Psalm 85

Psalm 85 is written by sons of korah.

Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin.
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.

Very often, when we speak, the "I" comes out.

I am very skilled in this.
I can do it.
I have done it and achieved it.


My children are very good. they don'y do anything wrong.
Most of the time, we blow our own trumpet. we beat our own dabba.


Story of a emperor who wants all attention.

But look at what the psalmist says Its You who is favorable.
When you are doing good in office, don't blow your own trumpet, but say Lord You have been favorable.
If you are able to buy a house, don't blow trumpet and say With my hard earned savings  I brought it, but rather say.

Out of the abundance of heart, the mouth speaks.Whatever you are filled with today , that is what you are going to speak.
Nebuchadnezzar was filled with "Wow what a work I have done" and thats what he spoke.

our lives are so much I centric.
This I should cut off and there should be cross in our lives, that we glorify God in every aspect of our lives.

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V 9 - How can the glory of the Lord dwell in the land we live.

  a) Hear what God speaks - 
                You can hear what God speaks, go with an attitude of humbleness.
With out Your Word, I cannot live. then God speaks to us in our lives.
  b) Don't turn back to old sins
           Hair color example.
  c) Fear Him and not man - Obeying Gods Word.
  

Then the salvation is near and glory of the Lord is revealed.

Mercy and Truth - go together
Some people are full of truth. 
they tell the truth on your face and might condemn you.
but they miss out on mercy.

Some people are full of mercy.
in some homes, whatever the kids may do, the parents say that is okay no problem.

but Gods nature is this
He shows mercy - whether its the case of the woman caught in adultery.
by not throwing a stone.
He also tells the Truth - Go and sin no more.

Righteousness and Peace kiss each other.



      

Psalm 83

The situation is this.

Israel -   surrounded by many wicked nations.

There are many enemies for Israel.

Tents of Edom, Ishmaelites, Moab, Hagarites,Gebal, Ammon,Amalek, Philistia, Assyria.


Doesnt this sound familiar to us.

In our own lives, we see lot of adeversaries.
In the form of your own household, you may want to walk in faith, but your family might be pulling you back,  your workplaces, you might have conspiring colleagues or shrewd boss.
lots of adversaries you see every day.

Do you react to these adverasries with your flesh?
or do you respond with prayer?

Flesh - you can go back and shout and argue with your family
           you can wait for a chance to give back to your boss or colleagues.
          you will go to others and complain about the people.



When we need a job or some thing we will definitely pray.
But when we face opposition from others, when persecuted by people do we quickly come to pray or we keep complaining.

Prayer Matters.

"

A man’s daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. “I guess you were expecting me,” he said.

“No, who are you?”

“I’m the new associate at your local church,” the pastor replied. “When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.”

“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?”

Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.

“I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head..”

“I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now.”

“So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he seem to die in peace?” he asked.

“Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange. In fact, beyond strange-kinda weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed.”

"


But psalmist comes to this secret place of prayer where cries out to God.

A godly person responds with a prayer when things go wrong.

Psalm 127 - unless the Lord builds the house.