Prayer still the first thing to do

God Gives Us Hope

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Hope for the Persecuted Soul

Book of Psalms Psalm 143

The phrase it “came to pass” is used 457 times in the Bible which teaches us these things that we are so afraid of may come, but they will not stay, they come, and they will pass on out of our lives.

Most of us can say that every obstacle we have faced in our lives has come to pass on out of our lives.

Some of them may leave scars, but they cannot keep us out of Heaven!

We must completely understand that the faithfulness of God makes it impossible for God to go against the covenant He has made with us.

God has revealed Himself as the God of mercy and forgiveness, and He can never go against these things.

So, we can boldly plead for mercy and if we are living a righteous life, then that mercy will come.

What is the truth?

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The prayers of every saint today are just as important to God as those prayers David prayed in his day.

*Psa 143:1 A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
Psa 143:2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

We see David in another crisis because his life was filled with danger.

We cannot link this Psalm to any one particular thing that happened in David’s life.

David knew at this point in his life, that if he did not get God’s help he might die, or some terrible thing might happen to him.

I believe every one of us have had this same feeling.

1) David appealed to God to hear his prayer.
2) David appealed to the faithfulness of God.
3) David appealed to the righteousness of God.

David knew he needed a quick answer from God.

It seems that we need to know more about the characteristics of God, and we must never ask God to go against His own characteristics.

We cannot know these things unless we study the Bible!

We should shape our prayers according to God’s characteristics, as did David.

We must never ask God to be unfaithful to His Word!

We can plead to God for His help and sometimes we need to pray and fast, to show God that we are serious.

When we are in a real crisis God already knows this.

Prayer is not merely a self-improvement exercise that is good for us, whether God hears our prayers or not.

Prayer is a real plea made to a real God!

God is always faithful to do just as He has written down in His recorded Word.

Our faith in Him, is the key to every answer we get from Him.

We must remember that if we ask for forgiveness of our sins, then there is no record of our sins in Heaven.

Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We will pay for our sins, but God has already forgiven us of our sin, and He will not remember them.

These are the only things God forgets.

God does this because He chooses to do so because our sins are under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ

God’s memory is perfect, but He just chooses to forget our sins!

Because God has chosen to forget our sins we have missed out on the judgment for our sin.

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

David was in the same shape as we are, but sometimes we have a lack of faith, and we will think that God still has something that He will punish us for.

Faith is still the key to a perfect relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son because they are both the same!

*Psa 143:3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
Psa 143:4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

We must understand that our enemy is vicious!

Our enemy wants the worst possible evil to happen to us!

Our enemy wants us to die in some evil situation that will make us an embarrassment to God!

David felt like he was just thrown out onto the street to be trampled alive.

We must understand that our adversaries, who are led by Satan, want us dead and useless in the work the Lord has given us to do.

Satan will do everything he possibly can to cause us to lose our testimony!

Satan would kill us in a split second if the Lord allowed him to have access to us.

We may feal like Satan is about to take over our lives, but our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will always save us, as long as it is true faith.

We know from the Book of Job that Satan needs God’s permission to attack us and if we think we are in the class of Job, then we are not, but God loves as much as He loved Job.

Certainly, we will face persecution, and certainly, we will call upon the Lord for help, but most of the problems we will face in our lifetime are of our own making and we may need the Lord’s to help us in those situations also.

We must understand that our enemy is powerful, and we cannot face him alone, we need the Lord to fight all our battles, and He will, if we remain faithful.

If the Lord permits us to dwell in the darkness of the dead, then He will surely bring us into His Light and cause us to dwell with those who are enjoying eternal life in Heaven.

We should understand that we are already in that realm of eternal life now as we exist here on earth.

We are already on our journey to Heaven because we can never die even though we will shed this useless flesh that we live in today.

Lam 3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

We know that King Saul had banished David from Judah, and it was felt by David, and when he thought about these things it broke the heart of David.

We are wrong to sit and mull over our circumstances, when the Lord has shed His light on our future!

We have a marvelous future ahead of us and nothing in this world can change that fact.

God cares too much for us to allow those things that are pressing heavily on us to remain on us.

