“Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” (v.15). That’s the way David concludes Psalm 144. In the first half of the psalm, he cries out to God for help. In the last half, he sings praise to the Lord because of the help He gave him.

Firstly, David’s personal joy in the Lord (vv.9,10). We can picture him lying down his sword, picking up his harp and composing a new song of praise and glorify God. We ought to have Personal joy in our hearts also. We have many reasons for praising God, but too often we remember only the sorrows of life and forget the blessings.

Then there is a national Joy (v.10). David was the king, and when God delivered him, it was for the good of the nation. How we need national righteousness and national repentance to have national joy!

Finally, there is family joy (v.12). What a joy it is in the home to praise the Lord and see family members growing in Him.

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God’s people are to be joyful in expressing personal, national and family joy. Our joy is founded on what God does and who He is. Rejoice in the Lord today for all of His goodness, grace and mercy towards you in Christ Jesus.

Why should Almighty God pay attention to us? Who are we that we should receive His mercy? David asks these questions in verse 3. “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!”

What are we that God should pay any attention to us? Are we smart? I don’t think so. Are we strong? Some animals are much stronger than we are. Are we righteous? No, we have sinned against God. Are we faithful? Too often we disobey Him. From the human point of view, there is no reason why God should pay any attention to us. “Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadows that passeth away” (v.4). Compared to eternity, Our lives are just a puff of smoke. They appear and then they are gone.

Why should God pay any attention to us? Because God, in all of His mercy and Grace, loves us. The Word David uses for God in this Psalm means Jehovah God, the God of the gracious covenant. He has made promises to us, and we can trust Him. David describes Him as “my Lovingkindness and my Fortress, my Hightower and my Deliverer, my Shield and One in whom I l take refuge” (v.2).

This is a mystery too deep for us to explain, but it’s not too deep for us to experience. We may not understand why God should pay any attention to us, but we know that His Son came to be a servant for us. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for us, and now He lives in heaven, interceding for us.

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God pays attention to you because He loves you and wants to be glorified through your life. Walk with Him and glorify Him with your life.

How should we pray when we are going to trouble? We find several requests in David’s prayer, and if we follow his example, God will lead us through our difficulties into blessing.

First, he says, “Hear my prayer” (v.1) and “answer me speedily, O Lord; my spirit fails!” (V.7). We don’t have to shout to God; we don’t how to argue with Him. We simply can come to Him and say, “Lord, hear me”. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry” (Ps.34:15). Have you prayed to God about what worries you today?

David’s second request is, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust” (v.8). Each morning David meditated on the Word of God, and God guided him. Have you taken time to read the Bible and let its Author speak to you? He will show you the way you ought to go.

David’s next request is, “Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies” (v.9). God can do that if we are walking in the way He want us to walk. In verse 10 David asked for instruction and guidance. Oh, how willing He is to do this!

Finally, David says, “Quicken me, O Lord for thy name sake!” (V.11). Why do we want God to bring us out of times of difficulty? Sure, we want relief, but we also should want Him to be glorified. We want Him to deliver as for His name’s sake, that He might receive all the glory.

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Your spirit can begin to fail when you go through extended trials. Ask the Lord for help, and He will lead you through difficult times. Always stay open to the guidance and instructions of God’s Word. God will speak to you through Scripture as He leads you through your trial. Keep trusting Him, and He will accomplish what is best for you and what glorify Him.

David wrote this Psalm while hiding from soul in a cave, But he was full of distress. In his distress, he looked in four directions.

First, David looked within (vv.1-3). He looked within and said, “Look, I am in trouble; I am complaining; I am overwhelmed.” Introspection sometimes can be good for you, but don’t spend too much time looking within, or you will get discouraged.

Then David looked around, hoping to find help (v.4). Do you ever feel like that? Do you look around and say, “Nobody even cares—everyone is bearing his own burdens, and nobody wants to share mine”? Perhaps in the situation you should take time to bear other people’s burdens—then they might be interested in your concerns.

