Psalms 58:6 (KJV) When Words Are Weapons

Psalms 58:6 (KJV)

Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.

This is a Psalm of David, and an imprecatory one indeed. David frequently pleads with the Lord to rain down judgment upon his enemies, likely, in this case, Saul and his entourage. The “young lions” represent his “princes, nobles, and courtiers” (Gill).

And, as Gill explains, “it may be by ‘their teeth in their mouth’ may be meant their malicious words, calumnies, and detractions; teeth being the instrument of speech; and by ‘breaking’ them, preventing the mischief designed by them.”

There is no doubt that the passage contains elements of vengeance and bloodshed (verse 10). I am reminded of 2 Thessalonians 1:6–9 and Revelation 19:11–18. We do no good to ignore these passages. There is a day of wrath in the future of the ungodly. It is a day of both vengeance and bloodshed. But it is the day of the Lord, not our own.

We rest in the promise that God will make things right in His time and way.

All we ask for now is that He break the power of their malicious words to do harm.

#Psalms58v6 #GodsJustice #TrustGodsTiming #TheLordWillJudge #DailyVisitWithGod

Words Are Weapons: God Can Silence Their Harm

Have you been wounded by the malicious words of others?

David knew what it meant to be attacked by cruel accusations. Rather than taking vengeance into his own hands, he prayed that God would take away his enemies' power to do harm.

You may not be able to stop what others say about you, but you can ask God to prevent their words from accomplishing their wicked purpose.

Don't seek revenge. Take your burden to the Lord. Trust Him to make things right in His time and way.

Who needs this encouragement today? Share this Daily Visit With God with someone facing unfair criticism or malicious accusations.

Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more daily Bible encouragement and practical lessons from God's Word.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

Psalms 58:6 (KJV) When Words Are Weapons

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

https://youtube.com/post/UgkxJVLZ_4LXsg3cInmBKziYitAtZniVvlBj?si=jwsYQdfX5ziPcnaP

Psalms 57:3 (KJV) Praise Through Persecution

Psalms 57:3 (KJV)

He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

The superscription says this Psalm was written by “David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.”

Saul’s intent was to kill David. He wasn’t just angry, hoping for a chance to lay into him and tell him what he thought about him. Saul wanted him dead. Further, Saul spared very little expense, manpower, or effort to make it happen.

The Psalm indicates the threat of death, but this verse asks for something other than for his life to be saved. He asked to be saved from the reproach, the piercing words of the king. Yes, he declared that God would save him from this reproach.

David would have been young at this time, perhaps 20 years old, maybe younger, but not much older. Consider, at that age, having the king of your nation hate you so much. And for no cause.

I find it impressive, therefore, and a subject of prayer for those caught in such reproach, that David would write:

Psalms 57:7 (KJV)

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

His heart would have to be fixed for two decades before the reproach finally ended.

No matter how long those who reproach us throw piercing and hateful words toward us, let us fix our hearts upon the Lord, to sing and give praise to Him.

#Psalm57v3 #MyHeartIsFixed #TrustingGod #GodsMercyAndTruth #FaithThroughTrials

Praise Through Persecution: Remaining Steadfast Through Reproach

Someone You Know May Be Suffering Under the Weight of Cruel Words. Will You Pray for Them?

David endured years of hatred, accusations, and reproach, yet he declared, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” (Psalm 57:7, KJV)

Think of someone today who is suffering unjust criticism or painful accusations. Pray specifically that God will protect their heart, strengthen their faith, and help them continue praising Him, no matter how long the reproach lasts.

Don't underestimate what your prayers can mean to someone enduring a difficult season.

Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Daily Visits with God, and share this message with someone who needs encouragement to remain steadfast in the Lord.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

Psalms 57:3 (KJV) Praise Through Persecution

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

https://youtube.com/post/UgkxB8w3y7ho_Jg-VCGfn2JGgGuN60Up7k0e?si=xgPdDxYHsJVim45z

Psalms 56:3 (KJV) Deliberate Faith in Fearful Times

Psalms 56:3 (KJV)

What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

I imagine any reader of my Daily Visit with God blogs would understand that we want to trust in the Lord at all times. There are, however, times when trust is more challenging than others.