God does not want us to suffer stress in these crises that come into our lives.

We must remember God has a job for us to do and He wants us to be busy doing this job.

When our burdens are too heavy for us to bear God knows, and He will take those burdens away from us if we ask Him in faith.

Psa 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

God is our Father, and we are his sons and daughters, He will not allow His children to suffer very long.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

God has enough “grace” to see us through every obstacle in our path!

2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

We sometimes wait until we are deep in trouble before we call upon the Lord, but we should call upon the Lord when we first see trouble coming our way!

In fact, we need to be in constant communication with the Lord God!

God has a plan that cannot be altered and if we have a part in that plan, and we do, then we cannot fail and the trouble we are in will cease to exist.

*Psa 143:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
Psa 143:6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

I love those worship services when it seems like I can just reach us and touch God.

So, sometimes we just need to think back on what God has already done and know that He is still All Powerful.

God will do whatever it takes to fulfill the glorious plan He has for us!

God had anointed David to be the King of Israel and David would soon be the next King of Israel.

1Sa 16:11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
1Sa 16:12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.
1Sa 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

This is God’s plan not David’s plan and God’s plans never fail!

David had a burning desire to know that God would answer his prayer.

Nothing would satisfy David, but the presence of the Lord!

We must keep in mind that there is nothing too hard for God.

Jer 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

There is nothing that God cannot do but go against His character.

God rescued Israel once long ago and God’s plan for Israel is not yet complete.

God had called Abraham and made a covenant with Him.
God had placed Joseph into Egypt so Israel could be fed during a drought.
God had raised up Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt.
God had caused a great miracle at the Red Sea.
God had brought Israel through the wilderness.
God had led Israel into the Promised Land.

For David, God had already given Him victory over Goliath.
God had anointed David to be the next King of Israel.

We can see that God’s plans simply do not fail!

We can be sure that God will rescue Israel again so, His plan can be completed as He has it written down.

David had said that His soul was thirsting after God as a thirsty land.

David’s distressing situation had drained every last drop of life out of Him.

His soul was parched and cracked like dry earth that was in a drought.

We simply need to get our mind off of our own circumstances and remember God’s power and God’s faithfulness to obey His promises.

What God has already done for us is nothing compared to what God is going to do for us!

When we dwell upon things that seem to be impossible, we must know that the word “impossible” is not a word that God uses because nothing is impossible for God!

Isa 40:25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Isa 40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

There is nothing that God cannot do, if He so chooses.

God did not give us the Bible to show His failures because there are no failures of God in it!

David kept praying:

*Psa 143:7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
Psa 143:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

After expressing his thirst for God David resumed praying about his crisis.

David had pressed the Lord to answer quickly, and David was becoming more desperate because David was afraid God would be too late answering his prayer.

God will not fail when our spirits fail!

God does not know how to fail; failure is not part of God’s agenda!

The truth is, if we have God’s countenance we live, but if God turns His back on us, we will die!

When the Lord looks with favor upon our efforts we prosper, but if God refuses to look upon them, we labor in vain.

God will not look upon sin!

We cannot cause God to rush because God always knows what is going on in our lives and the Holy Spirit has already told Him, He just knows.

Psa 139:4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

We should understand that Divine loving kindness is the root of which all other blessings come.

We could say that God’s love is the fountain from which all blessings flow!
We all desire to walk in the way that the Lord has chosen for us.

Psa 5:8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.

David would worship Jehovah daily but in the morning hours and many times God spoke with David in that time and here David desires that the Lord would speak to him as He did in those morning worship services.

David was desperate to hear from God, but we cannot make demands of God.

Why was David so desperate? Look again at verse three.

“For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead”

David felt like he could lose his life at any time!

We know that it is God that knows when our life will end, no one else.

What was the best thing David could do?

*Psa 143:9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
Psa 143:10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
Psa 143:11 Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
Psa 143:12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.

At the first sign of trouble, we need to flee unto God to hide us from our enemy.

**Psa_17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa_27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
Psa_64:2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

All these Psalms were attributed to David, so we see David had prayed for Jehovah’s help many times.

