Pray, Trust, Wait

 Psalm 18 is almost exactly the same as the song recorded in Samuel 22, so this song of victory must be important. It is written by David and seems to be a reflection over a period of time as it tells of several victories he has experienced. So it appears that this song was written whilst David was contemplating his life and acknowledging the amazing challenges and breakthroughs that he had lived through. This psalm is not an account of a single victory, situation or battle, but an accumulation of victories that David acknowledges came about because he called, ‘upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised’. 

6  In my distress I called upon the Lord; 

to my God I cried for help. 

From his temple he heard my voice, 

and my cry to him reached his ears. 

Through his life, and particularly through the psalms it is well documented how David called, waited, cried out, and trusted God in his life. When trials came, when he was sick and afraid of dying, when he was confused and harassed and in times of despair he cried out to God, always acknowledging that God is in control then he waited. He waited, continuing to pray, cry out and trust God until the saw God breakthrough in ways he could not have envisaged. David uses this psalm to collate some of his experiences and to demonstrate his gratitude to God. Sometimes God rescued David, other times he radically transformed the situation, at others he protected David as he went through the troubled times, he trained David, guarded him and gave him supernatural strength and ability. All because David followed Him. David’s dedication to following God meant that he trusted God. He went through times of; loneliness, despair, confusion, fear, steadfastness and hope just like the rest of us do. Yet even when he found life impossible, was harassed and hounded, he still relied and trusted in God. His faith never wavered. David’s situation changed many times, and the trials came in different forms, and each time David poured out his heart and asked God to intervene. Then he waited for God to respond. David saw these victories and can testify to God’s almighty power and goodness because he cried, prayed, trusted and waited. Do you have stories like that? 

He sent from on high, he took me; 

he drew me out of many waters. 

17  He rescued me from my strong enemy 

and from those who hated me, 

for they were too mighty for me. 

18  They confronted me in the day of my calamity, 

but the Lord was my support. 

19  He brought me out into a broad place; 

he rescued me, because he delighted in me.”

David prayed, poured out his heart, waited, implored and gave thanks consistently throughout his life. He had a lot of trouble, some self-inflicted, but most not, and he always turned to God. He always acknowledged and sought God no matter what the situation was because he knew that God can always help. No matter how impossible, scary or how huge the circumstance, David knew that there was something God could do about it. So he asked Him to intervene. Then he waited. David would tell God what was going on, how he felt, what he needed, and then he would trust God to work it out because he understood that God cares about His people and that He works for the good of those that love Him. Sure, David got frustrated and desperate, and probably fed up of waiting, but he did wait. When you are fearful, overwhelmed and distressed do you call out to God and await his deliverance? Or do you call to God, get impatient and try to fix things yourself? If you want to know God as your rock, fortress and deliverer like David did, you need to leave the situation in His hands and not take it back! You can have a testimony like David’s, but do you have the faith in God required and the patience to wait? 

46  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, 

and exalted be the God of my salvation— 

47  the God who gave me vengeance 

and subdued peoples under me, 

48  who rescued me from my enemies; 

yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; 

you delivered me from the man of violence. 

Are you awaiting the reward of God, or are you trying to build your own? Whatever you can do in any situation cannot compare to the breakthrough and extravagance of God, but you need to be patient and wait for it. If you want some of the experiences of favour and victory that you read about, then you need to pray and wait. You need to be prepared to be uncomfortable. Trusting God as David did is scary. It means that you are not trying to do life your way or try to fix things by your own hands, but praying and waiting in desperate hope. All the while acknowledging that God loves you and will bring rescue, support and freedom, it just is unlikely to happen in your time frame or the way you want or expect it to.  Sometimes you cannot do much to change the situation you are in, you can try, but it ends up causing you more stress and discomfort in the long run. What you can do is keep, ‘the ways of the Lord’. That is your responsibility. This shows that you really are a child of God and are serious about living life with Him. Then, in time, when God’s glorious victory has come, you can also say, ‘the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness’! What a testimony that would be!

21  For I have kept the ways of the Lord, 

and have not wickedly departed from my God. 

22  For all his rules were before me, 

and his statutes I did not put away from me. 

23  I was blameless before him, 

and I kept myself from my guilt. 

24  So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, 

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 

David cried and called out to God many times in his life, and look at the life he had! There were many ups and downs, but what is David known for? Being a mighty king? A warrior? Brave? descendent of Jesus? A man after God’s heart? A worshipper? There are many admirable qualities we see in David, and they are all because he devoted his life, not to; a country, job role, family or material goods, but because he dedicated his life to following God no matter what. Will that be your testimony? 

1  I love you, O Lord, my strength. 

2  The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, 

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, 

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

3  I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, 

and I am saved from my enemies. 

Thank God for the Little Things

Don’t you just love the way God intervenes in life?!
Sometimes it’s in subtle ways, like prompting you to pray for something or talk to someone, it could be finding a bit of money or some marvel of nature, or even disturbing your sleep.

We can take these things to be small coincidences or even just random occurrences, they are quite easy to explain away. However, like we see in Esther, a series of ‘coincidences’ led to the freedom of many people. It led to recognition and promotion as well as judgement and condemnation. Sometimes the small, unusual details of our lives can be dismissed by us as unusual circumstances. I guess my encouragement to you today, is to not be so quick to write off the unusual. To instead consider - could God be in this?

Reading Esther, Chapters 5-7 we see plenty of these unusual small situations coincide in just one day. These chapters outline the events after Esther’s first banquet, all joined together by little snippets of God’s intervention in subtle ways.

First, Haman’s jealous hatred of Mordecai is kindled yet again and reaches a crescendo as he instructs for a gallows to be built so he can hang him (not for any notable reason either really). Then, the king cannot sleep, so what does he do? He orders for the big book of history to be read to him. It just so happens to be read that Mordecai, years ago, was a hero. Mordecai undermined an assassination plot and received no acclaim for it. This concerned the king, and so he spent more wakeful hours considering how to rectify this oversight. Then Haman is spotted in the grounds, so he seeks his counsel and commands Haman to give the acclaim he described to his mortal enemy Mordecai. Lots is going on there - but can you see the subtle intervention of the Holy Spirit in these circumstances? Can you see that God is involved in every part of that process?

The king was not ill, or disturbed in order to be awake, he just couldn’t sleep - why was that? And why did he decide at that very time to have the history books read and just so happen to come across the tale of Mordecai?! That seems far too many coincidences to me to be by chance and not orchestrated by God! All of these little incidents we read about in Esther clearly outline that whilst people are getting on with their normal lives, God is there, God is at work.

In the same way God is intervening in your life too.

Watch out for the little promptings of the Holy Spirit. Look out for the way God is working, even in the small things. If you are wakeful, ask God why, if you find something that was lost, praise Him for it, if you notice something beautiful and new, thank Gos for creating it. Our lives are full of small details that God has put there for us to take notice of. Even if it’s a broken nights sleep, or a chance meeting with someone. Be aware and be prepared to see God at work. Like in Esther, the small details can come together to cause a massive life change for others. So, be attuned to what God is doing. Have eyes that see the blessings around you, the small moments of joy that God gives you, the little promptings to talk or pray with someone. In the same way that God uses others to be a blessing to us, He also uses you to be a blessing to others, so keep mindful that God wants your attention everyday, and consider what can you do that God wants you to today? God may well be song you to change someone’s life as well as your own. Be prepared to see the subtle things and do the little things God asks. You may end up being the answer to someone else’s prayer.