Psalms 143:1-12 – “Hear my prayer, O LORD, Give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, And in Your righteousness. 2 Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous.  3 For the enemy has  persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in darkness, Like those who have long been dead.  4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is distressed. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands. 6 I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah  7 Answer me speedily, O LORD; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.         8 Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.  9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; In You I take shelter.  10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.  11 Revive me, O LORD, for Your name’s sake! For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. 12 In Your mercy cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul; For I am Your servant.”   NKJV

Today is the Day the LORD has made, and we should rejoice and be glad in it.  But there is more!  There are two things expressed in this Psalm that we need all the time.  They are Guidance and Deliverance!  It seems that too often we attempt to live in our own ability rather than seek His divine ability and grace.  When we try to use our reason, our wisdom, our understanding, our knowledge, our power, and our desires we fall into that Satan has laid for us.  David, the man after God’s own heart gives us some wonderful guidance:

• Prayer.

We need to learn to communicate with God at all times.  We need to seek not only His guidance but His mercy.  We need to remember that we are flawed vessels and have clay feet.  We make mistakes, succumb to temptations and make wrong judgments and decisions therefore we need his guidance and mercy.

• Recognize. 

We need to recognize and realize that we are under attack by the evil one.  The devil would like nothing better than to entice us to walk in our own strength for then we would be no match for him.  If he can get us to rely on our own wisdom, knowledge, and judgment we will fall prey to his wiles and schemes.  Yet, when we go in the strength of the Lord, we are more than conquerors through Jesus!

• Praise & Thanksgiving should be a daily habit. 

Too often we neglect to express our thankfulness to God for all He has done for us and rescued us from and too often we allow ourselves to become too busy with our busyness to praise Him.  Praise & Thanksgiving will keep us focused on the true source of our strength.

• Receive the Reviving of the Lord. 

He will renew us daily and we need to be like sponges to soak up His renewal.  As we allow Him to saturate our inner man with His grace and presence, we become more like Him and find this walk easier because His yoke is easy and His burden light (when we are yoked with Him).

Today is a day of Thanksgiving!  Rejoice in the Lord and know that you can call upon Him anytime and He will not only hear but answer your prayers.

God bless you is our desire. God keep you is our prayer!