TEXT : Psalm 59:13 Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.  59:16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.  59:17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.  60:11 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.  60:12 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.  61:2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  62:11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.  65:2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.  66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:  66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.  68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.  69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

 

THEME : CONFIDENCE IN GOD

 

There is power in music, specifically - music unleashes a great influence, impact, and impression on the mind by both melody and lyrics. The sway of music - any music, on the soul of men and women cannot be overstated. It affects the mind like few other things can. It makes such lasting impressions on the brain and heart that when a song is recalled even decades later, you can remember the sights, sounds, and even smells of whatever person, place, or thing that particular song evokes in memory. What a tremendous force music is for what is beneficial, useful, and good in this life when employed correctly. Johann Sebastian Bach, considered the greatest composer of all time said -  "Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit." One author on the life of Bach notes - "Music was given to glorify God in heaven and to edify men and women on earth. It wasn't to make lots of money, or to feed the musician's ego, or to be famous. Music was about blessing the Lord and blessing others."

 

With this in mind, remember how effective singing to the LORD is on your spirit and soul. In Psalm 58:16, the Scriptures state - "I will sing of thy power." What a memory  such a song written by your own heart bring will bring in the future, if you will sing unto the LORD!

 

PSALM 58:16 - "But I will sing of thy power." The wicked howl, but I sing and will sing. Their power is weakness, but thine is omnipotence; I see them vanquished and thy power victorious, and for ever and ever will I sing of thee. "Yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning." When those lovers of darkness find their game is up, and their midnight howlings die away, then will I lift up my voice on high and praise the lovingkindness of God without fear of being disturbed. What a blessed morning will soon break for the righteous, and what a song will be theirs! Sons of the morning, ye may sigh to-night, but joy will come on the wings of the rising sun, Tune your harps even now, for the signal to commence the eternal music will soon be given; the morning cometh and your sun shall go no more down for ever. "For thou hast been my defence." The song is for God alone, and it is one which none can sing but those who have experienced the lovingkindness of their God. Looking back upon a past all full of mercy, the saints will bless the Lord with their whole hearts, and triumph in him as the high place of their security. "And refuge in the day of my trouble." The greater our present trials the louder will our future songs be, and the more intense our joyful gratitude. Had we no day of trouble, where were our season of retrospective thanksgiving? David's besetment by Saul's bloodhounds creates an opportunity for divine interposition and so for triumphant praise." [C.H. SPURGEON]

 

We sing - in Church, at home, at work, anywhere at all and at any time, because God, and God alone is our strength!

 

Psalms 59:17 Unto thee, O my strength - A similar sentiment to that expressed, Psa_59:9. But the words are very emphatic: God is my strength; God is my elevation. My God is my mercy. I have nothing good but what I have from God. And all springs from his dwelling in me. God, therefore, shall have all the glory, both now and for ever. As many persons may still think that the inscription to this Psalm is correct, the following analysis may be applied in that way; or considered as containing a general resolution of the Psalm, without referring it to any particular occasion." [ADAM CLARKE]

 

When we are in trouble, we can pray to our God -the One True God. Through the New Covenant the LORD is not only the God of the Jews, but of all that trust in Him!

 

"Give us help from trouble." Help us to overcome the disasters of civil strife and foreign invasion; save us from further incursions from without and division within. Do thou, O Lord, work this deliverance, "lot Vain is the help of man." We have painfully learned the utter impotence of armies, kings, and nations without thine help. Our banners trailed in the mire have proven our weakness without thee, but yonder standard borne aloft before us shall witness to our valour now that thou hast come to our rescue. How sweetly will this verse suit the tried people of God as a frequent ejaculation. We know how true it is." [C.H. SPURGEON]

 

No matter where you are, God will hear you, even if you cry from the ends of the earth. There are times when difficulties come on us so quickly,  so suddenly, that all we can do is cry out. No matter, though, because God understand every language and every utterance of the tongue. Eloquence is not needed for God to hear you.

