“Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.” Psalm 12:1
David prayed to the LORD for His help because the godly, those who revered the LORD God and trusted in His Word, were disappearing from among the people of this world. We, too, turn to the LORD God in prayer for His help and protection in a world where true believers are becoming fewer and fewer, and so often the godless rule.
Help us, O LORD, in these trying times and give us the strength to bear witness to the truth of Your Word and to the salvation You have provided in the Son. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
The Bible sets before us “life and death, blessing and cursing.” If we continue on in rebellion against the LORD God, going our own ways and doing our own things, we continue in spiritual death and will receive God’s judgments and eternal death and damnation. If, by the grace of God, we are brought to see the error of our ways and repent, looking in faith to Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world, we shall receive of the LORD blessing and life eternal in His kingdom.
Open my eyes to the truth of Your Word, O LORD, and grant that I repent of my sinful ways and look to you in faith for mercy and forgiveness in Jesus Christ and His cross. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.” Deuteronomy 30:17-18
Do we turn aside from worshiping and serving the true God? We do so whenever we make a god in our own image, when we believe in and worship a god who thinks and acts in agreement with our thoughts, views and opinions (cf. Ex. 20:1-6). And to worship and serve any god or understanding of god besides the God who has revealed himself to us in the Bible is idolatry and brings God’s wrath and punishment.
Forgive us, O God, for attempting to conform You to our image instead of worshiping and serving You as You have revealed Yourself to us in the Bible. Grant that we worship and serve only You. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, and death and disaster. What I am commanding you today is to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, so that you may live and multiply. Then the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.” Deuteronomy 30:15-16
People in Old Testament times, as well as today, forget there is blessing in loving the LORD God of the Bible and walking in His ways, and there is cursing and judgment upon those who turn away from the LORD and walk in their own ways and according to their own views and opinions. God would have us repent of our sinful ways and look to Him for mercy in Christ Jesus and for the sake of His atoning sacrifice on the cross for our sins, lest His judgments fall upon us.
Have mercy upon me, O God, and pardon my offenses for the sake of Christ’s innocent sufferings and death on the cross for the sins of the world. Create in me a genuine love for You and the desire to walk in accord with Your Word. Amen.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
When we remember that the Holy Spirit works through God’s Word to convict us of sin and to create and sustain faith in our hearts which is in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, we see how important it is to continue to hear and learn God’s Word that the Holy Spirit might continue His gracious work in us and preserve us in the true and saving faith unto life everlasting.
O Holy Spirit, grant that I hear, read, mark, learn, and meditate in Your Word that You may preserve me in the true and saving faith in Jesus Christ, my Savior. Amen.
