Pastor Fredo Ramos: For whatever reason, I have always struggled to pray. And so as this new year begins and as many of you think about new routines that you wanna give yourself to, especially for those of you who follow Jesus, I wanna invite you to learn to pray the Psalms with us. It's a practice I picked up years ago that really saved, my ability to learn to pray, to speak to God honestly about how I was feeling and what I was thinking. And so every single day on sandalschurch.tv on YouTube, we're gonna be releasing, praying the Psalms, a Psalm a day. We started in Jan.
1, and every day you're gonna get a new Psalm with the opportunity to read the Psalm with us, to reflect on a phrase, and then to respond to God in prayer, how to pray through the Psalms. This has been a gift to me in my own journey with Jesus. I pray that it's a gift to you, and so would you join us. Grace and peace.
Pastor Fredo Ramos: We continue praying the Psalms. We come now to Psalm 34. I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord.
Let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness. Let us ex exalt his name together. I prayed to the Lord and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy. No shadow of shame will darken their faces. For in my desperation, I prayed, and the Lord listened to me. He saved me from all my troubles. We turn now to verse, eight and nine.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his godly people. For those who fear him will have all that they need. Verse 11, come my children and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the lord.
For does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do what is good. Search for peace and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do what is right.
Verse 19, the righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. The Lord protects the bones of the righteous. Not 1 of them is broken. Calamity will surely destroy the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished, but the Lord will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
By way of reflection, it's important to note Psalm 34, historically finds itself, being written in a time where David was pretending to actually be insane to protect himself from Abimelech. And it was a moment where he was sent away and his life was preserved. And so this prayer of this Psalm is kind of birthed out of that situation of David's life. And it's amazing that he has this tone of praise. He's like, I'm gonna I'm gonna sing all the days.
I'm gonna, lift his name up with those who are around me. He says to boast only in the Lord. We're reminded also that we are, in verse 8, invited to taste and see that the Lord is good. It's amazing to me that David encourages us to not just know in our minds that God is good, but to taste and experience it through the situations that lead us to difficulty. Right?
Because this Psalm is filled with the reality that David is going through hardship. He's crying out for mercy. And so it's in the midst of of challenges and it's in the midst of adversity that we can still taste and experience the goodness of God. Adversity doesn't have to keep you from experiencing, tasting the very goodness of God. And then in verse 22, consider this reflection as well, and the promise that no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
We have the assurance that no condemnation will come to us. Why? Because condemnation fell on Jesus Christ. He was the 1 who was condemned for you and for me, and so now as we face adversity, knowing that we do so in the name of Jesus, and in his protection and in his life, we for sure can taste and
Pastor Fredo Ramos: see that the Lord is good.
Pastor Fredo Ramos: Even through the difficulties. And so I wanna just draw as we close in prayer, our attention back to verse 2, I will boast only in the Lord, and to maybe just ask us in prayer to think about what we maybe are boasting in today, What we are proud of today. Lord, we hear your invitation to boast only in you and in nothing else. There's a temptation maybe to rely on what we think we can do to get out of difficulty, but we will boast only in you. Would you help us to to not just know in our heads that you are good and that you are gracious, but to experience it in our hearts through prayer.
That even in adversity, we can taste and see that you are good. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.