Daily Bible Study for Friday July 1,
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
Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace
given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than
he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure
of faith.
Psalm 100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: God is My Everything By: Chicago
Mass Choir
Psalm 3
They Cried Out to The Lord in Their Trouble
Today David is crying out to
the Lord. He is being attacked by the enemy from all sides. And they think - (LOL!)
that David has no help. Ah, but the mercy of His God, and ours – hallelujah!
Let’s pray and see what the Lord will show us today…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You for Your unending
mercy that reached down into this dark world and saved someone like me! Father,
there is no person beyond Your loving reach when they call on You for help. And
there is no end to Your mercy. Lord I ask that You would show us all today what
You want each one of us to receive as we meditate on Your wonderful, powerful
word. Father I ask You to touch every reader this goes out to in a deep way; in
a way they have never been touched before. May this lesson show all of us more
of who You really are for us. Lord, I ask You to bring Your revelation wisdom
and knowledge that is too deep for man to understand, to us today. Bring it forth
by using my mind, my heart and these clay hands. May Your purpose and power go
forth now Lord, unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh to
accomplish Your perfect will. Thank You for always watching over Your word to
perform it in our lives in Jesus name. Amen!
You will notice some very
powerful things about prayer in this little but amazing Psalm. David knew who
to go to in trouble. We saw that a lot in the books of Samuel when David faced
many battles. He was a warrior, and when the troops were coming against him, he
would inquire of the Lord. If you go back and read about David’s life, you will
see it repeatedly. He knew the power of
God from the slaying of Goliath to the last battle he fought in his life. You
see, to David, there was nothing too big for him to face - with his God. That
mean old giant was ‘no thing’ to young, skinny little David. He knew he had a
great big God to call on – and he did. And guess what? That’s right – David got
the victory!
In the beginning of our Psalm for
today we see David approach God in yet another troubling situation. He brings
the situation to the Lord. He didn’t whine or complain – he just stated the
facts. Once that was done he immediately went into acknowledging before the
Lord what he knew God was to him, in this and every situation in life. David
knew that God was his glory. He didn’t glory in himself for a minute. God was
his glory. Remember this…
1 Corinthians 1:29
that no flesh should glory in His presence.
This man of God knew that all the glory belonged to God. And he made
that clear in this prayer to Him. David also knew that when the enemy tried to
bring his head low in battle that God could step in and lift up his head at
just the right time. When we are brought low, God can raise us up – hallelujah!
I have seen Him do it many times in my life. People I used to work with
tried to bring me low, but God always came through and lifted me back up – it
was a glorious thing to behold. Praise His name forever! David cried out to God
in his distress and the Lord heard Him from heaven. The Lord is never far from
any of us…
Psalm 73:28
But it
is good for me to draw near to God; I have
put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Your works.
Psalm 119:51
You are near, O Lord, and
all Your commandments are truth.
After David prayed - oh, let’s
get this saints! – he laid down and went to sleep! How many are doing this
after praying and asking God to help? How many people pray and ask God for help
and then keep on trying to figure it out on their own, lying awake at night and
fretting (worrying – which is sin) about the situation and how it will be
resolved? In doing that we completely void out the transaction of prayer that
we just presented to God.
He cannot do anything with it when we take the responsibility
back into our own hands. That is really SADD-U-CEE because so many people have
unanswered prayers. They are blaming God for the lack of results they are
seeing when it was their refusal to cooperate with Him that caused their
requests fail in the first place. Look at what the Bible says
about our sleep…
Psalm 4:8
I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make
me dwell in safety.
And here is another reminder of what we can do after we pray to God…
Psalm 5:3 NIV
In the morning, Lord, you hear my
voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.
David is being used by Holy
Spirit to show us a wonderful example of how to pray, how to trust and how to wait
on the Lord for our answer; even when it does not come when we think it should.
