Psalm 21 Acknowledging God's Answer to Prayer

Daily Bible Study for Wednesday July 27 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version.

One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Song: Friend of God    By: Israel Houghton

Psalm 21

Acknowledging God’s Answers To Prayers

In this Psalm, David was praising God and rejoicing in Him for all the answered prayers. When is the last time you thanked God for answering your prayers, even before you saw the manifestation of them? God is a faithful God. He hears the prayers of the saints, and He answers them! Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

Thank You for hearing us when we pray to You! Father, You do so many marvelous things for Your children day after day, hour upon hour. Lord, today we are so grateful once again for the things You want to reveal to us in Your word. Help us to always remember how important it is to not only come to You with our requests, but to give You thanks for the answers; even before we see them come to pass. Father, I ask You to think through my mind, and use my heart and hands to bring a fresh word to Your children today. Lord I ask that all people who will ever read this lesson will glean the inexplicable value from it that You intended. Lord, cause Your word to come forth unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Bring glory to Yourself as we exalt You in every bit of this. Thank You for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we listen and obey You. Father, we will make a determined effort to be doers of Your word with the help of Holy Spirit, and not forgetful hearers in Jesus name. Amen.

When God shows Himself strong in our lives, it is certainly a cause for joy in our hearts – amen! As humans, we are very weak. Our flesh is weak, but He makes us strong. Look at this…

Isaiah 40:29

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

Joel 3:10b

Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”

I don’t know about you, but when I see God’s strength at work in my life, I am rejoicing. As we read this Psalm I want to ask you to do me a favor, would you? Wherever you read the words, “the king”, or “him”, put your name there and make the sentence to sound as if it is you who are saying it right now. For example, instead of, “the king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord” put your name in place of that. So I would say, “Hanny will have joy in your strength, O Lord.” Do you see what a difference it makes when we position ourselves in such a way as to really make the text personal? And that’s how we need to apply all of scripture where it applies. When David praised the Lord, we can say, “I praise the Lord.” I assure you that doing this will bless you greatly!

As we go through the lines, we will continue along that same path, and add scriptures that relate as the Lord directs me, OK? Before we go any further, let’s take a look at a passage that shows us a little more about the Lord hearing our prayers. Please keep in mind that there are certain criteria to having our prayers heard and answered by the Lord, but that is a separate teaching altogether. For now, let’s just look at how He hears the prayers of His saints, and He does…

Revelation 8:1-4

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.

In this passage we see how the Lord receives the prayers of His saints at His altar – hallelujah! We won’t go into it a lot right now, but if one reads the passages that follow this in Revelation 8, we can see how the Lord deals with the enemy. In our Psalm today, David is acknowledging the answers to his prayers – we see that in Revelation - He has heard our prayers. Then David goes on to say that the Lord will deal with the enemy – and that is exactly what we see if we continue reading in the Revelation verses. The Lord has surely received innumerable requests from His children about dealing with the enemy. And here in Revelation we see that He has heard them, and then we see Him doing something about it. That’s worth shoutin about saints! Amen!

While the Lord has done all He is going to do about the enemy – for now, until Jesus comes back, He is still busy answering our many prayers. And we should be thanking Him – even before we see the answers come to pass. Some answers will be longer in coming than others, and still other prayers will not show the answers in this lifetime. Many of are praying for people we do not even know, and we won’t see the results while in this life. But if we give ourselves to prayer, especially prayer in the spirit (praying in tongues) then God can use us as vessels to pray about people and situations we know nothing about. Never the less, He answers them and He deserves our highest praise for that!

In the next line of verse 1, David said he was rejoicing in his salvation. I know I am. How about you? Smile! David did not yet know Jesus, so in this passage he was actually showing his role as a prophet. He knew his salvation was sure. Look at this… 

Acts 2:22-36

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— ²³ Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ²⁴ whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:

‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
²⁶ Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
²⁷ For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

²⁹ “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹ he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ³² This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

³⁴ “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
³⁵ Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Personally, I would never have put these two scriptures together in my own thinking (today’s Psalm with this), but the Lord did! How awesome He is. David was rejoicing in the One who would come to provide his salvation, long before Jesus ever showed up on the earth. That’s God! The Acts verses truly capture in totality the essence of David’s words used by God in Psalm 21 today. In addition to that, look at this…

Luke 18:31

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.

