Pastor Fredo Ramos: Psalm one zero eight. My heart is confident in you, o God. No wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart. Wake up, liar in harp. I will wake the dawn with my song.
I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations for your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, o God, above the highest heavens, and may your glory shine over all the earth. Now rescue your beloved people.
Answer and save us by your power. God has promised this by his holiness. I will divide up Shashem with joy. I will measure out the Valley Of Succoth. Gilead is mine and Manasseh too.
Ephraim my helmet will produce my warriors Judah my scepter will produce my kings, but Moab my washbasin will become my servant. And I will wipe my feet on Edom, and shout in triumph over Philistai. Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom? Have you rejected us, O God?
Will you no longer march with our armies? Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless. But with God help excuse me. With God's help, we will do mighty things for he will tramp, trample down our foes. By way of reflection, notice how Psalm one zero eight is bookended with a kind of courage and a confidence that's rooted simply in God.
In other words, your confidence today, your courage today is not found in your own strength. Your courage today isn't found in your own ability to control situations or people. Your courage today, my courage today is not to be found in our own ability to plan well and to do all the things on our to do list, but our confidence today and your courage today is found simply in God. Verse one, my heart is confident where in you, oh God. No wonder I can sing your praises.
In other words, as you begin your day today, joy is available to you and to me because we're confident in God. I love this idea of courage or daily courage. And when you think about how the Bible describes courage like we see in this Psalm here, it's one in which you're able to be courageous today, not because there's nothing to be afraid of, but because you're willing to walk through those fears with God's presence and God's strength. As the Psalmist says, knowing that he will bring victory. And so your confidence level rises and your courage rises not because there's nothing to worry about and life is great, but no, because the very definition of being a courageous person is doing the very thing that makes you scared.
But you're able to do it because God is with you and God actually will provide the strength and the victory. Jesus, we hear you now inviting us to respond in prayer. And so I ask that you would help us to name our fears. To be honest about the reality of our day today, the the things that life is throwing at us, but to still say because you're with us, my heart can be confident and I can live with courage today because God you walk with us and because you walk with us, you will bring victory and so may I submit to you today, may I surrender to your power, to your strength in Jesus name, amen.