Daily Bible Study

Tweet

Day 80 Psalm 80 Psalm 80:1 < Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that lead Joseph like a flock; thou that dwell between the cherubims, shine forth. 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. 3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. 4 O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? 5 Thou feed them with the bread of tears; and give them tears to drink in great measure. 6 Thou make us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves. 7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. 8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. 9 Thou prepared room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. 10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. 11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. 12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? 13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. 14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; 15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou made strong for thyself. 16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. 17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou made strong for thyself. 18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. 19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. Often times in our lives we look for God but it doesn’t seem like he’s anywhere around. We pray. We plead. We spend time fasting, but we cannot feel God’s presence anywhere. People laugh at us and consider our faith puny. Asaph felt the same way. He constantly prayed to God to deliver him and his people from exile. He wanted to go home and back to the way things were when they made their home in the Promised Land. As Christians, we know God is always near even when it doesn’t seem like it. Jesus said, he would be with us always, even to the end of the age. He said he would never leave us or forsake us. He told us to call on him when we were in trouble and he would come to our aid. We have God’s promises in his Word that he would take care of us. However, we don’t stand on those promises. When the slightest trouble comes our way, we think God has abandoned us. We allow the taunts of those who don’t know God to overwhelm us to the point we believe the lies that God doesn’t care. Satan brings about doubt and confusion in our lives so that we doubt our faith and God’s presence in our lives. We need to recognize Satan’s lies, and stand on God’s truth and we will know God never left us, but was right beside us the whole time, taking care of us. Let’s pray: Father, help me stand on your promises when Satan’s lies overwhelm me. Help me cast him from my life, and build up my faith in you. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 7 June 2016 by Valerie Jean Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay