Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and welcome to another prayer through the
Speaker 1: Psalms episode of the Praying Christian Women podcast. I am
Speaker 1: Jamie and today we get to talk about and pray
Speaker 1: through Psalm sixty one. This is confidence in God's protection
Speaker 1: for the choir director on a stringed instrument, a Psalm
Speaker 1: of David. This is back to kind of like what
Speaker 1: I always picture. I picture the stringed instruments because they
Speaker 1: talk about David playing the liar for King Saul. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just another confidence in God's protection. Last time we
Speaker 1: talked a little bit about David feeling surrounded and overwhelmed
Speaker 1: and yet trusting in God. This next one is a
Speaker 1: beautiful almost like a relief into just pure confidence. And
Speaker 1: the imagery is beautiful. And if you're needing to be
Speaker 1: reminded of how big God is, this is a good one.
Speaker 1: So before we get started, let's pray. Lord God, you
Speaker 1: are our rock, our stronghold, our protector, and we praise
Speaker 1: you for being mighty and matchless. Just even saying that
Speaker 1: just gives me this feeling of strength and security because
Speaker 1: you are it. There's no yin and yang when it
Speaker 1: comes to good and evil. In the big picture, you
Speaker 1: are good, You are love, You are creator, And even
Speaker 1: though Satan and his demons have dominion for a time
Speaker 1: over this earth, they are no match for you. They're
Speaker 1: not your equal and opposite like we sometimes think of
Speaker 1: when we think of the battle between good and evil.
Speaker 1: You are already victorious. So we acknowledge you and praise
Speaker 1: you for that, for your pre eminence, for your omnipotence.
Speaker 1: There is no one like you in all of creation.
Speaker 1: And to be your child, to be loved like that,
Speaker 1: to be protected by you, it puts everything else into perspective.
Speaker 1: As we come before you today, we just ask that
Speaker 1: you would just continue to be reminding us of who
Speaker 1: you are, so that we can measure everything else against that.
Speaker 1: Instead of trying to to bring you along into our
Speaker 1: troubles or bring you along into our lives, I just
Speaker 1: pray that we would be able to see you as
Speaker 1: it you are what it's all about. Let's put you
Speaker 1: in the driver's seat, Let's take you with us. Not
Speaker 1: so we can just bring you along by tucking you
Speaker 1: in our pocket and referencing you so that we feel
Speaker 1: good about ourselves and our decisions, but like a kid
Speaker 1: on the place bringing their father who is strong and capable.
Speaker 1: There's nothing to fear. Let us bring you so that
Speaker 1: we can listen for your instruction and your guidance, so
Speaker 1: that we can hear you the voice behind us saying
Speaker 1: this is the way, walk in it. Thank you for
Speaker 1: being that God who can be both all powerful and
Speaker 1: matchless in every way, and yet concerned for us, for
Speaker 1: each one of us as if each of us was
Speaker 1: the only child in the whole world. We love you, God.
Speaker 1: Help us to continue to see you for who you are.
Speaker 1: Help us to continue to fix our eyes on Jesus
Speaker 1: so that we can live more like him, so that
Speaker 1: we can love more like him. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 1: All right, let's read through this psalm confidence in God's protection.
Speaker 1: For the choir director on a stringed instrument, a Psalm
Speaker 1: of David very straightforward. Hear my cry, Oh God, give
Speaker 1: heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth.
Speaker 1: I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead
Speaker 1: me to the rock that is higher than I For
Speaker 1: you have been a refuge for me, a tower of
Speaker 1: strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever.
Speaker 1: Let me take refuge in the shelter of your wing. Selah,
Speaker 1: for you have heard my vows. Oh God, you have
Speaker 1: given me the inheritance of those who fear your name.
Speaker 1: You will prolong the king's life. His years will be
Speaker 1: as many generations. He will abide before God for ever
Speaker 1: a point, loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.
Speaker 1: So I will sing praise to your name forever, that
Speaker 1: I may pay my vows day by day. So I
Speaker 1: love this because it is just one hundred percent. You
Speaker 1: are refuge, you are protector, and it's so comforting for me.