What does God teach us? God teaches us that sometimes we need to sort of pester Him to get an answer from Him.

God wants to know how sincere we are.

Luk 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luk 11:6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luk 11:7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luk 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Importunity means persistence, especially to the point of annoyance.

David prayed that God would keep him out of the hands of his enemies.

What prayers will God surely answer?

God will teach us His will for us!

God will also deliver us for His namesake!

The Lord is glorified when it is proved that He is true to His Holy Name!

One of the reasons people are powerless in prayer is because they do not pray specifically.

When we pray in general terms and not specific terms, we are thoughtless and effortless.

God already knows why we are praying we need to be specific.
God already knows our needs we need to be specific, describing them to God.
God knows how desperate we are to evade our enemies, and He will answer in time, but He knows exactly what the right time is!

We know that in David’s early life King Saul was trying his best to kill David or have him killed and we know David needed the Lord to rescue him and He did.

Again, we need to make specific requests in our prayers!

Most of the time in our prayers we just need God to show us His love!

We cannot be fervent in our prayer life if our requests are general and not our specific needs.

If we put ourselves in David’s shoes, we would have panicked far more than David did.

When we desire God’s help, we need to cry out passionately to Him.

We must clearly understand that God wants to answer our prayers!

We would like to think that God would only answer those prayer that are good for us but I believe He will allow us to get some things that are bad for us so we can learn some valuable lesson.

His will for us is for us to do His will for us and most all of it is written down and all we have to do is study the Bible to know His will.

In the end God wants us to be obedient to His Word, live godly lives, and spread the Gospel and enjoy the life He has given us.

Amen

The Bible Relevant in Any Age

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise and Trust from the Past for Today

Book of Psalms 108

When we study the Book of Psalms, we will see that Psalm 108 combines Psalm 57 and Psalm 60 and David is credited for all three of them, even though he was not alive when Psalm 108 was composed.

David composed Psalm 57 while hiding in a cave from King Saul.
David composed Psalm 60 about his battle with the Edomites.

We may not know the purpose of this Psalmist in doing this, but we all know that we may remember and sing a song that brought us comfort in our past during our own stress.

The one thing we can understand is the fact that the Holy Spirit decided that this new psalm should be included in the Book we call the Bible.

1)We must completely understand that the Word of God is relevant in any age!

2)The lessons from the Bible are applicable in every situation we may come to in every generation.

3)The Word of God gives of the wisdom of God so we can make the right decisions.

4) The Word of God is always fresh and always gives us encouragement to move forward in life.

Even today the Psalms of David, in fact all the Psalms, bring us to the reality of this wicked and evil world we live in, and the knowledge that we need the Lord Jesus Christ to be in charge of our lives, every day!

We must ask for God’s help in every situation we face if we expect to have triumph in our Christian life!

Every question we have of God should begin with praise.

*Psa 108:1 A Song or Psalm of David. O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

Notice that this praise comes from a confident heart.

God will not take the time to answer any of our requests if we do not have enough faith that He can.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Our hearts must be fixed upon the reality of the existence of our Savior!

Our soul, the one that God has given to us, that is now saved by His power, is the most glorious thing that we have in our relationship with God.

We must make our flesh understand that it also belongs to God.

2Co_4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

We should also understand that the Psalms were intended for the worship service and our praise of the Lord Jesus is designed to be in a public manner.

Rom_10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

We should understand that before we offer up our praise, we should have already offered up our prayers.

When our hearts are affixed to praise the Lord, they will exalt Him to the highest degree.

*Psa 108:2 Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

It is usually the dawn that awakens us, but this psalmist says he will awaken all the instruments that had been silent, and he will awaken the dawn by his praises before daybreak.

The Lord never sleeps.

Even when the Lord Jesus was taken off that cross and laid in a borrowed tomb, He was very busy.

What did Paul say by the Holy Spirit?

Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

The Lord Jesus descended into Hell to get the keys that the devil once had.

Rev_1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Our Lord is always busy, so we are foolish to limit the Lord to our hours and days.

We must praise Him with all that we have, any time of the day or night.

We can always at any time turn to the Lord for help and most of the time He is as near as opening up our Bibles to see what He has already said because He never changes.