Over the last 10 ½ years as I have walked more closely with the Lord, I have
seen Him bring instant answers, while others were delayed a short bit. Still, others
took years for my answers to come. And there are many, many prayers that I am
still waiting on.
I may not see many of the
answers in this lifetime, but that’s OK. I can trust that He is working on
them. There is no time or distance in the spirit realm. What we asked Him 20
years ago is still on His mind and in His ability to bring the answers – that
is, if we continue to trust Him even though the answer has not come when we
thought it should.
Look at this Psalm…
Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently
for the Lord; and He inclined
to me, and heard my cry.
Waiting patiently is something most folks find
hard to do – but it is a requirement. Here is another word from God to remind
us to “sit tight” (firm in faith) while He is working on the answers…
Psalm 46:10a
Be still, and know that I am God;
Being still – hmmmm…Doesn’t it make you think of a young child who can’t
sit still? They are fidgeting all over the place and just cannot stop moving. I
wonder if God doesn’t see us that same way saints. When we pray and then waste
a bunch of valuable time fidgeting - unable to bring about the results that
only God can bring, while He had the perfect solution at the right time all
along. Friends, this is something to think about seriously. There is so much we
need to learn about effective prayer. We should be praying in the Holy Spirit
and praying in our known tongues as well, and then resting and trusting while
God is working. Doing that will yield the results we are looking for.
When Brother Kenneth E. Hagin got ahold of some foundational truths
about effective prayer, he stated in his Bible Study Prayer Guide that he went
55 years getting every prayer he prayed for himself answered. Glory to God!
That’s a pretty great track record, isn’t it? He wasn’t saying that all his
prayers for others were answered – only His.
When we pray for others there is a
faith issue and their will involved – both of which we have no control over. Wouldn’t
you like to yield those kind of results? Sure you would – we all want that in
the body of Christ. The good news is; we can have it – hallelujah. My husband
and I started studying Brother Hagin’s prayer guide and it is changing the way
we pray and it is bringing us results. God is faithful.
The next thing we see in today’s chapter is how David knew that the Lord
had sustained him. As he rested and waited on the Lord, God had kept him from
trouble. To be sustained by God is the best place to be saints. Look at this…
Psalm 57:1-2
Be
merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the
shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. I
will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me.
Our man of God David set us a great example by
showing us how he curled up under the shadow of the Almighty’s wings waiting
for his trouble to pass. What a glorious picture. In fact, let’s look at one to
really drive the point home…
Isn’t that beautiful? Now, picture the mother
bird as God and the babies as you. Awesome God! Here’s another Psalm that talks
about this that you may be very familiar with…
Psalm 91:1-7
He
who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of
the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my
fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely
He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under
His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You
shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies
by day, nor of the
pestilence that walks
in darkness, nor of the
destruction that lays
waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, and ten
thousand at your right hand; but it
shall not come near you.
Saints, please don’t just think of David hiding
under God’s wings – place yourself there, and be still while He is working on
your solutions. At the end of the verse displayed, we see how many can fall at
our side – 10,000. That’s a lot of enemies, isn’t it? There are many spiritual
hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. David knew he had an army of enemies
pursuing him. But as he said in verse 6 today, he was stating out loud that he
was not going to be afraid, even though there were ‘ten thousand’ people
hunting for him to kill him. That’s faith friends – that’s real faith!
He was
resisting fear. Can you see it? The enemy comes, and he tries to inflict us
with fear. If we submit to that, we are disarming God from helping us because
we cannot please God without faith, like Hebrews 11:6 tells us.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He
is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Worry, fear and doubt (unbelief) are all ploys
of the enemy to get us to nullify our own prayers. And unfortunately, many
Christians today are allowing this to happen. They say, “But I can’t help it –
that’s just me. I have to worry. I can’t help but be afraid. You would too if
you were in my shoes.” Lies – all lies!
These are the enemy’s schemes. He wants to plant
these thoughts in the minds of God’s children. The devil knows that if he can
get someone to think, feel and say these things, they will fail to get anywhere
with God in their prayers. Fear will try to come on us - but we can resist it! Worry will try to come,
but we can cast down that thought and imagination immediately and replace it
with a faith thought.