Jesus had pulled His disciples aside to prophesy to them what had been foretold by prophets of long ago - including David. He (David) was not only a king, but a prophet. From his loins would come the King of kings, the Prophet over all prophets. Glory to God.

So you see, in our lesson today, David was actually rejoicing in an event that was yet to take place. He acted as though it was already done. Is that how you act when you pray? Do you believe you receive it when you pray? That’s how we get the answers. Look at this…

Mark 11:24

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Friends, this is one of the requirements for us to receive the answers to our prayers. If we go back to the Lord and ask the same thing a second, third, or fourth time, then we have been praying in unbelief, and we will not receive our answers. Remember, without faith, we cannot please God. David was a great example of believing in advance. He had a great deal of faith that the Lord would answer His prayers – and He did! Even long after he had gone to be with the Lord in heaven.

As we continue on, David acknowledged that the Lord had given him the desire of his heart. He had gotten what he asked for. Look at this…

Matthew 7:7

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

It can’t be any mistake that this verse falls on Matthew 7:7. 

Seven in the Bible means perfection; completion. If that is the case, and we know it is, then isn’t it awesome that this verse is telling us to ask and it will be given and it falls in the number of perfection and completion? We cannot even begin to plumb the depths of what God has set up in His word for us. That’s why we need Holy Spirit so much. He reveals the deep things of God to those who are seeking – they will receive! It just takes faith. And no matter how long it takes to see the answers come to pass in the things that we will see, we cannot waver in unbelief, or we will lose our answer. Doubt will get us nowhere! 

What David said next should encourage all of us. The Lord did not withhold his requests. Praise God. He is faithful. When we do our part the right way – He will always do His part. It must make the Lord very sad to see so many of His children not asking for things they should be asking for. And it doesn’t bless Him to deliver all these requests and not have them acknowledged either. How would you like it if someone asked you for something and when you gave it to them, they just turned and walked away? Hmmm. It is no different with God. The Bible is full of thanks and praise to Him and we should be full of thanks and praise to Him for all He is and for all He does for us – amen!

Here is a wonderful promise to hang on to…

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

When God is truly our hearts delight, we will get the petitions we have asked of Him. He is a giver and He really enjoys giving good gifts…

Matthew 7:11

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Friends, these are promises that we can hang on to. God will never, no never fail to do His part when we do ours. Before we move on I want to share a story – a testimony of how God answered my prayers. I have a friend who has a boyfriend who went into surgery two weeks ago. Before he went, I prayed. I asked the Lord to heal Him, help him even while he was under the anesthesia, etc. Today my sweet friend called me to give the report on how he was doing. As it turned out, he ended up going back in the hospital and was struggling hard there for a moment – but Gods answered my prayer and he is doing just fine now. He is up and walking and making progress. Praise the Lord!

I did not know that he went into a time of deep struggle. Had I known, I could have asked the Lord for some additional help. I don’t mean I would have prayed what I already prayed for him, but I could have intervened, even in the spirit had I known. Perhaps his results could have been even better. I am rejoicing in God that today of all days, she just ‘happened’ to call me to thank me for helping with the dog and for the prayers. I felt led to share this because a good testimony of how the Lord was faithful will usually increase our faith so that we can believe He will do the same thing for all of us – hallelujah!

Moving on, next we read that the Lord met him (us/me) with the blessings of goodness. Being blessed by God can only be good – amen. Here’s some verses to encourage us…

  

Psalm 23:6

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

How much different do you suppose our day would go if we continually remembered that God’s goodness and His mercy were following us everywhere we went? It’s worth considering. Why not write the verse and put it in your car? I think I will to. Praise God! And what about this?

