Psalm 21-Supplication through the Scripture

Psalm 21 

Joy Inexpressible and Full of Glory

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice!
Philippians 4:4

For the believer, our joy is independent of our circumstances. Joy seems to me to encompass a host of emotions or attitudes: quietness, rest, confidence, anticipation, tranquility, and gladness.  However, sometimes we too feel the impact our difficulties seem to have on our joy. But our joy in the Lord is worth fighting for. And our joy can be unshakeable, when truly based on the Lord and our eternal inheritance. At times we will need to carefully and persistently remind ourselves of the basis of our joy and rest in His provision and supply of that joy. But I want my life to be marked by joy and for that joy to be evidence that I serve a trustworthy, amazing Father.

Joy in His Presence and Power

21:1-6 O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. 
Lord, I pray:
▫️Today, I would rejoice in Your strength! I know that my God is God Almighty and nothing is impossible for You. What circumstance seems impossible to me today?
▫️I would say to my soul, “March on in the strength of the Lord, hide in the shadow of His wings, stand upright and do not be shaken for my God is for me.”
▫️I would seek You, Lord, and Your strength because strength and joy are in Your place. Glory and strength belong to You (1 Chronicles 16:11, 27-28). Am I looking for strength for today in anything besides the Lord? Is there something I need to lay aside or turn away from in order to wholly come to the Lord?
▫️I would rejoice greatly in the inheritance I have in Christ, an imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance that is being kept in heaven for me (1 Peter 1:4).
▫️Grant my heart’s desire to be a faithful steward of the ministry and gifts You have given me. 
▫️I would rest in the promise that You will not withhold any good thing from me (Psalm 84:11-12). What is testing my trust in the goodness of God? What is God withholding from me that I am struggling to accept?
▫️I would trust that You will meet me with rich blessings—what You know is best for me.
▫️You would redeem my life from any pit that I find myself, and You would crown my life with Your lovingkindness and compassion (Psalm 103:4).
▫️You would fill me with gladness and joy because of the privilege and intimacy of Your presence and Your nearness to me. What is hindering my joy?

Joy in His Providence

21:7-13 For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man. Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed. For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows. Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.
Lord, I pray:
▫️My confidence and security would be in You and the reliability of Your Word. What other things or people am I tempted to find my security?
▫️As I go through this day, I would not be moved. I would have a serenity of spirit because I am trusting in Your goodness to me.
▫️I would suffer well for the kingdom of God and endure with patience my trials and afflictions and would count it all joy.
▫️I would trust in Your just ways and Your promise to repay with affliction those who have afflicted Your children, and I would remember with a solemn spirit that You will deal out retribution to those who do not know You and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8).
▫️I would be careful to forgive and not harbor resentment and bitterness in my heart, even when others plan and devise evil against me, knowing that what they mean for evil, You mean for my good (Genesis 50:20). What situation has been hard for me to see that God intends it for my good?
▫️The plans that are for my harm would not succeed, but in all things I would overwhelmingly conquer through You (Romans 8:37). 
▫️You would be exalted in my eyes and in my heart and in the eyes and hearts of those who witness Your power at work in my life and circumstances.
▫️Your joy would be my strength (Nehemiah 8:10).


May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think, for His glory and our good. I’m Jesus’ name. Amen.


It is both our privilege and our duty to be joyful. To be joyless is to dishonor God and to deny His love and His control over our lives. It is practical atheism. To be joyful is to experience the power of the Holy Spirit within us and to say to a watching world, “Our God reigns.”     

Jerry Bridges


Psalm 21 quoted from the ESV.

Photo credit to fuuj

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Mother’s Longing

Image
A Mother’s Longing “…in your faith you are standing firm.” 2 Corinthians 1:24 It is not surprising that 3 John 4 is so often quoted by Christian parents in their deep desire for their children, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (NASB). This is the deep longing of my heart as a mother. I want my children to truly know Christ, to walk in His ways, to love His Word, and to be committed to His church. I desire to be able to say to them, “in your faith you are standing firm” (2 Corinthians. 1:24). Am I being a faithful steward of my role as a Christian mother? Are my actions reflecting this deep desire to see my dearly loved children walking in the truth?  As we head into this new year, it is wise to both look back and look forward. The new year offers us many possibilities to grow and change and also to continue to persevere in the things that God, by His grace, has enabled us to carry out faithfully. If one of my deepest longings is to see ...
Read more

A Piercing that Drives Us to Our Knees

Image
A Piercing that Drives Us to Our Knees: to the mothers of the brokenhearted and the wandering Where there is a praying mother there is always hope. J.C.Ryle From the time our children are a positive line on a pregnancy test and then placed in our arms for the first time, our hearts as their mother are intricately intertwined with theirs. The first cry brings tears and joy, such inexpressible joy. And then they grow, and we love to see them exploring, learning, and developing their personalities. But the moment they come home having faced rejection for the first time, or they struggle with a mental illness that leaves us feeling deeply inadequate, or we get an email from the school that they’ve been caught cheating, each taste of sorrow and sin that they taste, we experience as well. The words spoken to Mary could be the gentle warning each mother must heed, “and a sword will pierce even your own soul”(Luke 2:35).  I’m not sure our children will understand until they become parents ...
Read more

Don’t Give Up, Mom: when mothering makes you weary

Image
  Don’t Give Up: when mothering makes you weary Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we never give up… 2 Corinthians 4:1 ESV, NLT Mothering can have seasons where weariness and discouragement lie right at the surface. Perhaps it’s a physically exhausting time, maybe spiritually you’re struggling or a child is, maybe it’s just busier than normal and it’s hard to juggle everything without feeling stressed out, or maybe it’s hard to even find a reason why you’re struggling. It can be so many little things, or big things and little things, and you just want to give up, even if only for a little while. You wish you could run away and rest, clear your mind and breathe. How can we faithfully persevere through motherhood, each of its season, and each season’s hardships?  As I studied 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, I wanted to see how Paul could say, “we never give up.” Studying this book, I have come to appreciate the tenacity of Paul and his steadfastness through so many diffic...
Read more