Psalm 25, Verses 1-7

A Psalm of David & Leigh

A conversation with God.

David is praying, and I with him, asking God for defense, 

guidance, and pardon from sin.

As followers of Christ, we know that God will do these things for us, also.

God's Defense is better than ANY castle walls!

Loving Lord I lift, I give up, my soul to You.

Father, I have placed all of my trust in You.

You will not allow me to bring shame upon You.

Neither will You allow my enemies, or Your enemies,

to triumph over me. No, they will find no joy in causing me harm.

Lord, I know that none who have placed their trust, their very hope,

in You will ever be put to shame. But those who act unfaithfully, yes all deceitful men and women, will stand before You in their shame.

Show me the direction You would have my life to take; 

help me to see the course my life should take.

Teach me to stay on Your Highway of and to Holiness.

Guide me into Your truth and instruct me, Lord. For You are my Savior, 

the very source of my life's existence.
I know You remember all of your lovingkindness and tender mercies,
and so do I. For they go back to the very beginning;
back to the first family and the Garden.
But in Your remembering, please remember not the sins of my childhood,
nor any of the rebellious acts that I have committed since ... please forget, as your merciful nature allows.

Psalm Twenty

*After reading this Psalm, I got the inspiration to use the recent Election Cycle and Inauguration to give a new light into King David's verses.*

Inauguration of President Donald Trump, January 20, 2017 

A Psalm for the US President, by Leigh
For the Worship Conductor on Capitol Hill

May God answer your cries in times of trouble and turmoil. May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob keep you safe from all harm.
May He send you help from His sanctuary - His place of rest - the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Stop and dwell on this a moment.

May our Lord give you the desires of you heart. May all of your plans be within His will ... totally fulfilled.
And we, the people of this land, will shout for joy when we hear of your success. We will raise a victory flag in His name and fly it high in honor of His successes on your behalf and that of our nation.
May the Lord hear and answer all of your prayers.

I know that the Lord, our God, saves and protects His anointed leaders. He hears them from His heavenly throne room and rescues them by His mighty power. By the awesome power of his holy arm of Righteousness, He brings down their enemies ... dropping them right at their feet.

So, though some may trust in their weapons of warfare - their soldiers, guns, tanks and ammo - they and their allies will fall flat on their faces in the dust of defeat for all of their efforts. But we will rise up and stand in Your Righteousness ... in Your Strength, Lord.

Thank You, Lord, for giving Your President the victory. Thank you for hearing the cries of Your people.
May Your President continue hearing the cries of Your people. Also hearing and carrying out all of Your plans for success in meeting the needs of this mighty nation. May he, with your help, direction and guidance, truly help us Make America Great Again!

Psalms Eighteen, Verses 19-50

Chapter Intro - Restated:

To: The Chief Musician; A Psalm of David (and of Leigh), who sang these words to the Lord on the day when God delivered him from hands of his enemy ... of Saul.

Singing:

You, Lord, have brought me out into a spacious place; You delivered me because I have brought you delight, I have made you smile.

You have rewarded me according to the righteousness I have found in You, Your Spirit within my mind - my conscious thought, my honesty, and my trustworthiness; because my hands are clean in Your sight, You have rewarded me.

For I have stayed true to Your path, Lord. I have not strayed from Your side nor Your ways.

All of Your directions are ever before me, I will never let them slip away from me.

I stand in Your presence without blame, for I am clothed in Your righteousness and ever in a state of readiness so that I may keep myself free from sinning and the guilt that come with that lifestyle.

It is for these reasons that You have rewarded me for my presence in Your righteousness - because I can stand tall and straight in You - because of Your righteousness, my hands are clean in Your eyes.

You will always show Yourself kind and merciful to those who reflect Your kindness and mercy in their hearts and lives; as with those who are honest and straightforward, you will act honestly, too.

Those who are pure of heart will see Your purity, and those who are corrupt will see Your anger and hostility.

For You, my Lord, have delivered the tormented, timid and withdrawn people, but You will destroy those who look down upon them; the contemptuous, indifferent and overbearing.

It is You alone that have given Light to my life; You have made me to shine, causing the brightest light to flood my darkness.

With Your light, and the power it gives me, I can meet any band of attackers and defeat them handily. In Your strength, I can leap over the highest walls to bring them down.

Lord, all of Your ways are perfect! Your Word is tested and tried and has been proven true; You protect all who see You for refuge better than the best shields or forcefield available; all who seek shelter, placing their trust in You, will certainly find it.

So, who can be our Master save our God? Or who is a better Fortress to provide us protection than God? The same God who clothes me with His strength and makes me completely mature as I walk His pathway?

Lord, You strengthen my foundation, making me able to stand on spiritual high places like a deer on the mountain heights. In fact. You even set me upon those heights when I am strong in You.

You alone can train me to battle the enemy, making my arms strong enough that I could pull a bow made of bronze.

You have given me the Shield of Your Salvation, Your very Son, who is Your Right Hand, has held me up; Your loving-kindness, tenderness, and patronage caress me.

You have cleared the path ahead so that there is nothing on which I would trip and fall.

When I chased the enemy, I was able to overtake and destroy them. They were not able to rise again once they fell, wounded and near death at my feet.

Your strength wraps around me, holding me tight like a girdle, to build me up for the battle; and when it is over, I see the very enemy that had tried to defeat me, now underneath my feet. You alone have made them turn tail and run the other direction so that they come no longer into my presence.

These enemies cried for help but they found none. They even tried to get Your attention, Lord, but You refused to hear their cries.

Then I was able to totally defeat them, they appeared as small as grains of dust blowing in the wind, and I poured them out of my life, as one pours out the dust in a dustpan onto the garbage heap.

Lord, You set me free from anxious people; You made me a leader within my community; people whom I had never met walk beside me to serve Your Kingdom. As soon as they heard of me and Your message that I bring, they submitted themselves to Your call. Strangers, corrupt beings, came crawling out of their hiding places in fear, pretending to serve You.

But You Live, my Lord! You make me happy within Your protective Fortress. And I will lift Your name in exaltation! Yes, My Lord is the God who takes revenge on my behalf, trampling my enemies beneath His feet, giving me complete deliverance. Yes, You have delivered me from the destruction of the evil one. It is for this reason that I will ever praise You, giving You thanks and singing songs of worship every day. 

And You will deliver me with Your greatness whenever I am in need. For You show mercy and unfailing love to those who have covered by the Blood of Your Son, anointing me and covering me - and those I bring alongside - with your Holy Power and Love forever.

Amen!

Psalm Eighteen - Verses 1-19

Intro:

To: The Chief Musician

A Psalm of David (and Leigh), who sang these words to the Lord on the day when God delivered him from hands of his enemies ... of Saul.

Singing:

Lord, I love You so much! You are my Strength, The Source of my Help.

Lord, You are my Strong Tower, my Fortified City, the only real Deliverer I have. My God and my King, the solid Rock of my Foundation, the one in Whom I can put all of my trust and take refuge within, the Shield of my Defenses, and the Father of my Salvation - Jesus, the Place of my Greatest Safety.

So I will proclaim aloud the trustworthiness of my God. For You have saved me out of the clutches of my enemies. For the grief and sorrow of impending death surrounded me, ungodly men swirled around me as a torrential flood. The hoards of Hell assembled round about; I had been captured in the midst of the dead.

Then I called out to You in my confinement. And you heard my cries from Your temple. From Your spiritual dwelling place within my soul, my cries came into Your very ears.

At that very moment there was a great earthquake. The foundations of the mountains trembled; they were deeply moved, shaken  by Your fury; for You were indignant at my imprisonment; angered by my enemies' mental and physical torture. So angry, in fact, that smoke billowed from Your nostrils and devouring lightnings proceeded from Your mouth, so much so that coals were kindled among the rocks and trees round about by it.

You stepped down from Your throne and came down among us. Your feet were shrouded in a thick cloud of darkness. Riding upon a cherub, a ministering spirit from Your throne room, You flew swiftly. You soared on the very wings of the winds. You clothed Yourself in darkness, making a canopy of the gathering black clouds, clouds like of the fiercest thunderstorm.

Out of the brightness of Your presence, You broke forth from Your dark, stormy canopy hurling thunderbolt and hailstones toward the earth. Your voice thundered, as if from Heaven, through the souls of evil men. Your burning coals of fire scattered the enemy. Thunderbolts. huge and ominous, routed them completely.

All of the fury of nature You brought to bear against the foundations of the earth. The ocean floor was laid bare at the rebuke of your voice, at the very breath of Your nostrils.

Yet in the midst of all this, You reached down from on high, You picked me up. You drew me out of the violent danger all around, delivering me from my strong enemy, from all those who loathe and despise me, for they were much too strong for me alone.

They had confronted me, coming upon me when all around me was already in turmoil. But You Lord, are the Pillar of my Strength, my Rock and very Foundation and Support. You rescued me, for I bring You delight. You have placed me in a roomy and comfortable place, both in body and in spirit.

~*~

Our God is so AWESOME! He will always save and deliver those you make pleasing Him their very delight. And He chose us, the people He created, to bring Him delight, honor, love, worship, praise and glory ... and of all this He ALONE is Worthy!

Psalm Twelve

Intro: 

To the Chief Musician, to be played on an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David ... Man's Treachery and God's Constancy.

