Faithbase

Good morning and welcome to Praying the Bible, and we are now in verse 28. We'll just read 28, 29, and 30, and as many Bibles, this particular edition of the New King James kind of breaks down the psalm into thoughts, and I'm just using, you don't have to do that when you pray through the scripture by any means. In fact, as I've mentioned before, it's just typical to begin reading and to pray as the Spirit of God would lead you as you walk through the scripture. And again, this is why I love praying the Bible so much, because you are really being taught by the Spirit of God in a very real sense as well. Again, I don't recommend this as a means of interpretation to, you know, for teaching or whatever, but I do believe that the Spirit of God, as we pray through the Bible, is teaching us about, because we have to think about what it says here as we pray, and if we have been steeped in the Word of God elsewise, this is one way that the Spirit teaches us. So verse 28, For you will light my lamp, the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect, the Word of the Lord is proven, he's a shield to all who trust in him. Heavenly Father, you will light our lamp. You will enlighten us, that we will understand, and it is so important for us to realize that it is not something that we can push you aside and hope to achieve this enlightenment, but it is you who lights our lamp. The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. And that, Lord, I'm thinking right now of the enlightenment of understanding your truth, understanding your scripture. Lord, we can think about this also, that you will lift us out of a dark place when we have circumstance in our life and relationships or money worries or just so many things, health issues that can can drive us to a darkness, that we can feel down and under the weather, so to speak, emotionally. Lord, you're the one who brings light into our darkness. You are the one who brings us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, so that that darkness, those things, those are no longer part of our experience, they should not be. And when they do encroach upon our life, that when they do attempt to swallow up the light, we can turn to you and say, Lord, you enlighten me, give me understanding about my life in this kingdom of light and you will pull me out of this darkness, Lord God, for by you I can run against the troop. David, of course, was a man of war and he went out and physically fought battles. Lord, he also was involved in spiritual battles and sometimes he would lose that and we know that from the text. Lord, none of us probably are going to be out fighting a battle where we run against a troop and yet we are besieged at times by what seems innumerable foes that are tempting to bring us down. Lord, by your strength we can push back against that, not in an unkind and an unloving way, but speaking the truth in love. And I know that that Lord is concerned most of all with our brothers and sisters in Christ, but to everyone we can speak truth and love, we can run against a troop and show the truth even against a myriad of foes, those who would try to discount the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Leaping over the wall, the same thing, Lord God. We probably won't be leaping physically over a wall, but any barrier, any obstacle that is before us, by your strength, Lord God, we can overcome it or find a way, as you might have, for us to endure that difficulty and to learn from it, because all things are for the good of those who love the Lord and those who are called according to his purpose. That good is to become more like Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord has proven a shield to all who trust in him. And that's why we trust in you, Lord, because your way is perfect. Your word is proven. We don't have to wonder. We don't have to, and in fact it's wrong for us to say, well, let's weigh this in the balance and see if this life of following Jesus Christ, how that weighs against other religions or other ideologies, Lord God. May we never fall into that trap. Our presupposition should be that this is truth, that your word, Lord God, is true, that there is no other means of salvation, there is no other way to live a life that is of any value, no other way to live a life that has meaning and purpose and hope. Apart from Jesus Christ, that does not exist. And so Lord, you are a shield to all who trust in you. We place our trust in you. Your shield protects us from attacks from those who are the naysayers. Your shield protects us from the darkness that would overcome us in difficult times, Lord. Help us, watch over us, protect us, shield us, I pray this day. Thank you so much for all the things you do for us. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.