THE LORD HEARS

 THE LORD HEARS

Ps. 34:17 The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. NLT

Sometimes we get so caught up in our circumstances of life that God seems so far away. The more suffering we experience, the more doubts we have that God is near or hears us. When nothing seems to change, we begin to lose our grip on faith. We begin to listen to Satan's suggestions that God has abandoned us or doesn't care about us as we suffer.

When your faith begins to waver, remember this wonderful and powerful truth: “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles." The Lord hears the heart cry of His children. Even when we can't even put into words what we are feeling, God hears us. He knows all about the thoughts and feelings we go through. He cuts through the pain and agony we may have and listens to our heart's cries. He hears and rescues us from all our troubles.

Sometimes the answers we need are not evident to us. We don't always know what needs to take place to free us from our circumstances. We don't know what is best for us. We don't know how to handle some of life's struggles. But, the Lord knows exactly what we need and how to meet it. When we let Him have our difficulties, He makes a way out of them for us.

God never has and never will abandon His children. He is with them each step they take in life's journey. He is with them during their darkest hours. He has a plan for each one and when we wait upon Him and trust Him, He fulfills His plan in us. His plan is always to bless. His plan is to always lead His children into a deeper relationship with Him. His plan is to use all of our life's circumstances to make us holy, a people after His own heart.

Hallelujah! The Lord hears us when we call upon Him to help us and rescue us from all our troubles.

THE LORD IS WATCHING

 THE LORD IS WATCHING

Ps. 34: 15-16 The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. But the LORD turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth. NLT

There are three wonderful truths to note in these verses: the Lord watches over those who do what is right, His ears are open to those who cry to Him for help, and the Lord turns away from those who do evil.

The Lord watches over those who do what is right. How we live does not go unnoticed by the Lord. You may sometimes feel like it's a waste of time and energy to try and do what pleases the Lord, but it's not. The Lord sees how we live and He will reward us for it. Without the fruits of faith, the words of faith are meaningless. What we do determines our rewards in heaven. The Lord watches over us to keep us on the right track, to help us do right, and to help us be right. He has an invested interest in our lives. He pours His life and Spirit into us.

His ears are open to our cries. My wife penned a song a few years ago with the phrase in it, "Each time I cried, He stood by my side." That one phrase says it all; the Lord hears our hearts cry. He is always aware of how we hurt. Whether we say it with words or just cry out in moaning from the deep recesses of our souls, the Lord hears our cries. We are never ignored or forgotten. The ears of the Lord are open to our cries.

On the other hand, the Lord turns away from those who do evil. He does not answer their prayers just because they pray. He does not keep track of them as they foray in their sinful ways. In fact, He will erase their very memory from off the earth. Without the righteousness of Christ, God cannot have fellowship with them. Their sin-crusted hearts makes them enemies of God and objects of His holy wrath.

The Lord is watching, what is He seeing? Do you bring a smile or a frown to His face? Does He keep watching over you, or does He have to turn His face away from you? You will stand before Him one day and give an account for how you have lived.

HOW TO FEAR THE LORD

 HOW TO FEAR THE LORD

Ps. 34:11-14 Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the LORD. Do any of you want to live a life that is long and good? Then watch your tongue! Keep your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good. Work hard at living in peace with others. NLT

First of all, listening requires us to be still long enough to pay attention. It means we respect the one who is speaking to us. It means we are quiet while the other person speaks.

The Psalmist has something very important to teach us today. He will teach us how to fear the Lord. When we learn this lesson of life, we will be assured that life will be good for us, both now and for eternity.

To fear the Lord means we get a handle on our tongues. We understand that God is holy and expects us to live holy lives. If your heart is holy, you won’t let unholy things come out of your mouth. You will be very careful that only that which is true will come from you. What you speak comes from what is in you. You can only be truthful when the Truth lives in you. To lie when Christ is in you is showing Him great disrespect. It is being what He is not. The point that must be learned here is that we CAN control our tongues. We do determine what comes out of our mouths. If we say things we shouldn’t, then we need to confess our sin and ask the Lord to help us.

To fear the Lord also means we turn away from evil and do good. It is easier to turn towards evil than it is away from it. We have to want to not let evil influence us. We have to want to do good. It takes a great determination on our part to overcome evil and we will always have to work hard at it.

To fear the Lord also means we strive to live in peace with others. Not everyone is going to cooperate with us, but as far as we are concerned, we will work hard at it. We will try to be ambassadors for Christ amongst the people we know and live around. Peace will be our primary objective.

Are you hearing what the Lord wants you to hear today?

WATCH WHAAAT YOU SAY AND DO

 WATCH WHAT YOU SAY AND DO

Ps. 34:11-14 Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the LORD. Do any of you want to live a life that is long and good? Then watch your tongue! Keep your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good. Work hard at living in peace with others. NLT

If you want to live a life that is long and good, then you have to watch your tongue. This does not mean you are guaranteed a long and good life, but it does mean that you will enhance your chances of living a messed-up life that may be cut short if you don't watch your tongue. It has been said that honesty is the best policy, and it is true.

