Pastor Fredo Ramos: We continue praying through the Psalms and today come to Psalm 144. David writes, praise the Lord who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him.
He makes the nations submit to me. Oh, Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them, mere mortals that you should think about them? For they are like a breath of air. Their days are like a passing shadow. Open the heavens, Lord, and come down.
Touch the mountains so they were they will billow smoke. Hurl your lightning bolts and scatter your enemies. Shoot your arrows and confuse them. Reach down from heaven and rescue me. Rescue me from the deep waters, from the power of my enemies.
Their mouths are full of lies. They swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. I will sing a new song to you, oh God. I will sing your praises with a 10 stringed heart for you grant victory to kings. You rescue your servant David from the fatal sword.
Save me. Rescue me from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies. They swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. Notice now he's repeated that same statement.
Verse 12. May our sons flourish in their youth like well nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars carved to beautify a palace. May our barns be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands, and may our oxen be loaded down with produce.
This is a good day at the grocery store. May there be no enemy breaking through our walls, no going into captivity, no cries of alarm in our town squares. Yes, joyful are those who live like this. Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord. By way of reflection, notice David kind of sets this scene up of battle.
Remember, he's the king, and so he would have been responsible for the barns and the plant life and just how things were going in the kingdom. And so he's very aware that he has to deal with enemies, which is why he asked God to open the heavens and come down and and touch this world and let his enemies know who the true God is. And I'm so grateful that David in the midst of asking, like, for help and victory, doesn't forget to be mindful of the blessing. Right? Verses 12 and on are really a benediction of David, where he's asking God to not just bring victory for him and to rescue him, but for the purpose of blessing other people.
David knows as the king so much of his well-being will dictate determine the well-being of his people. And so this prayer both is a, a call of protection for his own life, but also it's a reminder that God can bless those around us. So I'm not sure where you're feeling or or kind of where you would locate yourself today, But what an opportunity we have by way of invitation to just pray a blessing over our children, to pray a blessing over the things that we have and to ask that just today for a day, Lord, there would be a sense of joy and there would be a sense of peace as we recognize all the ways that you have provided things for us. And so let's pray that in. Jesus, we hear you now inviting us to pray and to ask for a blessing.
And so we ask God that you would fill up our storehouses. We pray that there would be great crops and produce and that we would recognize that regardless of maybe who is threatening the well-being of our life, no one can thwart your provision. You are the God who provides. And so in the same way that David prayed for a blessing over his people and over his kingdom, we pray that blessing over our own lives as well, over the lives of our children, over the lives of our family members, our church, and our friends. God, would we be delivered and blessed so that we might declare who you are to the rest of the world.
We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.