Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Sunday, 24 September 2017 "The Steady Life" by Robert W. Smith - Psalm 143:1-12

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Sunday, 24 September 2017 "The Steady Life" by Robert W. Smith - Psalm 143:1-12
Psalm 143:1 (0) A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai, hear my prayer;
listen to my pleas for mercy.
In your faithfulness, answer me,
and in your righteousness.
2 Don’t bring your servant to trial,
since in your sight no one alive
would be considered righteous.
3 For an enemy is pursuing me;
he has crushed my life into the ground
and left me to live in darkness,
like those who have been long dead.
4 My spirit faints within me;
my heart is appalled within me.
5 I remember the days of old,
reflecting on all your deeds,
thinking about the work of your hands.
6 I spread out my hands to you,
I long for you like a thirsty land. (Selah)
7 Answer me quickly, Adonai,
because my spirit is fainting.
Don’t hide your face from me,
or I’ll be like those who drop down into a pit.
8 Make me hear of your love in the morning,
because I rely on you.
Make me know the way I should walk,
because I entrust myself to you.
9 Adonai, rescue me from my enemies;
I have hidden myself with you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
because you are my God;
Let your good Spirit guide me
on ground that is level.
11 For your name’s sake, Adonai, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of distress.
12 In your grace, cut off my enemies;
destroy all those harassing me;
because I am your servant.
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As a boy, I traveled with my family across the United States. We saw the construction of the interstate highway system; from time to time, we saw the great dynamite blasts that leveled the land for the roadways, allowing traffic to move freely across the Great Plains and over the Rocky Mountains.
Psalm 143 is a lament in which the writer cries out to God to level the ground for safe passage against threatening adversaries. Pursued and crushed to the ground (v. 3), the psalmist was desperate for divine help.
No human relationship can take the place of our trust in God (v. 8). Life is worthless if God’s face is hidden from us (v. 7). The psalmist asked for stability in life’s overwhelming circumstances: “May your good Spirit lead me on level ground” (v. 10). It expresses a vulnerability that cannot be met by human power. This prayer asks that the highs and lows of life be balanced, that uneven terrain become level so that he might move forward on level ground. Let’s pray with the psalmist for the Spirit of God to level the terrain surrounding our lives.

Hymn for Today:
"Blessed Quietness" by Manie Payne Ferguson
1. Joys are flowing like a river,
since the Comforter has come;
He abides with us forever,
makes the trusting heart His home.
Refrain: Blessed quietness, holy quietness,
what assurance in my soul!
On the stormy sea He speaks peace to me,
how the billows cease to roll!
2. Bringing life and health and gladness,
all around this heavenly Guest,
banished unbelief and sadness,
changed our weariness to rest.
Refrain: Blessed quietness, holy quietness,
what assurance in my soul!
On the stormy sea He speaks peace to me,
how the billows cease to roll!
3. Like the rain that falls from heaven,
like the sunlight from the sky,
so the Comforter is given,

coming on us from on high.
Refrain: Blessed quietness, holy quietness,
what assurance in my soul!
On the stormy sea He speaks peace to me,
how the billows cease to roll!
Thought for Today:
The way of the righteous is level;
Righteous One, you smooth the path for the righteous.(Isaiah 26:7}
Please pray:
That many people in Guatemala will come to know Yeshua the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
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