[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY JUNE 10

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY JUNE 10

WORD OF WISDOM

An inheritance is what you leave for someone. A legacy is what you leave in
someone.

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DAILY DEVOTION

The Power of Prayer


And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and
when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy;
and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron
and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the
other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And
Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Exodus 17:11-13

In May of 1844, Samuel Morse inaugurated the first commercial telegraph line
between Baltimore and Washington by sending the message, "What hath God
wrought!" (Numbers 23:23) from the Supreme Court building to the offices of
the B & O Railroad. This was not merely a pious expression for public
consumption, but rather the honest outpouring of Morse's heart. Some time
later, a pastor named George Hervey spoke with Morse and asked him,
"Professor Morse, when you were making your experiments yonder in your rooms
in the university, did you ever come to a stand, not knowing what to do
next?" "Oh, yes; more than once," Morse replied. "And at such times, what
did you do next?" "I may answer you in confidence, sir," said the professor,
"but it is a matter of which the public knows nothing. I prayed for more
light."
Whenever we are faced with an obstacle that is too great for us to overcome,
our first resort should be to prayer. God is interested in every part of our
lives, and He both knows and wants what is best for us. He offers us the
great privilege of entering His presence and pleading for His help. We do
not pray because God needs to be informed of our situation, but because we
believe His promise to hear and answer. David wrote, "Trust in him at all
times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.
Selah" (Psalm 62:8).
No situation that challenges us presents a challenge to the unlimited power
of God, which we touch through prayer.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

Psalm 31-35 New King James Version
The Lord a Fortress in Adversity
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
31 In You, O Lord, I [a]put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
2 Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of [b]refuge,
A [c]fortress of defense to save me.

3 For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, for Your name's sake,
Lead me and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

6 I have hated those who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have known my soul in [d]adversities,
8 And have not shut[e] me up into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a wide place.

9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my [f]body!
10 For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
11 I am a [g]reproach among all my enemies,
But especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
Those who see me outside flee from me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a [h]broken vessel.
13 For I hear the slander of many;
Fear is on every side;
While they take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.

14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, "You are my God."
15 My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies' sake.
17 Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
Let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the
righteous.

19 Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
>From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a [i]pavilion
>From the strife of tongues.

21 Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a [j]strong city!
22 For I said in my haste,
"I am cut off from before Your eyes";
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.

23 Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24 Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord.

The Joy of Forgiveness
A Psalm of David. A [k]Contemplation.
32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not [l]impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
7 You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History
33 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
[m]Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

4 For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together [n]as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

13 The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 He fashions their hearts individually;
He [o]considers all their works.

16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a [p]vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.

The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God
A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him
away, and he departed.
34 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The [q]angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no [r]want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To [s]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as [t]have a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be [u]condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

The Lord the Avenger of His People
A Psalm of David.
35 Plead[v] my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and [w]buckler,
And stand up for my help.
3 Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
"I am your salvation."

4 Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the [x]angel of the Lord chase them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
8 [y]Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.

9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my bones shall say,
"Lord, who is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?"

11 Fierce witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own [z]heart.
14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down [aa]heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.

15 But in my [ab]adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
16 With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.

17 Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among [ac]many people.

19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
21 They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, "Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it."

22 This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, "Ah, so we would have it!"
Let them not say, "We have swallowed him up."

26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.

27 Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
"Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.

Footnotes
Psalm 31:1 have taken refuge
Psalm 31:2 strength
Psalm 31:2 Lit. house of fortresses
Psalm 31:7 troubles
Psalm 31:8 given me over
Psalm 31:9 Lit. belly
Psalm 31:11 despised thing
Psalm 31:12 Lit. perishing
Psalm 31:20 shelter
Psalm 31:21 fortified
Psalm 32:1 Heb. Maschil
Psalm 32:2 charge his account with
Psalm 33:2 Lit. Sing to Him
Psalm 33:7 LXX, Tg., Vg. in a vessel
Psalm 33:15 understands
Psalm 33:17 false
Psalm 34:7 Or Angel
Psalm 34:9 lack
Psalm 34:16 destroy
Psalm 34:18 are crushed in spirit
Psalm 34:21 held guilty
Psalm 35:1 Contend for me
Psalm 35:2 A small shield
Psalm 35:5 Or Angel
Psalm 35:8 Lit. Let destruction he does not know come upon him,
Psalm 35:13 Lit. bosom
Psalm 35:14 in mourning
Psalm 35:15 limping, stumbling
Psalm 35:18 a mighty