Post by Les Brewer on Jun 19, 2012 7:47:51 GMT
"THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!" by Pastor Robert Oliver
II Samuel 22:7 says~ "IN MY DISTRESS I 'CALLED' UPON THE LORD, and 'CRIED' TO MY GOD: and HE DID 'HEAR' MY VOICE OUT OF HIS TEMPLE, and MY CRY DID 'ENTER' INTO HIS EARS!"
Oh Me Oh My Beloved Believers, Did You 'Hear' What the King of ISRAEL Just "Said?" David Here, is 'Rehearsing' All that THE LORD Had "DONE FOR" Him, by 'Delivering' Him From the Hand of Saul, and 'Out' of the Hand of "ALL HIS ENEMIES!" And In 'This' Verse Alone, He Gives Us "7" Amazing Things to Ponder:
First, Notice "WHEN" David Prayed! He says~ "IN 'MY' DISTRESS!" Oh Yes Indeed Church, this is Critically 'Important' to Understand, Because Right Here, the Psalmist 'Pin-Points' the Exact "TIME" of His 'Petitioning' GOD: it was~ "IN 'HIS' DISTRESS!" Listen now, 'When' You & I Are Facing the 'Giants' of Despair, and 'Find' ourselves in the Deep Dark 'Cave' of Adullam, We Must 'Discipline' Ourselves in the Art of "GOING TO GOD" in Our Prayer Closet! And Listen Saints, it's 'Not' a Question of Whether or Not We Will Be 'In' Distress Like David, But a Question of "WHAT" We Will Do "WHEN" We Find Ourselves There! The King "PRAYED" WHEN HE WAS IN "DISTRESS!!!"
But Secondly, Notice "WHAT" David DID "IN" His Distress! He writes~ "IN MY DISTRESS I CALLED!" Well Glory to GOD! I 'Love' this, Because David 'Reveals' to us the "REMEDY" for DISTRESS, and that is, "CALLING OUT FOR HELP!" Now Brethren, this 'takes' Humility, and 'Eliminates' PRIDE, Because "CALLING" OUT Implies an 'INABILITY' in "SELF" to Overcome the Circumstance! So 'Stop' Being so Dependent on Your "SELF" and Start "CALLING OUT" For Divine Assistance!!!
Ok But Thirdly, Notice "WHO" David CALLED OUT "TO!" He says~ "IN MY 'DISTRESS' I CALLED UPON 'THE' LORD!" Oh Beloved, How We 'Need' to Follow the King's Example, and Learn to 'CALL' UPON "THE LORD" When We NEED HELP! Sometimes We Go to Brother so and so, or Sister so and so, or to the Pastor, or to the Church Know-it-all, or to the Psychiatrist, or the Self-Help Guru, or Aunt Sallie, or Some So-Called Friend, But We 'FAIL' TO GO TO "THE LORD!!!" David Says "I CALLED UPON 'THE' LORD!" The Hebrew Name is "YEHOVAH" and Means~ "THE ETERNALLY SELF-EXISTENT ONE!!!" Did You 'Catch' That??? When You 'Need' HELP You Need to Go to The 'ONE' WHO "NEVER NEEDS HELP!!!" You Know What Beloved, I Truly 'Believe' that the Majority of Our Seemingly Insurmountable 'Problems' in our Lives, Could Be Speedily 'Erased' by Simply "CALLING" UPON THE LORD!!! Listen, HE'S "ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU NO MATTER WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH!!!
Alright But Fourthly, Notice What "ELSE" David Did! He writes~ "IN MY DISTRESS I CALLED UPON THE LORD, AND 'CRIED' TO MY GOD!" Oh My, Did You 'Hear' That? Listen to Me Dear One: David was a "MIGHTY WARRIOR", a "KING", and "LEADER OF A GREAT ARMY", But 'Here' We Find Him "WEEPING BEFORE GOD!" Oh Dear Child of GOD, I Beg You to 'Hear' the Sweet Psalmist of ISRAEL today! Because So 'Often' We Go Crying to the "WRONG SOURCE!" Let Me Ask You Christian: Do You Ever "CRY" Before GOD? I Mean Do You Ever Pour Your Hurting Heart 'Out' to GOD, and "ALLOW HIM TO COMFORT YOU?" Here's David, Having Been 'Exiled' From His Throne In a Military 'Coup' that was "LED" By His OWN 'SON' ABSALOM, But He Is "NOT SILENT IN HIS DISTRESS", He's CRYING OUT TO THE "ONLY ONE WHO COULD DELIVER HIM!" Good Old John R. Rice Said~ "Prayer is Asking, Supplication is Begging!" Beloved We Need to "PRAY" Like We Mean it!!!