It likely isn’t difficult for us to trust in the Lord for, say, salvation or spiritual truths.

Trusting the Lord to save us is a “gimme” for the saved. We understand trusting the Lord to teach us the Word of God, trusting the Lord to help us teach a Sunday school class, or trusting the Lord to help us witness to the lost.

However,

It can be difficult to trust in the Lord in times of abundance.

It’s almost like there is no need to trust in the Lord in those times. I mean, we have health, finances, and resources such as lending agencies or trusted friends. It’s not that we wouldn’t trust in the Lord in times like those. We just might not give trust a second thought.

It can be difficult to trust in the Lord in times of fear.

Fear can take on a number of forms, can it not? We can be afraid for our life, afraid for our family, afraid for our job, afraid of finances, afraid of the political future, etc.

And so, according to this passage, what time I am afraid, I must make it a matter of deliberate faith to trust in the Lord. It’s not going to come naturally. The flesh of man is corrupt by nature and given to self-worship. To trust in the Lord in times of fear will require deliberate faith and purposeful action.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

#Psalm56v3 #IWillTrustInThee #DeliberateFaith #TrustGodInFear #DailyVisitWithGod

Deliberate Faith in Fearful Times: I Will Trust in Thee

What fear do you need to trust the Lord with today? Make it a matter of deliberate faith. Bring that concern to Him and take the next step in obedience. If you’re enjoying abundance, acknowledge your dependence on Him there, too.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Psalm 56:3 (KJV)

Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Daily Visit with God devotions, and share this lesson with someone facing fear.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

Psalms 56:3 (KJV) Deliberate Faith in Fearful Times

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

https://youtube.com/post/UgkxKQtqcvA68_sXK6QQ1gPlU8j1a0d2JmJD?si=tTOvEkxvRPIuY_J7

Psalms 55:15 (KJV) Did David Pray for His Enemies to Die?

Psalms 55:15 (KJV)

Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

I would understand the immediate context of this psalm to be the rebellion of Absalom against his father, David, and the decision of Ahithophel, David’s counselor and friend, to side with Absalom.

David’s grief over Absalom was obvious and long-standing. It began with Absalom’s murder of his brother Amnon and continued through his exile and the estrangement that lingered even after he returned home. I imagine David’s grief was compounded by the knowledge that all of this was the consequence of his own sin with Bathsheba years before. God forgave him, and he moved on, but the consequences were irrevocable.

When Absalom was slain in battle, David was nearly inconsolable. I am sure he felt like the entire incident was his doing.

If it had been anyone else, he might have been able to bear it.

Ahithophel is another story. This was a man with whom David had taken sweet counsel. How a man like this could be swept up in the rebellion is almost inconceivable. But experience has taught me that this is a common thorn for the man of God.

Now to his prayer. It is blunt and direct, and it asks for the most devastating answer possible. Could God’s Word actually endorse our praying for the death of others if the case is severe enough?

Ahithophel and Absalom both died, and both died suddenly.

But David did not want Absalom to die.

I submit that it is not the person but the wickedness that the psalmist seeks the death of.

Hell is literal, eternal, and terrible.

I do not wish anyone to go there.

I accept that God is glorified in the fact that those who reject Christ do go there forever.

But I do not pray for that to be the end of anyone.

#DailyVisitWithGod #Psalm55v15 #PrayingThroughBetrayal #GodsRighteousJudgment #MercyForTheLost

Did David Pray for His Enemies to Die?  Things We Can Pray For When Someone Hurts Us

Have you known the hurt of someone who claims to be a brother yet turns against you? David knew that pain. Familiarity and a profession of shared faith do not always bring graciousness or a true connection.

Share this Daily Visit With God with someone who understands that heartache. Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible devotions and encouragement from God’s Word.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

Psalms 55:15 (KJV) Did David Pray for His Enemies to Die?

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

https://youtube.com/post/UgkxRb6Oz6-Qbc6mmi3GRoBcr6x_9-aeGt87?si=vFabfU0X1zuJqd4m

Psalms 54:3 (KJV) Familiar Faces, Strange Hearts

Psalms 54:3 (KJV)

For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

We are told that the occasion of this Psalm is “when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?”

