Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Sunday, 1 July 2018 "Remember: God Loves You" by William Coker, Jr. - Psalm 13:1-6.

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Sunday, 1 July 2018 "Remember: God Loves You" by William Coker, Jr. - Psalm 13:1-6.
Psalm 13:1-(0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
2 (1) How long, Adonai?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
3 (2) How long must I keep asking myself what to do,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long must my enemy dominate me?
4 (3) Look, and answer me, Adonai my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death.
5 (4) Then my enemy would say, “I was able to beat him”;
and my adversaries would rejoice at my downfall.
6 (5) But I trust in your grace,
my heart rejoices as you bring me to safety.
(6) I will sing to Adonai, because he gives me
even more than I need. (Complete Jewish Bible).
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"Gloom, despair, and deep dark misery" are cries of personal suffering, Likewuse, David’s lament expresses the yearning of a soul for hope and deliverance, and he gives voice to honest questions that haunt the mind during extended personal suffering. David’s questions reveal an agony over a sense of God’s abandonment, doubts over self-reliance for resolution, and frustration over the advancement of others. However, David did not cry out a litany of faithless complaints; he gave us a beautiful, instructive prayer. The difference lies in the address; prayer addresses the Lord, our God. Prayer believes that God cares about people, even when they do not sense it. If there is hope in the heart and one prays to God for assistance, fervent prayer does not go unheeded (see James 5:17). Trusting in God’s faithfulness is not dependent on seeing the end of suffering (see Hebrews 11:39-40). There is a rabbinic expression about trusting in the relationship between God’s plan and our deliverance: “God’s victorious salvation is our salvation; we are one!” (Midrash Shocker Tov). Our trust in God should result in an internal and external response: a rejoicing heart and singing God’s praise regardless of our present circumstances. ***
Hymn for Today: "O Thou in Whose Presence" by Joseph Swain.

1. O Thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call;
My comfort by day, and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all.
Where dost thou at noon-tide resort with thy sheep,
To feed them in pastures of love?
For why in the valley of death should I weep,
Or alone in the wilderness rove?
2. O why should I wander an alien from thee,
Or cry in the desert for bread?
Thy foes will rejoice, when my sorrows they see,
And smile at the tears I have shed
Ye daughters of Zion, declare, have ye seen
The Star that on Israel shone?
Say, if in your tents my beloved has been,
And where with his flocks he is gone?
3. This is my beloved, his form is divine,
His vestments shed odors around;
The locks on his head are as grapes on the vine,
When autumn with plenty is crowned.,
The roses of Sharon, the lilies that grow
In vales on the banks of the streams;
On his cheeks, in the beauty of excellence blow,
And his eyes are as quivers of beams!
4. His voice as the sound of a dulcimer sweet,
Is heard through the shadows of death;
The cedars of Lebanon bow at his feet,
The air is perfumed with his breath.
His lips as a fountain of righteousness flow,
That waters the garden of grace;
From which their salvation the Gentiles shall know,
And bask in the smiles of his face.
5. Love sits on his eye-lids and scatters delight
Through all the bright mansions on high;
Their faces the cherubim veil in his sight,
And tremble with fullness of joy.
He looks, and ten thousand of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for his word;
He speaks--and eternity, filled with his voice,
Re-echoes the praise of the her voice.
6. His vestments of righteousness who shall describe!
Its purity words would defile;
The heavens from his presence fresh beauties imbibe,
And earth is made rich by his smile.
Such is my beloved in excellence bright,
When pleased he looks down from above;
Like the morn, when he breathes from the chamber of light,
And comforts his people with love.
7. But when armed with vengeance, in terror he comes,
The nations' rebellions to tame,
The reins of omnipotent power he assumes,
And rides in a chariot of flame.
A two edged sword from his mouth issues forth,
Bright quivers of fire are his eyes;
He speaks, the black tempests are seen in the north,
And storms from their caverns arise.
8. The thousand destructions, that wait for his word,
And ride on the wings of his breath,
Fly swift as the winds at the nod of their Lord,
And deal out his arrows of death,
His cloud-bursting thunders, their voices resound
Through all the vast regions on high;
Till from the deep center loud echoes rebound,
And meet the quick flames in the sky.
9. The portals of heaven at his bidding obey,
And expand ere his banners appear;
Earth trembles beneath, till her mountains give way,
And hell shakes her fetters with fear.
When he treads on the clouds as the dust of his feet,
And grasps the storm in his hand;
What eye the fierce glance of his anger shall meet,
Or who in his presence shall stand?

Thought for Today: Mikhtam. By David:
Protect me, God,
for you are my refuge. (Psalm 16:1) (Complete Jewish Bible)).

Please pray: For the development of Christian leaders in Guinea-Cknakry.
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