Lord Help Me! For it seems like all the godly people have disappeared; those in the faith, who have previously proved faithful, have vanished from the face of the earth.

All those that remain speak only small talk, their words are useless flattery and vain lies. They are double minded, having no firm foundation in truth, they say what those around them want to hear; they change their messages to satisfy their current audience.

Lord, show them the error of their ways by Your destruction of them. Remove their proud and arrogant words from their lips: for they have boasted, "we will rule by our own thoughts, words and ideals. We will reign by all that comes from our mouths. No one else is "Lord" over us, we are our own king!

But I hear You saying, Lord, "I will raise up because of the oppression of the poor and needy. I have heard their deep sighs of agony and distress and I will step in, pick them up and put them in the safe house that they desire; the fortress they so long for."

And I know that You will do just that, my Lord. For You are me God. You are a promise keeper; You never break Your promises. All of Your words are 100% pure truth, as if tried in the fire seven times - like silver - to remove all of its impurities. You have kept them constant and consistent from the beginning. And You will continue to preserve them throughout all generations.

Yet, the ungodly still sneak about wrapped up in their darkness; they still exalt their evil ways, expounding on and glorying in their very wickedness of thought and deed.

Psalm Eleven

Intro: 

For the Chief Musician or Choir Director. A Psalm of David

Jesus is my protective defense system, in Him alone do I place my full trust; for He is worthy ... His ways unbeaten!

I see my enemies preparing for the coming battle, his evil troops load up their rifles, mortars and grenade launchers in readiness. They will be ready to attack when night falls. When darkness looms they can shoot at the righteous, picking off the warriors of the Lord in secret. Hidden in the shadows they try to destroy us.

So how can you tell me to run away and hide? It was for this very battle that He has been preparing me.

See now the Lord is in His tabernacles; His very dwelling places. He sits upon His heavenly throne within the hearts of His warriors! I see Him watching over the children of men, the movements of His eyelids tries them, testing them for their upcoming conflicts, strengthening and preparing them. He proves all of our abilities to obey.

But upon the wicked, the evildoers ... all of the unbelievers of the world, He rains down judgment; He pummels them with fiery coals and burning rocks, all the while He is setting traps for their feet and arms to snare them while allowing the burning winds to scorch them in the process. And all of this is their reward for their thoughts, words and deeds, it is the very portion that He has filled each of their cups with.

For my God is True and Total Righteousness. He loves and blesses the righteous acts of His Children. And all of His Children, the precious Children of God, have the privilege of seeing His face as He holds them .... holds us ....  securely in His arms.

And I am Blessed to be counted among His Children!

Lord, I give you all thanksgiving and praise for ALL of Your Marvelous Ways!

Psalm Seven - Again

Intro (same):

This Psalm is a meditation of David which he sang to the Lord. It was written when David was troubled by a man of the line of Cush from the tribe of Benjamin ... King Saul was a descendant of  Cush the Benjaminite. Tradition says that it probably had a wildly irregular and unpredictable beat among its strains.
By this intro we know that David was greatly offended and upset with the speech of a certain Benjaminite named Cush. He was so angry with what this man had been saying that he lifted up this frustration in this song unto the Lord, His God. And seeing that some scholars have attributed this Psalm to the time of Saul's ongoing search and destroy operation against David, I could see this here.

God Almighty, I put all of my hope and trust in You. Protect me from all who speak and do evil to persecute me. Deliver me from those that hunt me down , planning to do me harm, just as you have done before ... and save my life.

But Lord, if I have done this to myself, if I have done any harm to those at peace with me, then let my life be forfeit. Let my enemies trample me down in the dust, extinguishing my life, squelching out my voice and squeezing out my very breath ... I think I will ponder that thought very deeply for a while.

Lord, I know that the actions of wicked men riles Your anger. So rise up in Your anger, stand firm in Your wrath against my enemies and stir up the justice You have planned for my foes.

Gather together the congregation of Your people, Lord. Sit on Your Throne, on the Dias that seats You above them, and judge the peoples. And while You're at it, judge me too, Lord. Give me the justice that I deserve by my righteous - my right standing in You - by Your very integrity within me.

And let all the evil words, thoughts and deeds of the wicked ones abruptly come to and end. Establish Your righteousness, Your harmony, in all who walk uprightly in Your presence. For I know that You see and hear the thoughts, words and emotions of all; You alone understand our very hearts' desires.

Lord, You are my Defenses; the Shield and Fortress of ALL who are upright in heart; our Very Protection! Yes Lord, for You are a righteous judge; the Mighty God, Who becomes indignant with the wicked on a daily basis.