Psalm 27:13

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Seeing His goodness keeps our hearts strong in a world gone crazy. It is what keeps us going on. By faith we walk through life with tests, trials and temptations, but full of joy because of His goodness in us, around us, and following us everywhere we go. Others should see us and want what we have. Here is more rejoicing over God’s goodness…

Psalm 31:19

Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!

Yes, everyone, even the unsaved will see how good God has been to us. The neat thing about it is that it will cause them to ask why this is happening to us? Then we can tell them how they too can experience the goodness of the Lord. God’s house will satisfy us too…

Psalm 65:4

Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.

Being in God’s house is satisfying and good. It raises the question, “who wouldn’t want it?” But many do not. That is very SADD-U-CEE!

Psalm 65:11

You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.

This is another favorite of mine. I keep it in my calendar so I see it month after month. It helps me to remember that His goodness makes my year great, and very abundant, in every way. Praise His name forever! Which brings us back to the essence of this Psalm – giving thanks to the Lord for His answers to our prayers, His goodness to us all…

Psalm 107:8

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

How many know that it is always right to give Him thanks and praise no matter what is going on in our lives? The next line in our chapter says that the Lord put a crown of pure gold on king David’s head. It is figurative, and it is literal. In what way? First of all, covering us with the purity of salvation is the best crown we can receive! Jesus took a crown of thorns, representing the curse, upon His head so we could receive the crown of life that would never fade away…

Mark 15:17

They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.

1 Peter 5:4

and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

A crown represents something that covers our head – like a crown does. In Ephesians the scriptures tell us that part of the armor of God starts at the top of our head, with the “helmet” of salvation. In the following verses, look at the many wonderful things that “crown” or cover the heads of those who are saved in Christ Jesus…

Isaiah 35:10 NIV

and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isaiah 61:3 NIV

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Isaiah 62:3

You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Proverbs 10:6 NIV

Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

Revelation 3:11

 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

Joy, beauty, glory and blessings are our crown when we belong to Jesus. Hallelujah! And if we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we will not lose that crown – it will be ours forever, just as the last verse here denotes. In the literal sense, God had crowned David as king over His people Israel. He put him in the highest position available on the planet. He will do the same for you and me. He wants to elevate us to important positions. Yes, and the Lord wants to give you and me the finest of things – just like a pure gold crown. He wants to give us the best of the best so we can do the best work for the kingdom, producing the best results – praise His name forever!

David asked the Lord to give him life, and He surely responded to that request favorably. David said the Lord had given him length of days. He wants to do that for us too. Saints, I never know what is going to come out in these studies, so I get just as blessed as you do as the Holy Spirit unfolds these wonderful truths from the heart of God. Look at this…

Psalm 91:16

“With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Never forget that there are certain criteria that have to be met on our part in order to see these promises come to pass. I say it again and again because too many times people see these verses and then when it does not happen in their lives, their either accuse God or blame Him, when it was never His fault that His word did not come to pass in their lives. We always, always, always have a part to play in the game of life. Without doing our part, none of these wonderful promises can come to pass in our lives. But that’s not you and me, is it saints? Hallelujah!

David said that the Lord gave him honor and majesty. He can give the same to us. Look at what the Lord said about those who honor Him…

1 Samuel 2:30

for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

God crowns us – or covers us with glory and honor when He is our God.

Psalm 8:5

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

And He enjoys exalting us when we exalt Him first in our lives. Look at what He did for Solomon as just one example.

1 Chronicles 29:25

So the Lord exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

In verse 6 today, David proclaimed that the Lord had made him “most blessed forever.” How about you? Do you see yourself as being “most blessed forever” like David did? A lot of how we see ourselves is how it will be for us in our lives. We need to look at ourselves through God’s eyes. Through the lens of His pupils, He sees us already made perfect. He sees us blessed and highly favored. What must break His heart is to look at us and see how the enemy has been allowed to make God’s born again children continue to look at themselves as the old man they were before the new birth.