 

Psalms 61:2 "From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee." lie was banished from the spot which was the centre of his delight, and at the same time his mind was in a depressed and melancholy condition; both actually and figuratively he was an outcast, yet he does not therefore restrain prayer, but rather finds therein a reason for the louder sad more importunate cries. To be absent from the place of divine worship was a sore sorrow to saints in the olden times; they looked upon the tabernacle as the centre of the world, and they counted themselves to be at the fag-end of the universe when they could no longer resort to the sacred shrine; their heart was heavy as in a strange land when they were banished from its solemnities. Yet even they knew right well that no place is unsuitable for prayer. There may be an end of the earth, but there must not be an end to devotion. On creation's verge we may call upon God, for even there he is within call. No spot is too dreary, no condition too deplorable; whether it be the world's end or life's end, prayer is equally available. To pray in some circumstances needs resolve, and the Psalmist here expresses it, "I will cry." It was a wise resolution, for had he ceased to pray he would have become the victim of despair; there is an end to a man when he makes an end to prayer. Observe that David never dreamed of seeking any other God; he did not imagine the dominion of Jehovah to be local: he was at the end of the promised land, but he knew himself to be still in the territory of the Great King; to him only does he address his petitions. "When my heart is overwhelmed:" - when the huge waves of trouble wash over me, and I am completely submerged, not only as to my head, but also my heart. It is hard to pray when the very heart is drowning, yet gracious men plead best at such times. Tribulation brings us to God, and brings God to us. Faith's greatest triumphs are achieved in her heaviest trials. It is all over with me, affliction is all over me; it encompasses me as a cloud, it swallows me up like a sea, it shuts me in with thick darkness, yet God is near, near enough to hear my voice, and I will call him. Is not this brave talk? Mark how our Psalmist tells the Lord, as if he knew he were hearing him, that he intended to call upon him: our prayer by reason of our distress may be like to a call upon a far-off friend, but our inmost faith has its quiet heart-whispers to the Lord as to one who is assuredly our very present help.

 

Thus, our Christ is a Rock - higher than you and I.

 

"Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." I see thee to be my refuge, sure and strong; but alas! I am confused, and cannot find thee; I am weak, and cannot climb thee. Thou art so steadfast, guide me; thou art so high, uplift me. There is a mine of meaning in this brief prayer. Along the iron-bound coast of our northern shores, lives are lost because the rocks are inaccessible to the shipwrecked mariner. A clergyman of one of the coast villages has With immense labour cut steps up from the beach to a large chamber, which he has excavated in the chalk cliff: here many mariners have been saved; they have climbed the rock, which had else been too high for them, and they have escaped. We have heard of late, however, that the steps have been worn away by the storms, and that poor sailors have perished miserably within sight of the refuge which they could not reach, for it was too high for them: it is therefore proposed to drive in iron stanchions, and to hang up chain ladders that shipwrecked mariners may reach the chambers in the rock. The illustration is self-interpreting. Our experience leads us to understand this verse right well, for the time was with us when we were in such amazement of soul by reason of sin, that although we knew the Lord Jesus to be a sure salvation for sinners, yet we could not come at him, by reason of our many doubts and forebodings. A Saviour would have been of no use to us if the Holy Spirit had not gently led us to him, and enabled us to rest upon him. To this day we often feel that we not only want a rock, but to be led to it. With this in view we treat very leniently the haft-unbelieving prayers of awakened souls; for in their bewildered state we cannot expect from them all at once a fully believing cry. A seeking soul should at once believe in Jesus, but it is legitimate for a man to ask to be led to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is able to effect such a leading, and he can do it even though the heart be on the borders of despair.

 

How infinitely higher than we are is the salvation of God. We are low and grovelling, but it towers like some tall cliff far above us. This is its glory, and is our delight when we have once climbed into the rock, and Claimed an interest in it; but while we are as yet trembling seekers, the glory and sublimity of salvation appal us, and we feel that we are too unworthy even to be partakers of it; hence we are led to cry for grace upon grace, and to see how dependent we are for everything, not only for the Saviour, but for the power to believe on him." [C.H. SPURGEON]

 

Moreover, God is a God who "hears" prayer. His Arm is not too short that it cannot reach you, and His ear is not deaf that it cannot hear you. Be sure of this - if you pray, God WILL hear you!

