Psalm 17:1:
1 HEAR THE right (my righteous cause), O LORD; listen to my shrill, piercing cry! Give ear to my prayer, that comes from unfeigned and guileless lips.
David was crying out to God to hear his prayer. We are so very blessed to have our better Covenant, that is based on better promises (Hebrews 8:6) than David had! As born again believers in Jesus of Nazareth, we have THIS promise from 1 John 5:14-15:
14 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan),k He listens to and hears us. 15 And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
He hears us when we ask what is in line with His will! His Word IS His will! Find out what God's Word has to say about your situation. Then make your request of Him based on the authority of the Word that He has already spoken! He WILL hear, and you WILL have it! AMEN! We SHOULD be ageeing with David on verse 15:
15 As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].
Spend time in being aware of His presence inside of you! Have HIM and HIS WORD be the last thing you think about at night. Then you will wake up with your mind on Him and already fellow-shipping with Him!
In Matthew 17 we read that Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a high mountain with Him. There He was seen by them in a glorified state. They were awestruck! We are very familiar with how Peter responded! I really think that Peter gets picked on a lot because he was aggressive! He put his foot in his mouth a lot, but at least he said SOMETHING! Here is how God the Father responded in verse 5:
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a shining cloud [composed of light] overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is My Son, My Beloved, with Whom I am [and have always been] delighted. LISTEN TO HIM!
The emphasis above is mine, but I DO believe that this is what the Father was actually saying! My paraphrase: This is MY SON! He has eternal things to say to you that are much more important than earth-talk! LISTEN TO HIM so that you can understand and obey. THEN I can bless you! That's what I think! What do YOU think? Does what you think line up with God's Word? That is ALWAYS our standard! AMEN! Here is a painting of what this MAY have looked like!
After all that we have been reading in the Old Testament, I was thrilled to read about Godly Asa! 2 Chronicles 14:2:
2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.
And also 2 Chronicles 15:17b:
17b nevertheless, the heart of Asa was blameless all his days.
God ALWAYS had a remnant who would do things His way! He has a mighty "remnant" today! Does that number include YOU? I hope so!
Shalom in Him!
