Blessings to you and yours today and every day,
A verse from Psalms pierced my heart today and I wanted to share it with you. It is found in Psalms 57. I want to share it from several translations to get the full picture of what is being said by David the Psalmist when he is in thick of the battle. I am reading from verse 6:
“Enemies set traps for my feet
and struck me down.
They dug a pit in my path,
but fell in it themselves.
7 I am faithful to you,
and you can trust me.
I will sing and play music
for you, my God.
8 I feel wide awake!
I will wake up my harp
and wake up the sun.
9 I will praise you, Lord,
for everyone to hear,
and I will sing hymns to you
in every nation.
10 Your love reaches higher
than the heavens;
your loyalty extends
beyond the clouds.”
You will notice that David never stops praising the Lord even though he is in conflict, which would make some to despair. The way in which he keeps his head above water is by praising the Lord. In another translation verse 7 reads, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.” This is a perseverance verse for sure and we can all hold on to God in times we are going through seasons of spiritual warfare. We used to sing, “When the battles over we shall wear a crown, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem.” James 1:12 speaks of this, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown.”
This is a good verse to memorize and consider when you are going through trials. It is a perseverance verse, “MY HEART IS FIXED O GOD, MY HEART IS FIXED”.
Have you ever asked the Lord to give you an iron resolve, a bulldog determination and unbreakable tenacity? Years ago, back in the early 70’s I was preaching in the big thicket of Texas, at the close of a service the pastor told me, “Cleddie you don’t have faith, you are just more hardheaded than the devil.” That was over fifty years ago, and I still am sticking by my guns. When you read the Bible, you will notice learning to overcome adversity is the inevitable path to success. What we learn from the Life of Jesus is that he never gave up. When you look closely at the life of Nehemiah you discover he succeeded through prayer and perseverance. (Nehemiah 4:9). He faced threats, critiques, pressure but he did not bolt and run he stayed faithful to the task at hand. If you want God to favor you, then make up your mind you will keep the faith and as a result god will have a “crown of righteousness waiting on you and not for you only but for all those who love His appearing”.
In it to win it,
Pastor Cleddie Keith