Do you ever feel afraid?

Do you ever feel afraid?  Do you ever feel like your enemy has the upper hand? Psalm 27 is David's Psalm of Hope in the face of enemies. Notice that David only spent a few verses declaring what his enemy was doing, but spent the rest of the Psalm focused on holy soul talk. David spent more time reminding himself about the character of God. 

Do you see how David speaks often of God as His dwelling place? Why? Hope knows where to dwell. Hope does not dwell on the enemy. It acknowledges the reality before God and then focuses on the character of God. Hope is a choice of focus. 

What character traits of God do you need to focus on today? Which ones do you need to lift up in praise? Will you choose God confidence? 

I sure hope so because this the sacred place where Hope is born.  

Shalom y'all!

Have you ever felt forgotten by God?

Have you ever felt forgotten? Have you ever felt forgotten by God? In Psalm 13, we can see the very real and raw emotion of David, the man known for being after God's own heart, as he expresses the emotion of feeling forgotten by God. Yet, as we read David's Psalm we discover a pattern that we can follow in our place of despair that will transition us to hope. 

David's transition takes place when he begins asking God for help. He knew he needed to be real about the pain, feeling, or emotion, but he choose not to stay there. He chose to seek God, proclaim God's character, and give God his praise and worship.

I love learning from the Psalmists. I learn that it is ok to be authentic about our suffering. But, I realize that in order to move from despair to rejoicing I must choose to seek God and choose hope.

Have you ever felt that despair? What helped you to transition to hope?  Are you willing to use this Psalm of Hope to give you a pattern to pray through? 

I know in my life that it has been the habit of choosing to praise God's character that has moved me from despair to hope. This prayer pattern has been one of my core strengths. I figured if it was good enough for David then it is good enough for me. Shalom y'all.