Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / July 21 - Psalm 74

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July 21 - Psalm 74 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. Well done.
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  You've made it to another Friday.
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  I hope you are looking toward a weekend filled with some time to
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  put your feet up, or to run on your legs or whatever it is that
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  you do to make yourself. Replenished and restored, we
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  have got a Psalm to read today and this is a lament.
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  This is not a personal lament about a personal crisis that
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  anyone's going through. This is ASAP crying out to God
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  for the sake of His nation and the state that they find
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  themselves in. So let's put down all the hopes
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  for the day and weekend ahead. All the challenges that we face
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  this week. Let us just be present in this
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  moment. Come, Holy Spirit, open our
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  hearts so that we can be touched by you and there's nothing left
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  to do but to read a Psalm. Let us read together a Psalm of
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  ASAP Psalm 74. Oh God, why have you rejected us
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  so long? Why is your anger so intense
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  against the sheep of your own pasture?
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  Remember that we are the people you chose long ago.
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  The tribe you redeemed as your own special possession.
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  And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth.
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  Walk through the awful ruins of the city.
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  See how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary there, your
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  enemies shouted their victorious battle cries.
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  There they set up their battle standards.
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  They swung their axes like woodcutters in a forest with
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  axes and pics. They smashed the carved
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  paneling. They burned your sanctuary to
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  the ground. They defile the place that bears
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  your name. Then they thought, let's destroy
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  everything. So they burned down all the
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  places where God was worshiped. We no longer see your miraculous
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  signs. All the prophets are gone, and
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  no one can tell us when it will end.
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  How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to insult you?
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  Will you let them dishonor your name forever?
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  Why do you hold back your strong right hand, unleash your
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  powerful fist and destroy them? You, O God, are my king from
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  ages past, bringing salvation to the earth.
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  You split the sea by your strength and smash the heads of
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  the sea monsters. You crush the heads of Leviathan
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  and let the desert animals eat him.
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  You cause the springs and streams to gush forth.
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  And you dried up rivers that never run dry.
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  But day and night belong to you. You made the Starlight and the
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  sun. You set the boundaries of the
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  earth, and you made both summer and winter.
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  See how these enemies insult you.
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  Lord, a foolish nation has dishonored your name.
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  Don't let these wild beasts destroy your turtle doves.
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  Don't forget your suffering people forever.
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  Remember your covenant promises, for the land is full of darkness
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  and violence. Don't let the downtrodden be
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  humiliated again. Instead, let the poor and needy
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  praise your name. Arise, oh God, and defend your
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  cause. Remember how these fools insult
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  you all day long. Don't overlook what your enemies
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  have said or they're growing uproar.
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  You truly are the powerful God of the universe.
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  Thank you for these beautiful words of the psalmist that you
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  created, the Starlight and the sun.
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  You set the boundaries of the earth.
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  You made summer and winter. You don't need us to defend you.
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  You don't need us to cry out saying, when will you come back
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  and when will you defend your name?
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  Because your name is above insult.
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  But we do love you, and we do want to see you worshiped and
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  glorified and held in the right esteem.
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  But help us to know that you are indeed sovereign.
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  And while you don't need our worship to be God, you do desire
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  it, and so we do worship you. And we lift up your name.
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  And we hold you in the highest place because you are
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  magnificent. Thank you for the weekend ahead.
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  Bless us, keep us safe, and may we be restored.
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  Ready to do it all again next week.
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  I pray this all in your name, Jesus.
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  Amen.