"My Soul Thirsts for You" A Psalm of David
143 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord!
My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
I have fled to you for refuge.[a]
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!
11 For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life!
In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your servant.
As plain old human beings we constantly have struggles. For many of us it is a real struggle just to get out of bed. For others it is a struggle to make it to work every day. Still others struggle with a chronic disease that they can't shake. Still others are dealing with an addiction of one kind or another. The struggle is most certainly real.
While we don't know exactly what David was struggling with in the context of today's Psalm, we can imagine that it had something to do with the enemies that often surrounded him to defeat his armies, or maybe it was one of his own court or even his own sons that were trying to overthrow him. Or it could even be his own guilt that was shaming him and give him the pain and trouble that he is expressing today.
Whatever it is, we can see a good example of how to deal with it. David simply asks God to "Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground." or "Make me know the way I should go." or "Deliver me from my enemies." In essence, David gives it all up to God and lets God deal with it according to His will.
This is exactly how we should deal with things. We should ask the Lord to make us know the way to go. We should ask God to deliver us. We should give it all up to God and let the Holy Spirit move us in the way we should go!
Whatever "real" struggle you are dealing with, deal with it the way that David did! Give it to God, and the peace off God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus all the way to eternal life!
Prayer: Lord, you know our struggles. Help us to surrender them to you so that you can guide us in the way we should go, deliver us from our enemies, and bring us to you forever. Amen.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
CALENDAR:
Tues- Little Lambs 3 Graduation 6pm; Trustees Meeting 7pm
Wed- Little Lambs 4 Graduation 6pm; Choir practice 7pm
Thurs- Lutheranism 101 is postponed for the next two Thursdays. It will resume on May 26 at 7pm
Sat- Worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30; Kid's Sunday school 9:45; Voter's Meeting 9:45; Worship 11
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- John Pezold 11- Jacob Winn
Ushers- Charlie Figura, Jason Figura, Brett Nordwald, Erv Yoder
Altar- Set up- Don Hance; Clean Up- Sandy Robine
Elders- Sat- Randy Fischer; 8:30- Dave Winter; 11- Jim Rahn
Greeters- 8:30- Allan and Barb Dreyer; 11- Marv and Molly Hendershot
Lay Readers- Sat- Judy Koprowski 8:30- Jennifer Figura; 11- Stephanie Owenby
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Piano- Kathy Barrow
Projectionists: Sat- Kathy Fischer; 8:30- Dawn Sherman 11- Hannah Johnson
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
YESTERDAY'S QUIZ: What is Psalm 12 about?
We have been blessed beyond measure in the United States haven't we? I want you to join me in making a global difference by releasing children from poverty through Christian education.
Instead of taking a week off and joining my fellow Lead a Child bikers who are riding the Fault Line across four states this year, I have decided to go solo and bike 1,000 miles locally and while on vacation by August 1 to raise funds for LeadaChild. Would you sponsor me so that I can raise funds to support this most worthy organization? In my opinion, there is no more worthy organization to support than LeadaChild!
LeadaChild provides educational assistance to over 26,000 children and shares the love of Jesus Christ with the students and their families! LeadaChild supports the poorest of the poor children through Christian education in the following countries:
Guatemala Chad Honduras Palestine Haiti Uganda
Gambia Ivory Coast El Salvador Nigeria Panama Nicaragua
Burma Ghana Chile Venezuela Bolivia Mexico
Liberia Uruguay Sri Lanka India Guinea Sierra Leone
Bangladesh Cambodia South Africa Togo Thailand
These students need your help to find a way out of poverty through Christian education and learn of the hope of Christ our Savior.
Please fill out your information below and send it with your check or donate online through the LeadaChild website: http://www.leadachild.org/bike
Every dollar makes a difference. Please give generously. Please remember all of the riders in your prayers! Thank you much for your support!
Biking For Kids Together,
Pastor Jeremy Klaustermeier
LeadaChild is a 501 C-3 non-profit organization and is a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
