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 Six - Another View

I see David here as being full of grief. David is begging God not to discipline him while He is angry. As I read through David's prayer, I see that he is in great despair. Thoughts of his flight from Jerusalem with his family and his army. Running in fear of his life from his own son, Absalom. How horrendous it must have been for this warrior king, fleeing in abject fear from own to whom he gave birth.

Desperate for relief from God, David pours out his heart, heavy with a growing agony, with many tears. So many that he has turned his mattress into a deep, dark pool; deep enough that one could swim in it. His eyes are red-rimmed and swollen from all of his cries. So many tears that David is finding it difficult to see; his sight dimmed by the tears to the point that his sight is as dark as his heart feels.

In his grief, David screams at those who have haunted his heart; all of his enemies who are seeking to harm him. As he confronts them there on his bed, David remembers that it is God is listening, He has heard the cries of David's heart. And David also remembers that God rebukes his fears, demanding that all of his enemies turn aside and become ashamed at their exploits against him; and that very quickly.

I see so much of humanity, of myself, in David's prayer. We all have the same doubts and fears. Conversely, we also have the same Lord. So I say with Job and a popular hymn, 'I know that my redeemer lives' ... and He is able to keep that which I - and you - have committed unto Him ... until the day that He comes again on that day; 'The Day of His Glorious Appearing,' when He returns to claim His own and dwell with us for eternity.

Amen!

Psalm Six

Oh Lord, don't punish me in your fierce anger, or discipline me while you are so terribly displeased. Show me  Your tender mercy, for I am weak. Father, heal me, for I am troubled to the bone, to the very core of my being; how long must I wait patiently? -- How Long!

Come and deliver me now, Lord! Save me because of Your great mercy. For if I die, who will remember you? When we are put in the ground, who will Give You thanks?

Oh Lord, how weary I am from my moaning. All night long I water my bed with my tears, making it into a swimming pool. My eyes grow dim because of all my grief; they go blind because of the terror my enemies instill in me by their many attacks.

All who are evil in though and deed, leave me NOW! For my GOD has heard my cries in the night. He listens when I pour out my heart in intercession with great sorrow and weeping, and He has received my many prayers. He will make all of my enemies ashamed. He will give them the trouble that they deserve. So much so that they will turn away suddenly, filled with shame at their words and deeds.

And I will give Him ALL Praise!

Amen!