After looking within and around and finding only discouragement, David looked up (v.5). And said, “God, you are going to hear my cry. You’re going to deliver me from my prosecutors; they are stronger than I am.”

Finally, David looked ahead (v.7). After you have seen the glory of the blessing of the Lord, you can look ahead with confidence.

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Perhaps you are in a cave of discouragement today. Your hope lies not within yourself or with your circumstances. Look to the Lord and obey His Word. Then look ahead with confidence, for God’s promises are sure and His Word is true.

One of the greatest privilege we have as children of God is prayer. Yet so often we take it for granted. As the gospel song goes, “O what piece we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!”

In Psalm 141 David pictures prayer in a beautiful way that will help us appreciate it more (vv.1,2). The Jewish priest would go to the altar of incense in the holy place and offer a special incense that no one was allowed to duplicate. As the smoke of the incense rose from the altar, it was as though prayers going up to God. David was not in the temple; he was a king, not a priest. He may well have been out somewhere In the battlefield when he wrote this. But he says in v2, “I am going to lift up my hands to You as the evening sacrifice. My prayer is going to come to You as incense.”

The incense at the altar was mixed together carefully; it was well prepared. Likewise, let’s mix our prayer carefully. Our prayers should contain adoration and confession to the Lord, petition, thanksgiving and submission to Him. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to ignite the altar of our souls. Do not pray from a cold heart (v.3,4). After we pray to the Lord, let’s make sure that our lips and heart do not sin.

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Are your prayers a good mix rather than a series of petition? When you pray from the heart, you can’t help but praise God and thank Him for His grace and generosity. Make your prayers like fragment incense that brings joy to the heart of God.

King David was going through another battle. He needed deliverance from an attacking enemy (vv.1-4). David’s enemies had hidden snares to trap him.

What do you do when you face the situation—when evil, violent, lying people are busy setting traps for you? Remember that God hears you (v.6). God also strengthens you (v.7). If you have to do battle against the enemy today, let God outfit you in the armour you need. Finally, God vindicate you. David prayed that God would vindicate him and that his enemies own sin would destroy them.

David concluded by giving thanks to the Lord (vv.12,13). The battle over, he said, “One day I’m going to dwell in Thy presence, where there will be no more lying, slandering, battling, fighting or sinning.” We will enjoy the peace of God forever

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If you are a believer, God has already delivered you from the penalty of sin. Today He works to deliver you from sins effect. Perhaps enemies are slandering your reputation. Call upon the Lord for help. He will hear you, strengthen you and vindicate you. Let him give, you the victory today.

The most important knowledge in the world is the knowledge of God. The second most important is the knowledge of yourself. To know God, we must know Jesus Christ as our Savior (John.17:3). In his prayer, David makes two basic requests that should also be our prayer.

Our prayer should be that we want God to know us. This doesn’t mean we want God to get information about us; it means that we have nothing to hide from Him. God has a purpose for us to fulfil. He wants us to explore new territory and expand the horizons of our lives. Let God put you through the furnace to remove the dross from your life. Let Him prepare you for what He has planned for you.

Our prayer also should be that we want God to guide us. We can’t flee from God or fight Him, so we might as well follow Him. Jeremiah said, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer.10:23).

When we are willing to obey, God is more than willing to reveal His way to us. He guides us through His Word and through prayer. ... He also guides us through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, through circumstances and through His people. How glorious it is to have Christian friends with whom you can pray and to have a pastor who prays for you and ministers to you.

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If you want God to know you and guide you, He will. You will know yourself better and know Him better. And then He will guide you and lead you in an everlasting way.

Many people are bothered by the problem of evil. They say, “If God is loving and good God, why does He allow evil? David did not ignore this problem, nor did he give in to it. Instead, he made a decision and take his stand with God. Only our God can permit evil and be able to overrule it to accomplish his purposes. As David confronted the problem of evil in the world, he did so in stages.