This is exactly what this psalmist did. He took part of two psalms of David, and he made a new psalm by listening to the Holy Spirit who wrote all the Books of the Bible.

The same God that led David to victory will lead us to victory!

*Psa 108:3 I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

If we study the Bible, we will realize that there is a new day coming if we trust the Lord and the words, He has given us.

We must praise the Lord when we are alone.
We must praise the Lord in our congregations.
We must praise the Lord in our cities.
We must praise the lord in our nations.

Mal 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.

Instead of a great falling away, we need a regathering of the children of God!

It is not time to flee from the truth, but to gather together because we have the truth and are not ashamed to say so!

*Psa 108:4 For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

You can take the word “mercy” away and substitute “Jesus” to have a better understanding of what mercy truly means.

Why did the Lord first come to this place called Earth?

Luk 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
Luk 1:73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

Psa 98:3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Psa 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Mercy is compassion for the miserable!

The object of this world and now the government of our nation, is for us all to live in misery.

I am not going to live in misery!

The atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is the way to open up the exercise of “mercy” to all mankind.

It is wicked governments who are trying to stop what they cannot stop.

They only win when we forsake the Lord!

Psa 86:14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
Psa 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

As Christians we can depend upon the “mercy” of God to bring us to victory.

*Psa 108:5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;
Psa 108:6 That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.

Psa 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.

The Christian life is a warfare!

We have to battle our flesh and our own evil tendencies daily.
We have to battle corrupt opinions of us and our practices in society, which is hard to say society today because societies have forsaken all godly principles to live by immorality and corruption and they seem to be proud of it.
We also have to deal with the temptations of the Devil.

We must be aware that every renewed child of God is assured of ultimate victory in all these conflicts.

The truth is, we have already won we just do not realize it, which shows a lack of faith on our part.

The strength of God cannot be overcome, and His plan continues to move according to the things He has directed.

Once we get to Heaven we may look back and see that all these things had taken place just as God has said they would.

The Word of God is the truth in this wicked world, and we can lean on this truth while we are praising the One God who has the complete truth.

We are a delivered people; we just have not arrived at our destination yet.

If we increase our faith, then there is no reason we cannot enjoy the trip instead of moping around like a bunch of losers.

My God is powerful, you should check to see if your god is as powerful as mine!

*Psa 108:7 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

It may be that right now God is dividing Shechem.

It is at Shechem where Jesus Christ had a conversation with a Samaritan woman who was saved and is now in Heaven, her past forgotten.

God always speaks in His holiness.

God is holy, entirely set apart from sin and sinners. This is the reason God’s Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the third person of the Holy Trinity.

This also means that the Lord Jesus Christ is Holy because as the Son of God He is part of the Holy Trinity, and we are to defend His holiness.

We can only become holy when we are set apart from sin and sinners!

Succoth is the name of the first encampment in the Exodus of God’s people from Egypt.

Succoth is also the place where the brass foundries were located in the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem.

In fact, every time Succoth is mentioned in the Bible, it is a place where God’s people come to victory.

Jacob had a victory there.
Gideon had a victory there.

Succoth represents the anticipation of victory, but Succoth also reminds us of worldly success when we might look down upon our enemies as the world does and this goes against the teachings of God.

Haughtiness is pride mingled with contempt or we could say arrogance.

We must be aware that we have victory when it comes by the Lord.

We do not necessarily have the same victory when it comes by our own hands.

Pro 16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Pro 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Pro 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Pro 16:20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.

What is happening in America today?

A certain group looks down upon Christians and our cling to freedoms, with heartless contempt and we had better realize it.

Our vote in this next election is more important than it has ever been, but only if we vote for Christian principles!

*Psa 108:8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
Psa 108:9 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

Gilead is best known as the Hill of Testimony or the Mount of Testimony.

In reality, this verse and much of this psalm is a song in anticipation of victory.

Verse 7 says that “God has spoken”, in fact, it said “God had spoken in His holiness”.

It can also be read “God has spoken in His sanctuary”.

What God says, is at the same time, what God does!

We should understand that our Lord had promised all this land to Abraham.