 

Psalms 65:2

 

"O thou that hearest prayer - Who hast revealed thyself as a God hearing prayer - one of the leading characteristics of whose nature it is that thou dost hear prayer. Literally, "Hearer of prayer, to thee shall all flesh come." Nothing as applied even to God is more sublime and beautiful than the appellative "Hearer of prayer." Nothing in his attributes is of more interest and importance to man. Nothing more indicates his condescension and goodness; nothing so much encourages us in the endeavor to overcome our sins, to do good, to save our souls, and to save the souls of others. Dark and dismal would this world be, if God did not hear prayer; gloomy, inexpressibly gloomy, would be the prospects of man, if he had not the assurance that God is a prayer-hearing God - if he might not come to God at all times with the assurance that it is his very nature to hear prayer, and that his ear is ever open to the cries of the guilty, the suffering, the sad, the troubled, the dying.

 

Unto thee shall all flesh come - That is, all people - for the word is here used evidently to denote mankind. The idea is, that there is no other resource for man, no other help, no other refuge, but the God that hears prayer. No other being can meet his actual needs; and those needs are to be met only in connection with prayer. All people are permitted to come thus to God; all have need of his favor; all must perish unless, in answer to prayer, he interposes and saves the soul. It is also true that the period will arrive on earth when all flesh - all people - will come to God and worship him; when, instead of the scattered few who now approach him, all nations, all the dwellers on continents and islands, will worship him; will look to him in trouble; will acknowledge him as God; will supplicate his favor." [JOHN GILL]

 

There is no greater utterance that a man or women can express or articulate than to "bless" the LORD! God, in the best sense of the word does not need our blessing. However, when you say that you "bless" God, you make the statement that all praise, honor, and glory goes to Him who crowns you with every blessing conceivable. It is a reciprocation for God's great goodness to you.

 

Psalms 68:19

 

"Blessed be the Lord." At the mention of the presence of God among men the singers utter an earnest acclamation suggested by reverential love, and return blessings to him who so plentifully blesses his people. "Who daily loadeth us with benefits." Our version contains a great and precious truth, though probably not the doctrine intended here. God's benefits are not few nor light, they are loads; neither are they intermittent, but they come "daily;" nor are they confined to one or two favourites, for all Israel can say, "he loadeth us with benefits." Delitzsch reads it, "He daily bears our burden;" and Alexander, "Whoever lays a load upon us, the Mighty God is our salvation." If he himself burdens us with sorrow, he gives strength sufficient to sustain it; and if others endeavor to oppress us, there is no cause for fear, for the Lord will come to the rescue of his people. Happy nation, to be subdued by a King whose yoke is easy, and who secures his people from all fear of foreign burdens which their foes might try to force upon them. "Even the God of our salvation." A name most full of glory to him, and consolation to us. No matter how strong the enemy, we shall be delivered out of his hands; for God himself, as King, undertakes to save his people from all harm. What a glorious stanza this is! It is dark only because of its excessive light. A world of meaning is condensed into a few words. His yoke is easy, and his burden is light, therefore blessed be the Saviour's name for evermore. All hail! thou thrice blessed Prince of Peace! All thy saved ones adore thee, and call thee blessed. [ALBERT BARNES]

 

TRUTH FOR TODAY : "THROUGH GOD - YOU SHALL BE FEARLESS!"

 

Through God, and God alone, you will become valiant. The word valiant means - "showing courage or determination. derivatives valiantly adverb. Origin Middle English: from Old French vailant, based on Latin valere ‘be strong'." [Oxford Concise English Dictionary] Synonyms for valiant are - brave, courageous, heroic, noble, fearless, gallant, and bold. Consider these words today. This is your [future] character traits as you trust in the LORD. We know these things, because God, the Author of the Bible, cannot lie!

 

"Through God - By the help of God. We shall do valiantly - literally, we shall make strength. That is, we shall gain or gather strength; we shall go forth with spirit and with courage to the war. This expresses the confident assurance that they would secure the aid of God, and that under him they would achieve the victory.