Lying to others makes you untrustworthy. If others cannot depend on you to be truthful, you will fail to have anyone in life who can depend on you in time of need. You will be lonely and without help in your own times of need.

A much better way to live is to turn away from evil and do good. When you live rightly with God, you can be trusted to tell the truth. God is truth and those who live in Christ will be a people of truth. A person that wants to please God will seek to be truthful in all things, even when it may not be convenient or when it may be costly for him to do so.

We need to work hard at living in peace with others. Truthfulness is absolutely essential for peaceful living. It doesn't come naturally or easily, but with a lot of effort, it can be done. Our commitment to godliness enables us to not be at odds with others because of our untrustworthiness. Peace sometimes eludes us because of the heart issues of others, but as far as it is possible with you, live rightly with God so you can live rightly with others.

Notice that this is doable. We are told to take charge of our tongues, hearts, and living. If it were not possible, God would not tell us to do it.  

 REVERENCE FOR THE LORD

Ps. 34:9-10 Let the LORD's people show him reverence, for those who honor him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the LORD will never lack any good thing. NLT

We are to show the Lord reverence. This means that we are to not dishonor Him by the things we say and do. It means that we take seriously what He teaches us and obey His commandments. It means that we don't take our salvation lightly. It means that we purposely seek out His best for us, which is holy living.

If our conduct and conversations do not show reverence for the Lord, we cannot expect the Lord to help us. So often, people treat the Lord as one who is at their beckon and call. He is expected to deliver without regard for how we live. So many get the idea that we don't have any role to play in our relationship with the Lord.

Many professing believers do not strive to become holy because they fail to see it as a necessity. The belief is that once one is saved, then they can go on with their lives, forgetting about growing in faith. There is satisfaction with a profession of faith and little interest in pursuing holy living. Such thinking does not honor the Lord. We cannot be true to the Lord and honor Him without a commitment to holiness in our lives. We are made holy by how we live. We cannot separate holiness from living in Christ.

Those who trust in the Lord will have all they need in life. We trust Him for our salvation and holiness. We immerse ourselves in Him and when we do, we will lack no good thing. We may lack some things, but never that which is necessary and good for us. Always remember, what is good for us are those things which help us to be prepared for heaven. Good things are those things that help us to be holy. Good things are those things that draw us close to God and help us stay there.

TASTE AND SEE

 TASTE AND SEE

Ps. 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him! NLT

Open your mouth and fill it with the things of God. Chew on the riches of His grace. Feast on the love He has for you. Let Him fill you up with His righteousness and holiness. Let the Lord be your nourishment. Taste and you will see that the Lord is good.

The Lord is good completely. There is nothing about the Lord that is bad. He is incapable of doing anything to you and for you that is not good. He will always do good through you if you will let Him. Don’t deprive yourself of a good life. Feast on the Lord. Learn His ways and do them. Trust in Him alone for your living. If you do these things, you too will know the joys of living.

The joy of the Lord is unspeakable and full of glory. It is not something that we can easily describe. It is a deep and abiding confidence in Him. It is the assurance of soul that you are in God’s favor. It is the sense that everything is as God says it is. We are children of God and someday we will be with Him for all eternity. The joy of the Lord is being deeply rooted in Christ. It is found only in those who put the Lord first in all of their living.

Do you trust the Lord in all things in your life? Do you have that total dependence on Him for all things? Do you have an unshakable and immovable confidence in the Lord? If not, open your heart to Him right now and He will you with good things from His eternal bounty of goodness.

Oh, the joys of those who trust in Him!

FEAR GOD AND BE BLESSED

 FEAR GOD AND BE BLESSED

Ps. 34: 7 For the angel of the LORD guards all who fear him, and he rescues them. NLT

In the previous verses, the Psalmist reminds us that when we are focused on Christ we will not focus on our fears. Staying in close fellowship with Christ makes us feel safe and secure, free from fear. David continues his thought here by telling us that the angel of the LORD guards all who fear Him.

There is a sense in which we ought to fear God. We need to respect who He is in His holiness. God is certainly love, but His love is a holy love. He does not, He cannot, overlook sin. He will never tolerate sin in His presence and the sooner we accept this powerful truth, the better off we will be. We dare not take lightly that which God takes very seriously. Hell exists for those who live and die in their sin.

When we have a proper sense of fear of God, He keeps us safe. He watches over us and keeps us out of harm's way. Satan cannot fill a soul full of sin who is focused on the Lord. Satan may harass us but that is all he can do to us. When we live with a guarded soul against sin, we cannot be held captive by sin and its influences. When we sin, we immediately flee to our ark of safety, Calvary, and ask the Lord to forgive us, and He does.

The Lord rescues us from all that would destroy us. He rescues us from Satan and his demonic forces and He rescues us from our own tendencies to wander away from God. We are kept safe in the arms of Jesus when our hearts stay focused on Him.