Only you, Lord, are a mighty rock!
Don’t refuse to help me when I pray.
If you don’t answer me, I will soon be dead.
2 Please listen to my prayer and my cry for help,
as I lift my hands toward your holy temple.
3 Don’t drag me away, Lord, with those cruel people,
who speak kind words, while planning trouble.
4 Treat them as they deserve!
Punish them for their sins.
5 They don’t pay any attention to your wonderful deeds.
Now you will destroy them and leave them in ruin.
6 I praise you, Lord, for answering my prayers.
7 You are my strong shield, and I trust you completely.
You have helped me, and I will celebrate and thank you in song.
8 You give strength to your people, Lord,
and you save and protect your chosen ones.
9 Come save us and bless us.
Be our shepherd and always carry us in your arms. Â Â Â Â Â Â Psalm 28 (CEV)
The psalms can be really interesting when I think of David having this conversation with God. I can identify because I have asked God if He is ignoring me. Does a parent ignore a child? (Don’t feel guilty, of course we have!) But God is a parent with infinite patience and love and so He does not ignore me but instead He often is answering with His perfect timing.
It’s beginning with verse 6 that I engage and add my voice to the psalter’s cry. Isaiah said that before I even call out to God He is working on my cry (Isaiah 65). God is so involved in my life that He anticipates my needs. He knows my heart so well that He is always ahead of me.
It is the statement in verse 7 that strikes my heart: I trust you completely. Do I? Do my actions reflect that level of trust in God? The Prayer Journal that I keep has been a huge help as well as spending time with God reviewing the day each night when I lay down. These are ways that God has suggested to me to keep my focus and spend time acknowledging what He has done in my life.
Footprints by Margaret Fishback Powers
One night I dreamed a dream. I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints.
I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.
“Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I’m aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don’t understand why, when I need You most, You leave me.â€
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.“
Here is a wonderful meditation today, thanking God for the many times that He has carried me. Thanking our LORD that He carries those we love in their difficult journeys. Asking God to carry someone we know who needs a lift. And then thanking God again for carrying our loved ones, carrying ourselves, even before we ask.
Before You Call written and sung by Daphne Rademaker