If the lord does not fulfill His promise, His name will be profaned.

God would be a liar, and this is impossible.

Now we may never understand everything that God says, but we can certainly understand His promises.

Now to get this clear understanding of God’s view of each situation, we must go to where God dwells and He dwells in the sanctuary of the true Church.

God is nowhere near a place where false teaching occurs, and we need to know this truth.

It is best to leave any place where the truth of the Gospel, the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ, is not preached.

There is victory in Jesus, but there is no victory in any false god.

When we know how God feels about a matter we can know real joy, because God does as He feels.

The Bible says that Ephraim is the “helmet” or better said “protection”.

Ephraim was sitting on the largest part of the land that was given to Abraham, the Northern part.

Judah is the “scepter” and the “lawgiver”.

It is from Judah that the law will be taught and enforced during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ and all this land promised to Abraham will be fulfilled.

God then proclaims that He has ownership of all the territories outside of Israel.

Moab the washpot. A washpot is a place that serves to clean feet.

The place of Moses’ death, Mount Nebo, at the top of Pisgah, is in the land of Moab.

Deu 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Deu 34:6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Deu 34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

We can even see where Moses was a type of Christ Jesus.

The Holy Spirit also names Philistia by name.

Philistia was the land of the Philistines.

This was a very small country from 25 to 30 miles in length with an average width of of about 15 miles.

Just as Gaza is today there were more people than the land could bear that lived there.

Today we hear a lot about Palestine, but in truth this was the land of the Philistines.

There is no such people as Palestinians and never have been such a people!

These were nations that were hostile to Israel and the people in those locations are still the enemies of Israel.

At the victory over these enemies, the soldiers of God would take off their shoes, wash their feet in a washbowl, and then throw their shoes at the defeated enemies and proclaim this victory with great rejoicing.

When the Messiah reigns He will have victory over all God’s enemies!

Isa 11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Isa 11:15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
Isa 11:16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Then God asks.

*Psa 108:10 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
Psa 108:11 Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?

When David first wrote this Psalm, he asked who would bring him to this strong city of Edom.

Petra was truly a fortress.

Because of its natural location, it was humanly impossible to conquer that city in those days of David.

David asked; is there anyone who could lead his army to Edom?

Then David answers his own question.

It can be none other than God Himself.

We must understand that God will reject Israel “prophetically” for the short time they under the rule of the Antichrist that is, until the Antichrist decides to sit on the throne of David then all Hell will break loose.

David could write this passage because of his faith in God.

It should be clear to all that to overcome the Antichrist, then God would have to stand with Israel once again, and He will!

All those in distress because of the Antichrist during those seven years of tribulation with the last three and a half years being the Great Tribulation when things will be terrible, there will be a remnant who will call out to God and acknowledge their sins of the past and they will be forgiven.

Isa 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

The Antichrist is but a mere man, “the man of sin” and he is no problem for the the Lord God our Creator.

Even in a time of peril for Israel, faith is still the key to their success.

In the Hebrew letter to the Jews, God makes this very clear, but there must be a show of faith!

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Those who fear God can appeal to no one else in their distress but to God alone.

You see, if God brings you to it, then God will lead you through it!

God has led Israel to the distress that they face today, and God will lead them through their distress to the truth!

When we are in distress about our sin and where we will spend eternity, then there is only one place for us to go and it is to our Holy God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Only God knows which way to go!

God has given His Word and God will never break His Word!

*Psa 108:12 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
Psa 108:13 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

God gave us the gift of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ as His promise of salvation!

Only with Him will God’s people do valiantly!

It is only Jesus the Messiah who can give us the strength and the courage to fight our daily battles.

Some things we should have learned from this passage, this Psalm are:

1) The Bible is still effective in this world today though it was written ages ago.
2) This passage teaches us that we can always turn to Scripture for help.
3) We can see that God is unchanging, He is always the same.
4) That we can pray and use words that we have used before.
5) We can see that we need to be continuous in our Bible study going over the same passage over and over again to gain understanding.
6) We can look to the past for hope for today!

There is never a time that the Bible will not be relevant to this world!

Amen