Speaker 1: I love the ones where he starts off lamenting, but
Speaker 1: sometimes I just need this. I just need to be
Speaker 1: reminded of how big God is. And so he talks
Speaker 1: about God being a tower of strength, and in military terms,
Speaker 1: a tower or a stronghold or you know, is like
Speaker 1: this place that's high and protected from enemies, that's usually
Speaker 1: encircled so that the arrows can't break through, and it's
Speaker 1: going to take a lot to get to that place,
Speaker 1: and it's very high and protected. And so this idea
Speaker 1: of a rock that is higher than myself. We are
Speaker 1: very vulnerable. We can't protect ourselves all the time. But
Speaker 1: God is that refuge and it's anytime we ask, he
Speaker 1: just lifts us up and places us on that high
Speaker 1: place of protection and safeguard. Another interesting thing is that
Speaker 1: this imagery of a rock, that word rock the actual
Speaker 1: original Hebrew for that word rock. The first place it's
Speaker 1: mentioned is in Exodus, where he struck the rock and
Speaker 1: the water came out of it, Exodus seventeen, verse six.
Speaker 1: That's from the topical lexicon. It's that word rock appears
Speaker 1: Exodus seventeen, verse six, when Moses strikes the rock at Horeb.
Speaker 1: This imagery is not just of protection and refuge, but
Speaker 1: the word rock it also has imagery of provision, and
Speaker 1: God is shown as living water that flows out of
Speaker 1: the rock. And that goes back to our last psalm
Speaker 1: Psalm sixty, where we were talking about these parched, dry
Speaker 1: desert lands encrusted with salt. When the rain comes, that's
Speaker 1: when all these plants in this life that we didn't
Speaker 1: even know was there for most of the year would
Speaker 1: start to spring up out of those cracks and crevices
Speaker 1: of salt rock. And so that imagery of water, it's
Speaker 1: life giving, it's protector, it's provider. And again that imagery
Speaker 1: is so beautiful, and then it also talks about him
Speaker 1: about let me take refuge in the shelter of your wings,
Speaker 1: and so that imagery it's kind of feminine if you
Speaker 1: think about it. I mean, I know, like penguins can
Speaker 1: also like incubate the eggs, and the dads can do
Speaker 1: that too. But most of the time, when you think
Speaker 1: of a bird sheltering her young with her wings, it's
Speaker 1: usually a mother. And I do love that the Bible
Speaker 1: brings in this imagery of God as this strong, solid
Speaker 1: protector and very masculine imagery most of the time. But
Speaker 1: what I really enjoy is seeing this idea several times
Speaker 1: in scripture where it talks about God as mother, as
Speaker 1: a And I don't want to get into the gender
Speaker 1: of God because obviously, you know, God created man in
Speaker 1: his image, male and female. He created them, which means
Speaker 1: that all aspects of female of the female gender and
Speaker 1: the male gender embody who God is. But we do
Speaker 1: think of him as a father because that's how Jesus
Speaker 1: describes him to us. But actually want to take a moment,
Speaker 1: and I want to read through these different passages where
Speaker 1: God is described as covering us or sheltering us with
Speaker 1: his wis because I just think for a meditation. This
Speaker 1: is really helpful for me because it's very comforting, and
Speaker 1: I just thought it would be nice, so Psalm seventeen eight.
Speaker 1: Hide me under the shadow of your wings, Psalm thirty
Speaker 1: six seven. People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,
Speaker 1: Psalm fifty seven to one. I will take refuge in
Speaker 1: the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Speaker 1: Psalm sixty one to four. I will take refuge in
Speaker 1: the shelter of your wings Psalm sixty three to seven.
Speaker 1: In the shadow of your wings, I will sing for joy,
Speaker 1: like this picture of having the bandwidth to sing for
Speaker 1: joy because of being protected. It's a privilege to be
Speaker 1: able to sing for joy right when you're being oppressed,
Speaker 1: when you're being hit on all sides. But because of God,
Speaker 1: in any circumstance, we are given that place of permission
Speaker 1: and privilege to sing for joy because He protects us. Now,
Speaker 1: I don't mean to say that if you're going through
Speaker 1: something unspeakably difficult that you're going to always be in
Speaker 1: that place, But we have that opportunity because of God.
