January 11th

Blessings on God’s People

¹ Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. ² He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. ³ O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? ⁴ Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. ⁵ Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. ⁶ Send forth lightning and scatter {the enemies}; shoot your arrows and rout them. ⁷ Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners ⁸ whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

⁹ I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, ¹⁰ to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword. ¹¹ Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

¹² Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. ¹³ Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; ¹⁴ our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets. ¹⁵ Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.   Psalm 144 NIV 

This Psalm describes the blessings that come to God’s people when we praise God and invite him to work in our lives.  David wrote this Psalm, and he was well acquainted with adversity and hardship.  Many times in his life he faced terrifying enemies who wanted to kill him.  David put his trust in God and committed to serving God no matter what.  When things got tough, David called on God for strategic help.  

David combined his calls for help with praising the Lord.  His praise statements in this Psalm reflect his confidence and faith that God would answer his calls for help (1,10).  His praise was a form of thanking God in advance for helping him.  

David declared the blessings that would result when we praise God in faith.  These blessings include:

• Blessed children
• Abundant provision
• Success in our work
• Protection from the enemy’s attacks
• Protection from captivity

We can apply this to our own lives by choosing to praise God each day, believing and declaring that God will help us in whatever difficult situations we may face.  The battle for freedom from sex addiction offers some potent challenges to anyone trying to walk in purity.  Typically, the enemy will set up ambushes of temptation that could easily overwhelm us if we are not connecting with God each day and asking for help.  We need God’s help in fighting the enemy and learning how to walk in purity.  

A daily quiet time is naturally the best time to develop a habit of praising God and inviting him to work in our lives.  If you are not having a quiet time, I encourage you to commit to doing so today!  For more info on quiet times, see our Quiet Time page.

Questions for further thought:

• What kind of war does God train us to fight, provided we are willing to let him train us?
• David’s requests suggest that God will do what to our enemies when we are trusting in him?
• What are some of the enemies that you face in your daily walk with Jesus?
• What are some practical ways you can incorporate praising God into your daily routine?

Prayer:

"Father in Heaven, I praise you because you are God!  Thank you for creating me and caring for me. Thank you for allowing your Son Jesus to die for my sin, so that I have peace with you and can petition you directly in prayer.  Lord, I am facing the following battles in my life:______ (list).  I invite you to help me and fight for me in these battles.  Thank you for helping me in advance and training for battle.  I commit to connecting with you each day and following your ways.  Please bless my children, my provision and  my work, and protect me from the enemies I face.  Thank you, Lord!  I praise you now and forever, Amen.”