Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Psalm 68, 72, 86; John 14.
These few Psalms remind me of the recent sermon at our church. The pastor spoke of the A.C.T.S. method of prayer.
A - Adoration
C - Confession
T - Thanksgiving
S - Supplication
In Psalm 68 [and others of course] you can see how David adores God:
4Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD;
exult before him!
19Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.
26 "Bless God in the great congregation,
the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!"
35 Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!
David knows that God is powerful, he knows that God is worthy of praise, exalting, and that He is awesome. He fully understands that God is the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer. David worships and loves Him with all his heart, soul and mind.
In Psalm 86, David prays again, seeking God's mercy, asking for strength and for a sign of God's favor, for comfort and help from his enemies.
The Bible Study Tools says of verse 17: "he [God] comforted him [David] by helping him against his enemies, and out of his troubles; and, by doing both, showed him a token for good, and filled his enemies with shame and confusion."
In John 14, we read about obedience.
15"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. [the Holy Spirit]
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me."
As any parent sets rule and boundaries for their children, it's intent and purpose is for the child's benefit and protection, not for making them miserable! Our hope is that the child will understand such rules as expressions of love and that obedience will be motivated more by the love, then by the fear of punishment or discipline. As with our obedience to Christ, it should be an expression of our trust in Him and that He cares for us and knows what is best and so we do our best to follow the commandments set before us...
Tomorrow's passages: Psalm 101, 103, 108; John 15
2 comments:
How awesome is it that all the "rules" can be summed up in one word - LOVE!
Great post. I learned about the ACTS prayer model a few years ago and I think it is a great model. The Lord's Prayer follows that model as Jesus taught us how to pray. I think it helps us to prevent praying "vending machine" prayers.
I think obedience is a demonstration of love. Maybe that's why disobedience hit us so hard. When our children disobey us, we may feel that they do not love us enough to obey (even though we know we have their best interest in mind!). I wonder if God feels the same way??
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