But Fifthly, Notice the "RESULT" Of David's Prayer! He says~ "IN MY DISTRESS I CALLED UPON THE LORD, AND CRIED TO MY GOD: AND HE DID 'HEAR' MY VOICE!" Oh Do I Ever 'Love' This Verse Church! Listen to me Carefully, "WHEN YOU CALL UPON" AND CRY OUT TO THE LORD, HE WILL "HEAR" YOUR VOICE!!! He Did Not Call Upon Buddha, or Mohammed, or Krishna, or Mary, But He CALLED UPON THE "LORD GOD" THAT COULD "HEAR" HIS PRAYER!!! It Was 'David' Who Said in Psalm 115:4~ "Their Idols are...the works of men's hands; they have Mouths but they Speak Not, they have Eyes but they See Not, they have EARS BUT THEY 'HEAR' NOT!" But OUR GOD IS THE "LIVING GOD!" HE'S THE GOD WHO "HEARS" OUR PRAYERS!!! So Realize Beloved, That HE "HEARS" When You 'Call' upon "HIM!!!"
Ok But Sixthly, Notice the "LOCATION" OF HIS HEARING! He says~ "IN MY DISTRESS I CALLED UPON THE LORD, AND CRIED TO MY GOD: AND HE DID HEAR MY VOICE 'OUT' OF HIS TEMPLE!" Oh Glory! Do You 'Realize' today Believers that GOD "HAS" A TEMPLE? Listen, "HIS TEMPLE IS HEAVEN!" HE Said In Isaiah 66:1~ "THE 'HEAVEN' IS MY THRONE, and THE 'EARTH' IS MY FOOTSTOOL!" And If You 'Know' JESUS CHRIST You Are "GOING THERE ONE DAY!" Yes it's TRUE: HE "HEARS" US "IN" HEAVEN!!!
But Seventhly, Finally, Notice the "PERSONAL" AUDIENCE David 'Had' With THE LORD! He says~ "IN 'MY' DISTRESS 'I' CALLED UPON THE LORD, AND CRIED TO 'MY' GOD: AND HE DID HEAR 'MY' VOICE OUT OF HIS TEMPLE, AND 'MY' CRY DID ENTER INTO 'HIS' EARS!" Oh My Beloved, I See a PERSONAL "COMMUNION" Here! Listen, It Was As If 'David' Was the "ONLY PERSON WHO EVER EXISTED!" He Had THE LIVING GOD'S "UNDIVIDED" ATTENTION, and SO 'DO' YOU & I "WHEN" WE PRAY!!! Did You 'Hear' What I Just Said??? Child of GOD, When "YOU" PRAY in JESUS' NAME You "HAVE A PERSONAL 'AUDIENCE' BEFORE THE KING OF KINGS!!!" Listen, We Don't Pray to Saints, or Priests, or Statues, or Men in Booths, Because OUR PRAYERS "ENTER" INTO "HIS" EARS "ON" HEAVEN'S THRONE!!! It's "PERSONAL!" It's a "LIVING RELATIONSHIP" Between the Servant and THE MASTER, Between David and HIS GOD, that We're 'Seeing' Here! And Listen, the Very Next Verse Says~ "Then the Earth Shook and Trembled; the Foundations of HEAVEN Moved and Shook, because HE was Wroth!" Now, Beloved Listen, the "REASON" Why the HEAVEN & EARTH "SHOOK" Was Because of "WHAT DAVID PRAYED!!!" So, My Word to You today is this: "When In Distress, CALL UPON GOD, for HE WILL HEAR, and THE EARTH WILL SHAKE, as HE ANSWERS!!!" Blessings to All, and Shalom...