Ziph was a city not only in Israel, but of David’s own tribe. Yet they twice turned David in to King Saul, and David calls them strangers.

Gill says:

-They “used him as barbarously as the very Heathens would have done, or worse”

-“though notwithstanding they were of Israel, might not be Israelites indeed”

-They were “but strangers to an inward experience of divine and spiritual things”

He goes on to say, “men may be professors of religion, and yet be strangers to God in Christ, to Christ himself, and the way of salvation by him, and communion with him; to the Spirit of God, and the operations of his grace on the heart.”

I think I have met some who would claim to be brethren, even claim to be of the same faith as I, and yet are still “strangers” in their relationship because of their lack of graciousness. You rub shoulders with some folks, but never make a good connection. They know you, acknowledge you and would, in an instant, turn, act and speak against you.

They are strangers, no matter how well you know them.

#KnowingChrist #TrueSalvation #MoreThanReligion #GraceOfGod #WalkWithGod

Familiar Faces, Strange Hearts: Close Yet Disconnected

Have you known the hurt of someone who claims to be a brother yet turns against you? David knew that pain. Familiarity and a profession of shared faith do not always bring graciousness or a true connection.

Share this Daily Visit With God with someone who understands that heartache. Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible devotions and encouragement from God’s Word.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

Psalms 54:3 (KJV) Familiar Faces, Strange Hearts

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

https://youtube.com/post/UgkxbTonBfMDW76LfF7CZctRdJUF4F8-zC6N?si=jR6eH9xTUyNFSIzg

John 20:19 (KJV) Courageous Christian Faith

John 20:19 (KJV)

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Just about a year ago, my wife and I were privileged to visit a number of churches scattered around the United Arab Emirates. These churches operate underground, but for the most part we would never have known it. They hold regular services at which they sing joyfully and preach the gospel clearly. They conduct evangelistic outreach, hold camps and special services; anything we in a free world would do on a regular basis, they did as well.

But they are underground and, in small (and some not-so-small) ways, we witnessed it.

In a midweek service, the believers were gathered and the song service was underway. We were singing with joy, holding nothing back, when suddenly the song leader held up his hand in a stop motion. I don’t hear so well, so my wife explained what was happening. There was a knock on the door. Everyone stopped singing so our voices would not carry outdoors while the doorkeeper found out whether it was someone coming to services, someone coming to complain, or the police.

In another church, the congregation met in a high-rise apartment. The pastor there joked that they were an underground church meeting six stories up. But they had soundproofed the room with foam boards. He said when they first began holding services and could not yet afford the board, they had stapled old egg cartons to the walls and ceiling to dampen the sound. They preached without reservation and sang loudly and cheerfully.

But in every case, they were aware of their surroundings.

Fear had not paralyzed them. It only made them conscious.

Imagine those disciples assembled, doors shut, and very aware that Jesus Christ, the One to whom they had committed their souls, had been crucified. They had not scattered. They had not separated or disbanded. They were together, assembled, cautious, but not quitting.

And in walks Jesus!

I want to say that these are days we must be aware of our surroundings, but we must not quit our service for the Lord. We assemble not out of fear of what might be done to us but for the souls of those who do not know our Saviour.

And as we meet, aware of the dire need around us, conscious of how little we possess to effect change, we pray, we wait, we hope for that day when the LORD steps in.

#DailyVisitWithGod #John20v19 #FaithOverFear #FaithfulUnderPressure #JesusInOurMidst

Courageous Christian Faith: Cautious, But Not Quitting

Be Cautious, But Don't Quit!

The disciples gathered behind closed doors, but they had not abandoned their faith. And Jesus stood in their midst!

Whatever challenges may come, don't allow fear to silence your witness, separate you from your church, or stop your service for Christ. Keep assembling, keep praying, and keep looking for the Lord to work!

Are you remaining faithful, even when circumstances are difficult?

I invite you to visit https://marvinmckenzie.org for more Daily Visits With God, practical Bible teaching, and encouragement to remain faithful to the Lord.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

John 20:19 (KJV) Courageous Christian Faith

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

https://youtube.com/post/UgkxhIm7BXX-r6dsHIQGMw801j8E5ZoACIuE?si=1H66yIW8LVGSgX3t