Trust and Obey (Psalm 44, Part 1)

Since suffering is a part of God’s discipline in our lives, may we learn to trust and obey our God.

What God Has Done: His Past Acts of Deliverance (verses 1-3)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%2044:1-3&version=NIV

Our churches have forgotten how to remember God. We have become biblically illiterate. Since God is our eternal source of mercy, may we fill our minds with God’s Word.

We have heard, O God, what You did in days long ago. Help us to recall Your mercy and justice, and to put Your Word into our minds and hearts. Thank You for loving us.

We Trust: Confidence in God (verses 4-8).

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%2044:4-8&version=NIV

Trusting in God does not come naturally for us. When difficulties arise we turn first to human solutions. Yet God has redeemed us with a price and has enriched us with His fullness. May we place our confidence in God alone.

You are our King and our God; You decree victories. We trust in You alone. In You, God, we place our confidence. We praise Your name forever.

http:www.geneva.edu/object/newsong_pop_psalm44A

Seeking God (Psalm 43, Part 3)

A Profession of Hope (verse 5)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2043:5&version=NIV

When we feel depressed and discouraged may we profess our hope in God, and praise our Savior and our God.

God our hope, lift us up to You. We put our hope in You. We praise You, our Savior and our God.

Oh, send thy light to guide my feet,

And bid thy truth appear;

Conduct me to thy holy hill

To taste thy mercies there.

C. D. Barlow

Seeking God (Psalm 43, Part 2)

A Promise of Praise (verses 3-4)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2043:3-4&version=NIV

         May we seek God and praise His faithfulness. The best moments of our lives occur when we have quiet, undisturbed, intimate fellowship with our eternal God in Christ. When God fills us with joy may we pour it out to Him in praise.

Guiding God, we seek Your guidance. We seek Your truth in Your Word. Send us Your light and Your faithful care, let them lead us to You. Then we will go to You, God, our joy and our delight. We will praise You, O God our God.

Seeking God (Psalm 43, Part 1)

When we feel we are living in a godless nation, may we seek God for our delivery.

A Prayer for Justice (verses 1-2)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2043:1-2&version=NIV

Often those we trust betray us and take advantage of us. May we discover our ultimate justice in the Word of God: God’s “truth” expresses His covenantal fidelity.

Just God, we live for You in a tough and thankless society. We ask for justice. Vindicate us as we plead our case against our unjust society. Rescue us from those who are deceitful and wicked. Thank You that You are our stronghold.

http://genevanpsalter.com/attachments/GenPs043_vocal_homoph_BoP84.MP3

Thirsting for God (Psalm 42, Part 2)

The Depths: Remembering God (42:6-11)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%2042:6-11&version=NIV

When the depths of the turmoil in which we live overwhelm us; may we remember times when we joyfully came into God’s presence in the company of the faithful. May our songs of praise for the blessings we have received cheer our gloom. With God as our Savior we have hope.

God of our lives, help us to recall special times with You. In our despair and loneliness, and we come to You. We praise You in freedom and joy. You are our hope.

Jesu, the very thought of thee

      With sweetness fills my breast;

But sweeter far thy face to see,

      And in thy presence rest.

Bernard of Clairvaus (1090-1153)

Thirsting for God (Psalm 42, Part 1)

When we experience spiritual dryness may we thirst for God. Christ is the fountain that refreshes and transforms us.

The Drought: Longing to Meet God (42:1-5).

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%2042:1-5&version=NIV

When we feel emotionally parched and thirsty, may we long to meet God. He will totally satisfy us. Christ is the fount from which flows our refreshing. Having  placed our hope in God through Christ we can praise God for His salvation.

Living God, we long to be in Your presence. In our drought when You seem so far away, help us to recall good times we have had with You. Longingly we put our hope in You, for You are our Savior and our God.

http://www.geneva.edu/object/newsong_psalm42

Waiting for God (Psalm 41, Part 3)

Meditating (verses 10-12)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%2041:10-12&version=NIV

When we meditate on God, we cry, “have mercy on me, LORD.” Then we can stand in the strength of His mercy as we relate to the needy around us. If God gave us His Son, because of His love, will He not give us all we need? God helps those who cannot help ourselves.

Have mercy on us, Lord; raise us up. Thank You for the assurance that You are pleased with us. Uphold us, Lord, and set us in Your presence forever.

Praising (verse 13)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%2041:13&version=NIV

When we praise God we call others to the awareness of God’s character and love. May we thus share God’s blessing.

Praise be to the Lord our God from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

O Love divine, that stooped to share

Our sharpest pang, our bitterest tear,

On Thee we cast each earthborn care;

We smile at pain while Thou art near.

Charlotte Elliott (1789-1891)

http://www.geneva.edu/object/newsong_pop2_psalm41C