 

For he it is that shall tread down our enemies - He will himself tread or trample them down; that is, he will enable us to do it. The psalm, therefore, though begun in despondency and sadness, closes, as the Psalms often do, with confident hope; with the assurance of the favor of God; and with the firm belief that the object sought in the psalm would be obtained. The history shows that the prayer was answered; that the armies of David were successful; that Edom was subdued; and that thus the territories of the Hebrew people had, in fact, in the time of David, the boundaries promised to Abraham." [ALBERT BARNES]

 

There is no power or strength except that which is possessed by God Himself. No one live or breathes, no kingdom or government rises or falls, no animal of the forest survives without the power of God. All that is or ever will be belongs to Him. He is the Creator of all things and the sole proprietor and possessor. He holds the title to the deed of every man and women's soul. He is God, and beside Him, there is no one else.

 

"Through God we shall do valiantly." From God all power proceeds, and all we do well is done by divine operation; but still we, as soldiers of the great king, are to fight, and to fight valiantly too. Divine working is not an argument for human inaction, but rather is it the best excitement for courageous effort, Helped in the past, we shall also be helped in the future, and being assured of this we resolve to play the man. "For he it is that shall tread down our enemies." From him shall the might proceed, to him shall the honour be given. Like straw on the thrashing-floor beneath the feet of the oxen shall we tread upon our abject foes, but it shall rather be his foot which presses them down than ours; his hand shall go out against them so as to put them down and keep them in subjection. In the case of Christians there is much encouragement for a resolve similar to that of the first clause. "We shall do valiantly." We will not be ashamed of our colours, afraid of our foes, or fearful of our cause. The Lord is with us, omnipotence sustains us, and we will not hesitate, we dare not be cowards. O that our King, the true David, were come to claim the earth, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations." [C.H. SPURGEON]

 

Victory for the Christian is just ahead. Christ is Coming. The Kingdom will be set up, an all that believe in Him shall rule and reign with Him. Therefore, we should perform our duties before Him. It is He who gives us courage. It is in Him - we hope in this world. Never take counsel of your [own] fears. Fear is not a reliable counselor for the Christian. No, our hope and strength is in Him who has all strength and power.

 

"Through God we shall do valiantly, and so we shall do victoriously; for he it is, and he only, that shall tread down our enemies, and shall have the praise of doing it." Note, (1.) Our confidence in God must be so far from superseding that it must encourage and quicken our endeavours in the way of our duty. Though it is God that performs all things for us, yet there is something to be done by us. (2.) Hope in God is the best principle of true courage. Those that do their duty under his conduct may afford to do it valiantly; for what need those fear who have God on their side? (3.) It is only through God, and by the influence of his grace, that we do valiantly; it is he that puts strength into us, and inspires us, who of ourselves are weak and timorous, with courage and resolution. (4.) Though we do ever so valiantly, the success must be attributed entirely to him; for he it is that shall tread down our enemies, and not we ourselves. All our victories, as well as our valour, are from him, and therefore at his feet all our crown must be cast." [MATTHEW HENRY]

 

Remember, Christ WILL conquer! Be sure of that. Have no doubt at all. Christ will return, He will subdue all kings and kingdoms. Thus, shall He rule and reign throughout eternity - and you will be there with Him!

 

"Through God we shall do valiantly,.... Or, "through the Word of the Lord", as the Targum; Christ, whose name is the Word of God, appearing at the head of his armies, in a vesture dipped in blood, and with a sharp sword proceeding out of his mouth, will inspire his people to fight valiantly under him; and who, in his name and strength, will get the victory over all their enemies, the beast, false prophets, and kings of the earth, and all under them; see Rev_19:11;  for he it is that shall tread down our enemies; as mire in the street, or as grapes in a winepress; even kings, captains, mighty men, and all the antichristian nations and states; the beast, false prophet, and Satan himself, Rev_19:15; and so there will be an end of all the enemies of Christ and his people; after which they will spend an endless eternity together, in joy, peace, and pleasure. The victory is wholly ascribed to God the Word; it is not they that shall do valiantly, that shall tread down their enemies; but he by whom they shall do valiantly shall do it; even the mighty הוא, "He", to whom was promised, in Eden's garden, the bruising the head of the serpent, and all enemies, Gen_3:15; and who has the same name here as there." [JOHN GILL]