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December 13 - Psalm 144 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is.
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  Friday. Oh, it's Friday the 13th, did
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  you realise that? Oh, just just realising that
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  now. Friday the 13th, we are going to
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  have a great day, irrespective of what Black Cats and ladders
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  leaning against walls might do around us.
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  It is a day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be
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  glad in it. Yes, because it's Friday at the
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  end of the week, and no matter what your week has looked like
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  or your weekend looks like ahead, it is a moment to stop
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  and read a Psalm together. And today, today we read Psalm
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  144, which is one of these rare royal psalms.
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  It's not a lament. It's not a Psalm of praise, It's
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  a royal Psalm. And the royal psalms are all
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  about the psalmist writing a Psalm as king, king of their
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  country. And this Psalm is actually a
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  prayer for National Safety. This is a Psalm where David
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  prays that God would protect his nation and bless them with times
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  of peace. Ah, yes, that sounds wonderful.
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  So how about you and I put down the busyness of what's happening
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  in our heads and our hearts and our days ahead and past and come
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  before the God of the universe, our King, as we read a Psalm of
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  David, Psalm 144. Praise the Lord, who is my rock.
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  He trains my hand for war and gives my fingers skill for
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  battle. He is my loving ally and my
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  fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer.
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  He is my shield and I take refuge in him.
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  He makes the nations submit to me.
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  O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them?
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  Mere mortals that you should think about them, for they are
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  like a breath of air. Their days are like a passing
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  shadow. Open the heavens, Lord, and come
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  down. Touch the mountains so they
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  billow smoke. Hurl your lightning bolts and
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  scatter your enemies. Shoot your arrows and confuse
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  them. Reach down from heaven and
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  rescue me. Rescue me from deep waters, from
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  the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies.
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  They swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead.
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  I will sing a new song to you, O God.
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  I will sing your praises with A10 stringed harp for you grant
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  victory to kings. You rescued your servant David
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  from the fatal sword. Save me.
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  Rescue me from the power of my enemies.
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  Their mouths are full of lies. They swear to tell the truth,
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  but they lie instead. May our sons flourish in their
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  youth like well nurtured plants. May our daughters be like
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  graceful pillars carved to beautify a palace.
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  May our barns be filled with crops of every kind.
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  May the flocks of our fields multiply by the thousands, even
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  10s of thousands. And may our oxen be loaded down
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  with produce. May there be no enemy breaking
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  through our walls, no going into captivity, no cries of alarm in
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  our town squares. Yes, joyful are those who live
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  like this. Joyful indeed are those whose
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  God is the Lord our Lord. Let us buck the trend of wanting
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  more, more and more with gratitude.
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  With gratitude to you and all your provisions that you just
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  pour so generously all through our lives.
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  Thank you for all that you give us, for your love, your
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  provision and your presence and all of those things that you
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  give us that punctuate our days with moments of joy and pleasure
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  and fulfilment. We are your children and it is
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  in you that we find our true vocation and the only way that
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  we'll nurture and satisfy our soul.
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  Thank you that for so many generations you have been
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  blessing your people and that we now, here today, stand in your
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  blessing and your provision. Ah, we thank you so much, our
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  loving, caring God, and we pray all these things in the saving
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  name of your Son Jesus, Amen.