Speaker 1: And when we do find ourselves facing difficulties, it's because
Speaker 1: of Him if we are able to be joyful. That
Speaker 1: is why, and that is the only reason Psalm ninety
Speaker 1: one to four. He will cover you with his feathers,
Speaker 1: and under his wings you will find refuge. So it's
Speaker 1: almost an image of a nesting bird, like you're under
Speaker 1: the feathers and under his wings. And then in Ruth
Speaker 1: Ruth two verse twelve, the Lord under whose wings you
Speaker 1: have come to take refuge. And this was spoken to Ruth,
Speaker 1: who was a foreigner but chose to follow Naomi. She
Speaker 1: chose to follow Naomi. Your God will be my God.
Speaker 1: Your people will be my people, Oh God, welcoming in
Speaker 1: the outcast, welcoming in the foreigner into his fold. And
Speaker 1: that was even before Jesus opened up the way. This
Speaker 1: was when the people of Israel were just considered to
Speaker 1: be the people of God. And God said, no, I
Speaker 1: will welcome you in if you choose me, because I've
Speaker 1: already chosen you Deuteronomy thirty two eleven. Like an eagle
Speaker 1: that spread out his wings to catch them. So this
Speaker 1: is not the underside of his wings. This is kind
Speaker 1: of more being on the top, kind of like in
Speaker 1: Isaiah when it talks about He'll raise you up on
Speaker 1: wings like eagles. And then Matthew twenty three thirty seven
Speaker 1: and Luke thirteen thirty four says something about how often
Speaker 1: I've longed to gather your children together. This is Jesus
Speaker 1: saying how often I have longed to gather your children
Speaker 1: together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Again,
Speaker 1: this inclusiveness of Jesus wanting to gather all of God's
Speaker 1: people under his wings. So well, this is beautiful and
Speaker 1: protective language. It's even marriage language. You know, we think
Speaker 1: of it as a child language, but being under someone's
Speaker 1: wings in ancient times and biblical times it had imagery
Speaker 1: of protection, belonging, an even marriage language of being under
Speaker 1: that umbrella of love. So let's pray, Lord God, we
Speaker 1: just thank you so much for loving us, and we
Speaker 1: just pray that no matter what is going on in
Speaker 1: the world, that we can take time like now to
Speaker 1: come into your throne room and just feel protected, be
Speaker 1: reminded of your bigness and your goodness and your protection,
Speaker 1: so that no matter what is raging on the other
Speaker 1: side of those wings, that we know that we are
Speaker 1: yours and you belong to us. God. We just pray
Speaker 1: for perspective. It's not going to be easy. Once we
Speaker 1: come out of a time of prayer and meditation on
Speaker 1: your word, it's not going to be easy to maintain
Speaker 1: the feeling of protection. But Jesus said, not that you
Speaker 1: would take them out of the world. Jesus prayed for
Speaker 1: his disciples, saying, I don't pray that you would take
Speaker 1: them out of the world, but protect them from the
Speaker 1: evil one. That's our prayer for ourselves, for each other,
Speaker 1: for the people we love, that we would be able
Speaker 1: to walk and operate outside of our bubble of throne
Speaker 1: room time and still maintain that picture of your protection.
Speaker 1: Not that you would just take us out of the
Speaker 1: world indefinitely, because then we would not be able to
Speaker 1: take your kingdom out into the world, but that you
Speaker 1: protect us and shelter us even as we go, even
Speaker 1: as we do the hard things, and that you would
Speaker 1: just continually, your holy spirit would continually remind us of
Speaker 1: your goodness and your bigness and your love and your protection.
Speaker 1: That we could even just picture being under the shelter
Speaker 1: of your wings, or being set upon that high place,
Speaker 1: that rock of that stronghold, that high tower, that we
Speaker 1: would remember that the victory is already one in Jesus'
Speaker 1: name Amen. We'd like to take just a quick second
Speaker 1: to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership
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