If we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that our most earnest times of praying and seeking God is when life puts the squeeze on us. When the unexpected happens (unexpected to us, not God) we suddenly find ourselves desperately seeking to hear from the Lord. The reality of the Christian life is that our enemies do not sleep. The devil and his angels are continually working to disrupt our lives, and they are more than happy to use friends, family, strangers, life's circumstances, and even our own foolish actions, words, and choices. The writer of this Psalm asks to hear from God, to know which way to go, to know God's will, to be delivered from his enemies, and to be revived. It's quite a list, but not a list that is to big for God Almighty. I'm sure many of us have made these same requests at some point in our walk with Jesus. Some us may even have to admit that although we asked, nothing seemed to happen to move us in that direction. Was that because God couldn't do it? I would have to say, "No." On the other hand I would dare to say that it wasn't accomplished because we failed to do what was necessary for the Lord to work these things in us and through us. You see, in order to learn God's will, to hear from Him, to be led by His Spirit, and to be revived, we must commit and surrender. Far too often we want to use God as our Emergency Escape Plan. Jesus is more than just fire insurance or more than our "get out of trouble free" pass. Jesus must be our everything. We must time for prayer and time in His Word, and make it the most important priority in our lives. He cannot be second best or our last resort when life goes sideways. We must be both hearers and doers of His Word. How can we hear His lovingkindness in the morning if we are too lazy to get up early enough to have the time to hear from Him? How do we learn His will if our Bibles take a backseat to our gadgets and social media accounts? How do we hear from Him if we are not still long enough to recognize His voice? How will He revive our stagnant spiritual lives if we are continually pursuing this world and all the death and darkness it has to offer? We want deliverance, but we want it without sacrifice and without discomfort. We want to be revived, but we want it for our own selfish reasons. Note the reason why the psalmist asks to be revived and delivered in verse 11. It is for the His Name's sake, and for the sake of His righteousness. In other words, everything he asked for was for God's glory. When we truly seek God's glory in the midst of our difficulties, that's when all our circumstances work out for our good. God is able to teach us, lead us, deliver us, and revive us, if we are willing to commit, surrender, sacrifice, and get out of our comfort zone.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).
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