And if we have ever seen God work on our behalf before,
then why would we doubt that He would do it again? He is the same God in our
current circumstances as He was in yesterday’s troubles – amen! He doesn’t
change. His mercies are new every morning and great is His faithfulness –
hallelujah! So what do we do when fear, worry or doubt try to come saints? We
resist it. Remember what James told us…
James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
If we resist the devil he will flee from us. But don’t leave out the
first part of that verse friends. It is very important. We must submit to God
AND resist the devil. These two commands go hand in hand. We cannot have one
without the other. Let’s look at what David said next in his plea to the Lord
for help…
Psalm 3:7 YLT – Youngs Literal Translation
Rise, O Jehovah! save me, my God.
Because Thou hast smitten all mine enemies [on] the cheek. The teeth of the
wicked Thou hast broken.
What we see in this verse is a statement of faith. David knows that God
has already dealt with the enemy. This is real faith shining through again from
our man David. Remember, the enemy has already been defeated saints. He is a
defeated foe. He has zero power over God’s children when we trust in our Lord
and resist the devil – zero! Isn’t that good news? The only power the enemy
ever gets to have in our lives is that which we willingly serve up to him. The
ungodly will get nowhere with God when we are coming to the Lord in faith about
people who are being used by the devil to assault us.
I am remembering when I worked at the last insurance agency before my
health insurance career came to a close. I mentioned it in my testimony back in
the book of Job, but a piece of it fits well again here today. When I went to
work there it seemed that all hell broke loose on me. The women were mean to me
and trying to get me fired. It was a small group of gals and they were like a
pack of angry wolves staring me in the face every morning.
It was awful! But I
placed my trust in God and I kept going back and thanking Him for helping me,
even when it didn’t look so good. I would go home crying after work and keep
reminding God that He had not brought me there to fail. I was going to trust
Him even if I did end up losing my job.
Oh saints, but God stepped in on that scene in a mighty way! Soon and
very soon my sorrow turned to joy! He took out several of the ladies that were
hounding me and even the boss who harassed me and tried to get me to do
something illegal. It was a glorious thing to watch. I saw the Lord move so
mightily in that place for me over and over again during that 4 ½ years.
His miraculous assistance spurred me on to trust Him more and more.
Glory to His name forever. My prayers to Him were often times short and to the
point – sort of like David’s prayer here today. He got right to the point. He
said he needed help. He stated the problem. He placed his trust in God and he
relaxed while his help was on the way. That’s the kind of prayer life God wants
us to have – one that truly rests in Him.
Here is another Psalm that we will look at as we
study the book of Psalms at a later date. But the Lord brought it to my mind
and attention for today. It is wonderful how the Bible is so perfectly woven
together – each part uniting with the other like a tightly knitted garment –
glory to God.
Psalm 107
Oh,
give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good! For
His mercy endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the
hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the
west, from the north and from the south.
They
wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry
and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Then they
cried out to the Lord in
their trouble, and He
delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them
forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His
goodness, and for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the
hungry soul with goodness.
Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of
death, bound in affliction and irons— because they rebelled against the words
of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High, therefore He brought down
their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their
distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke
their chains in pieces.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His
goodness, and for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut
the bars of iron in two.
Fools,
because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were
afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the
gates of death.
Then they
cried out to the Lord in
their trouble, and He
saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and
delivered them from
their destructions.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His
goodness, and for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
Let
them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with
rejoicing.
Those
who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the
works of the Lord, and His
wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up
the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they
go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They
reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and
He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves
are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to
their desired haven.
Oh,
that men would give
thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the
children of men! Let
them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the
company of the elders.
He
turns rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a
fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
He
turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings. There
He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
and sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He
also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; and He does not let their cattle
decrease.
