who's been taking armies to try to search for him, to try to destroy him. And David cries out to God in his distress. Save me, O God, by your name. And vindicate me by your strength. Hear my prayer, O God.
Do you hear how David is saying, I don't have any trust in anything else? He can't trust men. What have men done? Men have just turned around and betrayed him to Saul. What is he supposed to do? Where is his only hope? His hope is in God himself. It is the Lord who has anointed him. It was the Lord who has cared for him. And now he finds himself crying out to God for salvation, crying out to God to bring him out of this precarious place and bring him into safety. Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is with those who uphold my life. Well, I can sermonize you a whole bunch here, but let's go ahead and ask ourselves to be, what is this about? What is this about?
Our best verse. Oh, I'm sorry. Obviously, I need to drink more coffee this morning. What's the best verse to summarize this section? I think I'm going to underline verses one and two, but I'm going to cheat also. Oh man, this is only seven verses. I could highlight all of it. Maybe verse four, maybe verse six. This is such a beautiful verse. Help me out here. What would you highlight in your Bible? What would you underline as the best verse to get at the heart of this? Calling, see, calling. What are we called to do in response to this passage?
Do we cry out to God in our times of distress? Do we go to Him when we're in need? This can be in difficult times that are somewhat ordinary in our lives. Will you cry out to God to have mercy on you, to remember you, to save you, when maybe the kids are nuts? Maybe life at work is super hard. Will you cry out to God? Maybe you've had a boss who is out to get you, or a co-worker who has turned his back on you, or somebody who's betrayed you. Will you cry out to God? Maybe you find yourself, or you will find, or you might find yourself in imminent danger.
When I was a child, I was raised in a Christian home. And even though I wasn't a Christian, I still struggled with this Christian identity. And my parents had taught me how to pray. And I remember when I was robbed at gunpoint, when I was in high school working in a fast food restaurant. And I remember, God, please just save me. Lord, please rescue me. When everything goes wrong, where can you go? Will you go to God? Will you go to the Lord in prayer? Will you go to the King of the universe and cry out that He might save you by His name?
Why don't we go ahead and pray this morning. Father, I pray for those who might now be facing trials in their life, difficulties, today that might seem insurmountable. Father, I pray that you would care for them. I pray for my brothers and sisters that they might cry out to you, that you would remember them in your mercies, for your mercies are new every morning. Father, please give us strength for today, that we might run the race with perseverance, that we might look up to you, and we might seek your kingdom. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May He fill your heart with peace as you rely on Him. And I'll see you tomorrow morning. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.