The Lord Is King Forever

Meditations for Ragamuffins

November 7, 2023

The Lord Is King Forever

The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.

Psalm 10:16

In the Hebrew Bible, Psalms 9 and 10 are combined as one psalm. Thus, the foundation of praising God with “all my heart” continues. Praising and praying in this way is indicative of a lively, personal relationship with the LORD.

Too many Christians live their lives as though the church is a memorial to Jesus Christ. They tend to live as though the church is a place to remember Jesus’ life and the things he did and spoke. Jesus wants more than just to be remembered; he wants a lively, personal relationship with each of his followers. In her devotion, Jesus Calling, Sarah Young encourages us to pause before responding to people or situations, thus giving the Holy Spirit an opportunity to lead us. When we don’t wait upon the Lord, when we react with hasty words and actions, we are living as though we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. An atheist does not believe in God and thus seeks to solve their problems out of their own wisdom, strength, and resources. Some people truly believe in God, but they live as though they are totally responsible for the course of their life. They function as an atheist because they are not living as though they expect God to act in their life.

As Christians, we affirm God is personally present in our life, a living Spirit. With nothing between us and God, our faces shine with the brightness of His face. We are transfigured, much like the Messiah, and our lives gradually become brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him. (See 2 Corinthians 3: 16-18 The Message)

My Takeaway: If your heart resonates with that affirmation from Second Corinthians, you can appreciate the lament of the psalmist. He is surrounded by atheists; nevertheless, his hope is in the LORD.  Today is a good day to make a complete list of your struggles. What issues are you facing? How are your adversaries taking advantage of you? Now, with your list in hand, make up your mind to pray with the psalmist: “You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry” (Psalm 10:17).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.