Friends, in Christ Jesus we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing…

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Every single thing that we need spiritually has already been imparted to us. And here is what the Lord says in His word about His blessings upon us…

Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.

Being rich with God’s blessings is the best place to be saints! Hallelujah! If we can just take hold of it all by faith – we will see the manifestations of it in our lives and we will stay on the mountain top always. Never should there be a valley day for the born again child of God – never! Mary said it well about what God had done for her…

Luke 1:48

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

She knew she was truly a blessed woman because God had chosen to use her body to birth the seed of the word of God into this world. Henceforth, she would give birth to her salvation. And you and I saints, also carry the seed of the word of God in our hearts as His born again children, so how can we not at all times consider ourselves blessed?

Do you notice the next statement that David made in verse 6? He said that the Lord had made him exceedingly glad with His presence (in his life). The King James Version says “countenance” rather than presence. When God is in our lives, He shows us His favor, His grace, and His favorable regards, as the 1828 Webster dictionary puts it. No matter how we put it, God’s favor on us – His presence in us and around us should make us like “jumping jacks” every day! Our joy can be overflowing at all times. While the enemy tries hard to steal our joy, we should not allow anything at any time to do that.

Psalm 16:11

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

You will really like the way these scriptures express the joy…

1 Peter 1:6-9

 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Even without physically seeing God’s face shining on us, we can be full of joy. I hope this is encouraging you as much (or even more) than it is me! Hallelujah!

The last verse in the section on acknowledging all that God has done ends with a bold statement of trust in God (a statement of faith) and a determination that because of the Lord is his life, he will not let anything “move” him. How about that? Do you stand firm enough in your faith in God so much so that nothing that comes against you moves you? Paul was a great example of that among others…

Acts 20:17-24

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; ²⁰ how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, ²¹ testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, ²³ except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.²⁴ But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

And look at this…

Jeremiah 4:1-2

“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “Return to Me; and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved. ² And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’ in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.”

We see one reminder after another in the word of God that though this life will have tests and trials, we do not have to be moved. Nor should we ever lose our joy. And how can we do it? Look at this…

Nehemiah 8:10b

“Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Did you know that your joy can make you very strong? It is true. We can overcome anything with joy! We just have to put these words into practice in our lives. If we are not seeing the joy and experiencing the blessings, we really need to put the brakes on and take a look at why we’re not. Seeking the Lord is the best place to start with that. He is always with us and ready to help us.

David ends this chapter by exalting the Lord and singing His praises. How about you? Are you starting your day, spending your day and ending your day by exalting the Lord and singing His praises? If you do you will see great things unfold before your very eyes. Praise the Lord for His marvelous mercy to the sons of men.

Questions:

How many positive words can you pick out from this Psalm? List them out.

In what ways have you seen the Lord give you the desires of your heart?

Which promise from these verses encourage you the most? Why?

In what ways do you exalt the Lord and praise Him throughout your day?

Do you believe that you receive the answer to your prayers the minute you ask them? If not, why? Take this to prayer with the Lord and let Him help you.  

How has your faith been increased about the Lord’s answers to prayer by reading this study?

John 14:12-14

¹² “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.¹⁴ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

God hears our prayers

God answers our prayers

We should always take the time to thank Him for the answers – even when we can’t see them

                        Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the joy, the mercy, the gladness, the glory and the honor which You have bestowed on me! Lord, thank You for all the answered prayers. Even though I may not see the physical manifestation of them yet, I know You are working on them and that You have already answered them. Every time I think of the things I have already asked of You, I will just stop to give You thanks for the answer that is on the way. I will praise You continually for Your faithful work on my behalf. I give You all the glory and all the honor and all the praise Lord for who You are and all You do in Jesus name! Amen.

Are you stopping to thank God for answering Your prayers on a regular basis?

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

Acts 10:1-8

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, ² a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. ³ About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴ And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”

So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. ⁵ Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. ⁶ He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” ⁷ And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. ⁸ So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Acts 11:13-18

And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, ¹⁴ who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’¹⁷ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Talk about an answer to prayer! Glory to God!