Stage one: He evaluated (v.2). David looked at the wicked, violent, blasphemous, deceitful and rebellious crowd. He showed courage and honesty in thinking his stand against them. When we start asking ourselves, is it safe? Or, is it popular? We have moved away from biblical ethics and integrity.

Stage two: He grieved (v.21). We also ought to grieve over sin. When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed, he sat and wept(Neh.1:4) (see Gen.6:6; Mk.3:5; Eph.4:30). Today, we need people who will sit down long enough to weep over sin.

Stage three: He hated (vv.21,22). We could use a little more holy anger today. Edmund Burke it said, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Love and hate are not contradictory when dealing with Sin. Jesus showed both compassion towards sinners and hatred of sin.

Stage four: He decided (v.19). David decided to separate himself from evil. We need to stand among sinners as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, but we need to have contact without contamination.

Stage five, He trusted (v.19). We must leave vengeance with God; He will punish the wicked (Rom.12:19). Our job is to give ourselves to Him and do the work He wants us to do.

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If you fail to make a decision, the world will make it for you. Take your stand with God and use David’s experiences as a guide for confronting the problem of evil. Determined to leave a holy life that honors the Lord.

There is no higher occupation than the contemplation and the worship of God. David says, “My God knows everything; I can’t fool Him. My God is everywhere; I can’t flee from Him. My God can do anything; I can’t fight Him. What should I do? We find His answers in versus 23 and 24. This is one of the most penetrating prayer found in the Bible.

If we can’t fool God, flee from Him or fight Him, the only thing for us to do is surrender to Him—in awe, reverence and worship. Notice the psalmist’s request: “Search me, oh God, I know my heart.” God knows our hearts. He knows us from top to bottom, inside out. But we don’t know our own hearts. Jeremiah said in 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Only God can know it.

Deep learning:

The Hebrew word for search used in verse 23 means to dig in a mine and find ore. “Search me, O God; I am like a mine. I am deep, but dig out the potential that is in me. Dig out all the treasure you have put into me, even before I was born.” It also means to explore the land. How broad and wide are the horizons of possibility in life. “Search me, O God; bring out of me all that is there for your glory.”

Then David says in v.24, “Try me, and know my thoughts.” Try means to test metal in the furnace. That’s why we suffer sometimes. “See if there is any weekend away in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Here, then, three penetrating request: search me, try me and lead me. Are you asking God to lead you in His will today? If you do, He will bring out of the mine of your life treasures that will glorify His name.

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Can you echo David’s prayer? If not, perhaps you need to surrender to God’s will or ask Him to forgive some sin in your life. Remember, He knows you intimately. Ask Him for the grace to stand up to His scrutiny.

Yesterday, we learned that God’s thoughts are Personal and precious. They are full of His purposes and care. Today let’s consider three additional characteristics of God’s thoughts.

# God’s thoughts are practical. Paul was living to do one thing—finish his course (see Acts:20:24). As we run the race of life, following God’s thoughts leads to fulfilment, courage and the strength to continue.

# God’s thoughts are vast and inexhaustible (v.17). How great is the “some of them.” His thoughts just keep growing. People who don’t want to do the will of God live their life in a little bucket of water. But when we accept His will for our lives, we launch out on an ocean of possibility. If you want to be a stagnant Christian, reject the will of God. You will not grow, and you will miss what He has for you. He wants to do great things in your life. God said to Abraham, “You walk before Me and do My will, and I am going to give you horizons like you’ve never seen before.”

# Gods thoughts are unfailing (v.18). He works out His plans even while we sleep. Adam went to sleep, and God gave him a wife. Abraham went to sleep, and God worked out His covenant to him. God already has revealed things about our daily living to us by His Spirit in the Scriptures.

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Are you discouraged by events in your life or wary of the days routine? Think God’s thoughts by reading His Word and obey His thoughts by doing His work. He will work in your life. He will open horizons of blessing and help you along your pilgrimage.