If a person, man or woman, refuses to repent of their wicked ways, I know that You will sharpen Your double-edged sword and cut them off from Your own. I see that You are already prepared for the battles that lay ahead. Stepping on the end of Your bow, You have strung it in readiness for your arrows. The arrows have been dipped in an oily substance and laid on the coals so that they will flame through the air and ignite their targets. All of Your weapons are waiting in preparation.

But the wicked are filled to the bursting point with their evil thoughts and plans. They are about to explode with their mischievous ways. See the huge pit they have dug? they will all fall into it before their plans are complete.  All of their wicked and vile ways will return to haunt them; their violence will fall as rain on their own heads.

And I will sing songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord because of His righteousness and justice. I will sing songs of praise to the Lord God Most High.

Amen!

Psalm Five - Another Viewpoint

David has come before the Lord, as was his usual custom, for his time of morning prayer. I believe this was his custom as this is a very intimate conversation between the king of Israel and the King and Creator of all. But much more than a simple chat between close friends.

David started by asking the Lord to listen to his cries, yet he also states to Him that he will stand watch, patiently waiting on the Lord to give His answers. David actually expects God to hear and answer, for He has done just that many times in the past.

David also knows that evil men and women have no place in the Lord. They can't even stay in His presence, for He will destroy them in the end. Yet, David also knows that he has a position in the Lord's Kingdom, His plan, His presence. And he is at home in that knowledge and in God's presence. In His presence David offers his sacrifices of praise and times of worship.

While in God's presence he seeks His face - His guidance and direction - His protection from all his enemies and punishment for those who would harm him.

At the close of David's talk with the Lord, he proclaims joy, refuge, and protection for all who trust in the Lord; because He is the Lord of all and worthy of our trust. God has blessed, is blessing and will continue to bless ALL who are His.

I stand with David. I know that my redeemer lives. And that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him throughout all eternity.

I know that He is faithful to hear and answer all of my prayers ... all of the cries of my heart.

I know that He will reward ALL for their thoughts and actions - whether they are for Him or against Him. Those who choose to live outside His will, WILL perish into eternal damnation ... eternal separation from Him.

And those who choose to follow Him will be rewarded for their acts of faithfulness with life eternally in His presence.

SO ... I CHOOSE to serve HIM. To live as He would have me to. To worship Him daily, without ceasing. To Share my heart and my mind in my prayers and with my actions!

Amen!

Psalm Five

Intro:

To the Chief Musician; 
To be played on wind instruments. 
A Psalm of David.

Lord, please listen to what I have to say. Think about the things that dwell in my mind. Listen to the very cries of my heart oh King! For I will always lift my prayers to You. Early in the morning, as I lay waking up, I will focus my thoughts and share them with You.Yes Lord, I will speak them out so that we can both hear them, all while I am looking up to view Your face.

For I know You Lord. You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil. Nor will You allow evil to dwell in Your sight. I know there are boastful people who would brag of their exploits. But You do not allow them a speck of ground within Your presence on which to stand. I know that You hate all that practice evil in their hearts and minds. You destroy those who speak lies and abhor all who seek to shed blood and those who are filled with deceit.

But I choose to come into Your mercy filled house. In truth of heart, reverent fear, respect and honor I will worship You in Your holy Temple .... deep within my heart. Lead me in Your righteousness - Standing a right in Your presence - because of my enemies, those who would seek to harm me in word or deed. Make Your path plain before me, that I may walk see You clearly. 

You know that there is no faithfulness in their mouths; their innermost beings are pure destruction. Their throats spew forth meaningless compliments and their lips with vile flattery, as an open grave wafts the fumes of rotting, decaying flesh.

So pronounce them guilty already, Lord. Allow them to know the failure of their plans and fall by their own evil counsel. Then cast them of Your presence for the great pile of their sin, their very rebellion against You.

But oh the joy of those who have trusted in You completely. They will shout in the streets of how they love You, for You have defended and protected them. And in their joy You will bless them with Your favor and continuously surround them with the Shield of Your righteousness and peace.

Psalm Three

Intro: 

David's prayer when he ran from Absalom, his son.

Look Lord! My enemies gather together, increasing in number greatly. There are many who take up arms against me.

Listen; they boast. God can't help him.

But You protect me, Oh Lord, You wrap me up in your glory, lifting my head up so that I can see You working on my behalf.

When I cry out to You, You hear me and send Your answers from Your Holy mountain, Zion. And I can rest. I sleep peacefully, awakening refreshed, for You sustain me. Therefore I will have no fear of them who are against me. Even if there are thousands - yes, even thousands of thousands, all around me.

Rise up, Oh Lord, and save me. I know You can; for time after time You have defended me in the past. You have struck my enemies, hitting them in the face, knocking out their very teeth. Thus removing all of their power; humbling them.

You ARE Salvation! And You share it freely.

Please, pour out Your joy and Your many blessings on Your own.

Amen!