Time with Abba, Singing Praising 親親爸父，唱詩歌頌 : OT DAY 473 - I love you, O Lord, my strength (Please click here for English podcast)

Thursday, May 5, 2016

OT DAY 473 - I love you, O Lord, my strength (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1. Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2. Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1. Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2. Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3. Open your heart to praise the Lord

     I love you, O Lord, my strength.
  The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
  my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
  my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 18:1-3

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2. Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (2 Samuel 22:1-51)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=撒+母+耳+記+下+22&version=ESV

And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3     my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold and my refuge,
    my savior; you save me from violence.

2 Samuel 22:1-3

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

My Listening

If you read 2 Samuel 22 and then Psalm 18 now, you'll find that it is almost a copy and paste piece of work. So, what is the main difference? Please try to stop reading now and go to read that.

Well, if you have not done that, then you miss something. The joy of searching!

Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

It piles up images to glorify God as the great protector. That was the way God had proven to be God for David in those years when he was on the run from Saul. God was a rock he could climb on, a shield he could protect himself behind, a refuge he could hide in…

The fact that this song appears as Psalm 18 in the book of Psalms in a slightly different version, with a link to this story, indicates that it's for people like us to use in our prayer and praise; it isn't just for David.

John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.167, 168-169.

For me, I find it very interesting and moving because 2 Samuel 22 does not have the verse 1 of Psalm 18, "I love you, O Lord, my strength."

2 Samuel 22 is David's personal reflection of God as his King and Lord. Psalm 18 is a song of praise David wanted to teach his people and us. And, I think that's his years of thanksgiving to make him add the most important word that he wanted to say to God. Just like a husband, a man who does not know how to say "I love you" to his wife and at last he says so! Wow! That's like atomic bomb, deepest love ever expressed in the Bible!

I would like to invite you to sing "I love you Lord" now together with me to say "I love you" to our Lord Jesus Christ to show our love to Him, to experience His love and presence now. May be you can kneel down to sing this song to Jesus. Kneel down to pray and to praise the Lord as often as you can is the best way to experience His presence and His power!

I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice

To worship you,

O my soul, rejoice!

Take joy, my King,

In what you hear,

May it be a sweet, sweet sound

In your ear.