Prayer of Seeking

Pilgrim Prayer: Psalms for the Journey PART II
Rev. David Bisgrove
01 March 2015

Psalm 34:1-22
1I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5Those who look to him are radiant;
there faces are never covered with shame.
6This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Lent - What ways have I not taken my relationship with God seriously?

Suffering - v.6, 17,18,19
--Things have filled David with fear.
--You can still have good days even in suffering

REALITY OF THE FEARS AND ITS DESTRUCTIVE NATURE IN YOUR LIFE
--David was a shepherd and God picked him to replace Saul as king.
--David was on the run.
--God called him to serve and his life explodes.
--God prays for delivery from fear, not just the circumstances he's in.
--In the end, we are lambs, not lions.
--We aren't in control of the circumstances of our life.
--The more you love someone, the deeper the fear (fear of losing your child)
--If we find purpose in death, we are sort of assigning meaning to our lives.
--Non Christian coping methods tend to fail in the end.

REPLACE IT WITH THE FEAR OF THE LORD v.7
--Letting God humble you won't crush you--it should restore you.
--Being in the presence of glory what gives us a sense of awe and reverence.
--Learning the fear of the Lord is to Worship God.
--v.2 Let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
--Faith, hope and love...and the greatest of these is Love...the Love of God.
--Moralistic, therapeutic theism--God is there, but we go to him when sick.
--If most of our prayer life is about us, the we see God as existing to meet our needs.
--How do I keep on moving, when my life is getting worse.
--Go to the foot of the cross and accept what Jesus did

HOPE
--Mark 24:21 - We had hoped for the one who is going to redeem Israel.
--Evil does not get the last word--Life wins.
--It's a fighting religion because of the resurrection.
--v.5; Love God more than the rest of our loves.
--Don't love others less....love God more.
--Christ died out of love; he came back out of love;
--He wants to restore the world out of love.