When
they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow,
He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
Yet
He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock. The
righteous see it and
rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth.
Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the
lovingkindness of the Lord.
You’ll notice as you read this Psalm that there
were four types of people mentioned here. There were the wanderers, stumbling
down the wrong path. But God stepped in to set them on the right path. They had
been hungry and thirsty spiritually speaking, but God satisfied the longing in
their souls and filled their hunger (for something much better) with His
goodness.
Many times we have born again Christians, who,
for one reason or another find themselves stumbling around off the path that
God had planned for them. There they are out there – can you see them? Look out
in the desert where it is dry and there is nothing they can depend on. They are
hungry, thirsty and desperate. They have not been feeding on the word of God so
they are starving spiritually. They have no clue how to get to their promised
land.
Then they cried out to the Lord. He set them
straight. He satisfied them as only He can do. Can you relate saints? Have you
been there? The next group we see are those who are sitting in spiritual
darkness. They are bound up with afflictions of all kinds. Pain, distress and
grief have become their constant companion – and why? Because they rebelled against
God’s ways. They despised His word and His ways. They thought they could do it
better on their own.
Then, when God brought them low, they couldn’t take the
penalty of their sins, so they cried out to the Lord. Sin brings many bad things
into our lives. Sickness, which brings a host of trouble; it binds us up like
we were wrapped in a body cast. It’s a terrible place to be. Ask me how I know
that. Hmmm…
Well, when the sinners cried out to the Lord,
what did He do? Once again we see His mercy at work. He brought them out of
their spiritual darkness and broke off the chains of sin and death that were
binding them. Oh God is so good! After that we see the fools. Who are they?
These people refused to know God and they suffered greatly as a result. They
came to a point of physical and spiritual starvation – and finally realized
that there had to be a God in heaven who could help them.
So what did this group do? They too called on
the name of the Lord. And what did He do for these sinners? He stepped into
their world with a boatload of mercy and grace – just like all the others we
have discussed. God sent His word into their lives and He healed them! And He
delivered them! This is a big deal saints! God is our Healer and our Deliverer.
But we have to call on Him for help. He is everything to anyone who will simply
humble themselves and call on Him. And the really amazing part is how gracious
He is even after we have been so ugly to Him. Talk about mercy and grace!
Praise God!
The last group of people mentioned in Psalm 107
is the business people. The storms of life got to be too much for them. They
thought they could run their businesses and their lives just fine. But the
intensity of this life’s storms got to be so much that their hearts were
melting inside of them. They literally came to their wits end trying to do it on
their own. Finally, they called on the Lord. And what did He do for them? Once
again He showed Himself strong. He stepped into their world of fear and dread
and He calmed the storms for them. Hallelujah! He became their hope. He spoke
to them like He speaks to us now, and I will show it again…
Psalm 46:10a
Be still, and know that I am God
Friends, everybody in this world will fall into one of these categories
if not another, and we all will come to a place in our lives where we can no
longer handle it on our own. There comes a time for all mankind when we see
that there has to be something greater – stronger than we are to help us. The storms
of life want to wash over us like a flood. But there is one and only one God
who is strong and powerful, full of grace and mercy. He waits for each one of
us to call on His name. He is eagerly standing by just waiting for His creation
to call on Him. Whether born again or not, God is there – ready and willing to
help. He loves people.
For those who are wicked, God turns their streams and fruit into a wasteland.
He does not do anything to prosper them because they have turned to their own
way. But for those who cry out to Him, like David, like all of us who have at
one time or another, He turns what seems desolate in our lives into a flowing
stream of blessings. He feeds those who are hungry for Him.
