Coffee With The Lord

Well it seems the “politicizing” is in full swing as we approach another election cycle. To hear those running for public office you’d think the success or failure – the “heaven” or “hell” – of the entire nation, world, and even the universe depended on the ideas, initiatives, promises and leadership skills of those running for office. Those “from the other side” (and even previous leaders) are painted with the broad brush of the “catastrophic!” To hear them speak you’d think “the Messiah” is personified in their candidacy – or the candidacy of the person they are advocating!

Well, I don’t know how to break it to you… it doesn’t matter the party, the candidate, or the office… “it just ain’t so!”

The passage I read this morning should add some objectivity to the issue for those of us who reverence [“fear”] God and put our trust in Jesus, the “Savior of the world”…

“Praise the Lord! [Hallelu-YAH! – a “Hallelujah Psalm!] Let all that I am praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord as long as I live! I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath!

“DO NOT PUT YOUR CONFIDENCE IN POWERFUL PEOPLE! There is no help for you there!

“BUT JOYFUL ARE THOSE WHO HAVE GOD AS THEIR HELPER, WHOSE HOPE IS IN THE LORD THEIR GOD! “He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them! He keeps every promise forever! He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry! The LORD frees the prisoners! The LORD opens the eyes of the blind! The LORD lifts up those who are weighed down! The LORD loves the godly! The LORD protects the foreigners among us! He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked! THE LORD WILL REIGN FOREVER! HE WILL BE YOUR GOD THROUGHOUT THE GENERATIONS! PRAISE THE LORD!!!” (From Psalm 146 New Living Translation)

Hey, I’m not looking for more political commentary! I’m embracing the inspired advice of the Psalmist! I’m putting my trust in the Lord (and prayerfully participating in the political process as a “good citizen)… Just my two bits today after having had “coffee with the Lord!”

During my Bible reading today I read a “Psalm of David” with a backstory… Psalm 142.

David was running for his life from King Saul! Saul, filled with insane hatred, mistrust and jealousy, was determined to find him and kill him. He was afraid David would become king in his place. Saul was in hot pursuit and doing everything in his power to find David and kill him. David finally escaped and hid in a dark cave – the “cave of Adullam.” Read the Biblical account in 1 Samuel 22…

Perhaps you have (or are) facing a desperate situation like David’s! Everything seems against you – it seems like everyone is out to get you – you’re desperate and don’t know what to do! The future seems terrifying and hopeless!

I am continually impressed with how the words of the Psalms “take the words right out of my mouth” of my prayers! Better yet, when I read the Psalms I find the inspired words forming my prayers!

We live in a world that seems to be dominated and controlled by evil and those who practice and advocate it! How often those who seen evil, faced its influence, experienced persecution or struggled with temptation have cried out to God with words like David, the psalmist…

“O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help! … Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong.

“Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don’t let me refuse it.

“But I pray constantly against the wicked and their deeds… I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord! You are my refuge! … Keep me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those who do wrong!“ (From Psalm 141 The New Living Translation)

If David’s words express your sentiments and struggles today, I encourage you to make them your words of prayer to God! I did this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord!