1 Blessed be the Lord my strength,
which teacheth my hands to war,
and my fingers to fight:
2 My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer;
my shield, and he in whom I trust;
who subdueth my people under me.
3 Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him!
or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
4 Man is like to vanity:
his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
5 Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down:
touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them:
shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
7 Send thine hand from above;
rid me, and deliver me out of great waters,
from the hand of strange children;
8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity,
and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God:
upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
10 It is he that giveth salvation unto kings:
who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children,
whose mouth speaketh vanity,
and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
13 That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store:
that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
14 That our oxen may be strong to labour;
that there be no breaking in, nor going out;
that there be no complaining in our streets.
15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case:
yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.
Comments by Joan Boney ...
There is a war going on. You may think there is peace where you live but I find there is war. There is a constant struggle. Many start in the way of God but fail to continue allowing their own flesh to pull them off the real way of God. Their minds become very twisted but their thoughts seem reasonable to themselves. When we try to bring them back, there is great danger for us. So we have to do this prayerfully otherwise we could be harmed.
We war continually against ways that are not of God. We see church people going in ways that are not of God.
It is a war.
1 Blessed be the Lord my strength,
which teacheth my hands to war,
and my fingers to fight:
2 My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer;
my shield, and HE in whom I trust;
who subdueth my people under me.
4 Man is like to vanity:
his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Grief over their actions, their way, their sins often overwhelm us, almost ... Then we think on the Bible and examples of what God has done and the grief begins to subside and we are greatly helped ...
We can't think of two things at one time. When we think on the grief, we are heavy. When we read in the Bible an example of what God has done, we rejoice.
So let's read in the Bible that which God has done and rejoice in HIM.
Genesis 12 ... 1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him;
Abraham heard God, believed God, obeyed God and this causes us to rejoice greatly in the midst of what we see today where man goes in such an opposite way to God.
Genesis 18 ... 1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre:and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him:and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on:for therefore are ye come to your servant.
And they said, So do, as thou hast said. 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. 7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. 8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. 15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Genesis 21 ... 1 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Isn't our grief turned to joy when we read the above? When we focus on the acts of God we have joy. We must make our mind focus on these things God has done. Then we rejoice in HIM.