He gives them a
wonderful place to live and work along with abundant provisions. How is that
for mercy and grace? How many people do you know have treated someone who has
wronged them terribly like this? Oh but that’s what God is. He is the perfect
picture of love. In fact, He is our everything. There are many names of God. I
will list just a few. All of these names show us a part of Him that suits our
every need…
He Is;
Yahweh (I AM)
God
Alpha & Omega (First & Last)
Lord
Savior
King
Judge
Light
Rock
Redeemer
Our Righteousness
Husband (even to the men)
Shepherd
Creator
Giver of Life
Forgiver of Sin
Lord our Healer
Omnipresent (Everywhere at the same time – all the time)
Omniscient (He knows everything about everything)
Omnipotent (All Powerful)
Eternal
Preexistent (He was always here)
Immutable (Unchangeable)
Receiver of Worship
Hope
Speaker with divine authority
He raised Jesus from the dead
He gets all the glory
We can go on and on with this list of the names of God. He is
everything. I’ll make it simple for you. I once heard that the meaning of His
name “I AM” was an all-encompassing name which means He is everything to us. In
the chapter we just read in Psalm 107, we can see that no matter who it was or
what their situation was, He was exactly what they needed to get set free. Do
you know this about God?
Unfortunately, I had to find this out the hard way. I
was stubborn, prideful and rebellious. I did so many things the wrong way. I
was about as far off the right path as one could get – one step and breath,
literally, short of the grave.
Oh but the tender mercies of our great and awesome God – Who would reach
down His great love and save someone like me. We take the word “wretch” out of
the song amazing grace, because we are not wretches. When we are yet to accept
our salvation we may be wicked, hungry, etc., etc., etc., but in God’s eyes, He
does not see us as a wretch. He sees us as the poor – needing a Savior.
The chapter ends with the wonderful things that God does for the poor.
He helps those who are poor physically, but even more so, He wants to help our
spiritual poverty. Because once we get that straightened out, He will make us
rich in every way as we surrender our lives – really surrender them to Him. I
am a witness. I was desperately poor in every measure of the word. But God has
set me on high – hallelujah! He has lifted up my head. He has brought me far
from trouble and He is making my biological family and my church family to come
together as one flock, led by our faithful Shepherd. Glory to His name forever.
As David said in the Psalm for today, salvation belongs to the Lord and
He blesses His people. David cried out to the Lord in his trouble. All the people
in Psalm 107 cried out to the Lord in their trouble. How about you? Have you
cried out to the Lord in your trouble? He is waiting you know. What He has done
for others He will do for you. He is no respecter of persons. What are you
waiting for? Time is passing.
There is no time like now. Just cry out to Him in
the privacy of your own home – in your quiet place. Tell Him what you need. He
already knows, but He needs you to ask before He can step in. And when you do,
He will, and He will bless you beyond anything you can imagine – hallelujah!
Questions:
How did Psalm 3 start out?
What was the next thing David said to the Lord?
After he had prayed, what did David do?
Was David afraid of his enemies? Are you afraid of your
enemies? Explain your answer and take it to the Lord in prayer.
What did David ask God to do? In Psalm 107, what one thing
did all these people have in common?
Exodus
3:7
And
the Lord said: “I have
surely seen the oppression of My people
who are in Egypt, and
have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for
I know their sorrows.
2 Samuel 22:7
In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His
ears.
Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
Psalm 40:1
I
waited patiently for the Lord;
and He inclined to me, And heard my cry.
Lamentations 3:56
You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear from my sighing,
from my cry for help.”
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
We must state our case before the
Lord and trust in Him to answer
Once we have prayed we need to be
still and know that He is God
God is ready to answer anyone who
calls on Him in faith through prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your amazing grace and mercy Lord!
Father, You have always proven Yourself faithful when people call on You in
trouble. You always help when we come to You in faith and wait patiently for
You to work on our behalf. Father, today I ask You to show me anything I have
not trusted You for in prayer. Lord, if I have been going about my prayer life
incorrectly in any way I ask You to show me. Father, I want to have all my
prayers answered as I delight myself in You. Thank You for helping me every
time I need You Lord when I truly put my trust in You. In Jesus name. Amen!
Are you making a habit of crying out to God rather than
crying out to people?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Psalm
30:1
I will
extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
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