Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Jesus Christ Who Stops at Human Cries
Psalms 34 : 1-22
Bible Verse : Psalms 34.8 ( New Living Translation)
Taste and see that the Lord is good, oh , the joys of those who take refuge in God
Devotion
Bible Verse : Psalms 34.8 ( New Living Translation)
Taste and see that the Lord is good, oh , the joys of those who take refuge in God
Devotion
Firstly a quick background , this Psalm was authored by David and historians point out that this Psalm was written when David pretended to be insane when he was brought to Abimelech , who in turn had pity and sent David away without hurting or killing him.
We will segregate our discussion on this Psalm into several sections, so that we can focus on the key verses that will help us understand the concepts that focus on the theme and that is Jesus Christ Who Stops at human cries and that is the reason I have chosen today key Bible Verse as Psalms 34.8 as we take refuge in God who cares for us and always hears our cry for help when we go through trails and tribulation .
Firstly as we focus on Psalm 34 : 1-3 , we see in verse 1 where David says that he will praise God at all times and he will only boast in the Lord. Lot of times as human beings we tend to brag about our self-centered achievements and we often are guilty of patting ourselves on our backs but David instead focuses all his praise on God as it is God that deserves all the praise in our lives. David goes on to say in verse 3 that we should at all time exalt the greatness of God . God’s infinite Mercy and Grace has protected and given us all the many comforts in life that we enjoy each day , we often tend to forget to exalt God for all that God does in our lives. Secondly as we focus on Psalm 34 : 4-7 we see how David turns his prayer to Lord and how prayers often tends to free us from our anxieties and fears. There are several instances in our lives , when we get on our knees and pray only when we are in deep trouble and we cannot seem to have the strength to overcome the trails and tribulations we endure , and we feel completely overwhelmed and at our wits end , its then we tend to call upon God to help us through the crises that has hit us from all sides. There is hope and as we see in verse 7, how the angel of the Lord guards and provide us relief. We feel safe guarded and hopeful as God surrounds us and rescues us from all our fears and anxieties.
I have selected Psalms 34:8 as the key verse for this devotional as this verse is challenge to each of us to literally see how good God is in our lives and how we will experience a sense of happiness as we take refuge in God. We have all experienced a time in life especially for many of us who grew up in Kerala , when we were caught off guard in rainy thunder storm and the heavy rain that drenches us and we have to stop and take shelter and usually , we get into shelter of building or home that keeps us protected from the onslaught of the pouring rain . We wait for the rain to subside and for the thunderstorm to roll away and once we see a clearing of the weather we are on our way. We were protected from getting wet and drenched because we found shelter in the building. At times its good for us to recollect how , would it have been if there was no building or shelter in sight and we had to wade ourselves in that pouring rain !! . As we take this analogy to reality in our lives , we look at all the storms , trails and tribulation that hit us in our lives and its during that time we take run for to refuge in God , the Almighty who extends protection and shelter as we experience the toughest trails in life. We would have been completely neck deep in water and in trouble of losing our lives if we did not have the protection of shelter in our lives , an all-powerful God, an eternal refuge and shelter in our lives…
As we continue to focus on rest of the Psalm in verse 18 , we see how the Lord is close to the broken hearted and rescues those whose spirts are crushed. We see this in life of Hannah ( mother of Prophet Samuel) as Hannah stood in the temple and cried out to the Lord , she was completely crushed and hardly able to even speak out her pain and suffering . However Hannah found hope as God blessed Hannah with a Prophet Samulel as son whom Hannah dedicated to serve the Lord. We know in our own lives that God has always bandaged our wounded hearts and given us hope as we go through excruciating pain in our lives from various trials and tribulations. We see in verse 20, a verse that is prophecy about Jesus Christ when Christ was crucified on that fateful Good Friday . Although it was Roman custom to break the legs of the crucified victim to speed the victim death , not one of Jesus’s bones was broken as we read in Gospel of John 19: 32-27. In addition to the prophetic meaning in verse 20 , we see David was pleading for God’s protection in time of crises in his life to protect him so no harm will befall and break his bones. As we end the Psalm in verse 22 , we see that all who takes refuge in God will be ever be condemned , that gives us lot of hope , that despite all the lows , the rock bottom experiences , the trails and tribulations we go thorough in our lives , there is God who hears our cries , and the Eternal Refuge who cares for us..
We will segregate our discussion on this Psalm into several sections, so that we can focus on the key verses that will help us understand the concepts that focus on the theme and that is Jesus Christ Who Stops at human cries and that is the reason I have chosen today key Bible Verse as Psalms 34.8 as we take refuge in God who cares for us and always hears our cry for help when we go through trails and tribulation .
Firstly as we focus on Psalm 34 : 1-3 , we see in verse 1 where David says that he will praise God at all times and he will only boast in the Lord. Lot of times as human beings we tend to brag about our self-centered achievements and we often are guilty of patting ourselves on our backs but David instead focuses all his praise on God as it is God that deserves all the praise in our lives. David goes on to say in verse 3 that we should at all time exalt the greatness of God . God’s infinite Mercy and Grace has protected and given us all the many comforts in life that we enjoy each day , we often tend to forget to exalt God for all that God does in our lives. Secondly as we focus on Psalm 34 : 4-7 we see how David turns his prayer to Lord and how prayers often tends to free us from our anxieties and fears. There are several instances in our lives , when we get on our knees and pray only when we are in deep trouble and we cannot seem to have the strength to overcome the trails and tribulations we endure , and we feel completely overwhelmed and at our wits end , its then we tend to call upon God to help us through the crises that has hit us from all sides. There is hope and as we see in verse 7, how the angel of the Lord guards and provide us relief. We feel safe guarded and hopeful as God surrounds us and rescues us from all our fears and anxieties.
I have selected Psalms 34:8 as the key verse for this devotional as this verse is challenge to each of us to literally see how good God is in our lives and how we will experience a sense of happiness as we take refuge in God. We have all experienced a time in life especially for many of us who grew up in Kerala , when we were caught off guard in rainy thunder storm and the heavy rain that drenches us and we have to stop and take shelter and usually , we get into shelter of building or home that keeps us protected from the onslaught of the pouring rain . We wait for the rain to subside and for the thunderstorm to roll away and once we see a clearing of the weather we are on our way. We were protected from getting wet and drenched because we found shelter in the building. At times its good for us to recollect how , would it have been if there was no building or shelter in sight and we had to wade ourselves in that pouring rain !! . As we take this analogy to reality in our lives , we look at all the storms , trails and tribulation that hit us in our lives and its during that time we take run for to refuge in God , the Almighty who extends protection and shelter as we experience the toughest trails in life. We would have been completely neck deep in water and in trouble of losing our lives if we did not have the protection of shelter in our lives , an all-powerful God, an eternal refuge and shelter in our lives…
As we continue to focus on rest of the Psalm in verse 18 , we see how the Lord is close to the broken hearted and rescues those whose spirts are crushed. We see this in life of Hannah ( mother of Prophet Samuel) as Hannah stood in the temple and cried out to the Lord , she was completely crushed and hardly able to even speak out her pain and suffering . However Hannah found hope as God blessed Hannah with a Prophet Samulel as son whom Hannah dedicated to serve the Lord. We know in our own lives that God has always bandaged our wounded hearts and given us hope as we go through excruciating pain in our lives from various trials and tribulations. We see in verse 20, a verse that is prophecy about Jesus Christ when Christ was crucified on that fateful Good Friday . Although it was Roman custom to break the legs of the crucified victim to speed the victim death , not one of Jesus’s bones was broken as we read in Gospel of John 19: 32-27. In addition to the prophetic meaning in verse 20 , we see David was pleading for God’s protection in time of crises in his life to protect him so no harm will befall and break his bones. As we end the Psalm in verse 22 , we see that all who takes refuge in God will be ever be condemned , that gives us lot of hope , that despite all the lows , the rock bottom experiences , the trails and tribulations we go thorough in our lives , there is God who hears our cries , and the Eternal Refuge who cares for us..
Prayer
Almighty and Gracious Lord , we are grateful that we have a God who is our Eternal Refuge , to whom we can run for shelter , knowing that God will protect us and give us hope to face another day and for this we thank you Dear Lord in Jesus Name – Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“ A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing , our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing .. “ – Rev. Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Abraham Kurien, Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Houston, Texas.
Almighty and Gracious Lord , we are grateful that we have a God who is our Eternal Refuge , to whom we can run for shelter , knowing that God will protect us and give us hope to face another day and for this we thank you Dear Lord in Jesus Name – Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“ A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing , our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing .. “ – Rev. Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Abraham Kurien, Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Houston, Texas.