Heralds Digest

  “ With Your hand from men, O Lord, From men of the world who have their portion in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure. They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their possession for their babes. As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness .” Psalms 17 : 14 - 15 NKJV Reflecting on the basis of Christ’s response to the Zebedee brothers, who sought for the position of greatness through a proxy question from their mother, “ You do not know what you asked ” (Matthew 20:22), I can understand why the human heart do not place priority on ‘who you are? ’ above ‘what you are? ’. Like the Zebedees, life’s struggles are tempted to focus on a personal position attainment (in response to ‘what you are? ’) above and greater than others; while God desires a purposeful purity of heart (in response to ‘who you are?’ ) in likeness to Himself. Therefore, by the privilege of the psalmist’ wilderness ex...

  “Concerning the works of men, By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer. Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭17‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Just as there are step watchers who are careful to keep their steps on the right paths, there are devoted step slippers who delight in trapping steps along the wrong paths. Unfortunately, like Eliphaz (one of Job’s friends) said “ If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary? But who can withhold himself from speaking? ” (Job‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬), most step-slippers engage in their wrong business with good intentions. And many helpless steps are easily misguided on slippery paths, unless there is divine intervention. That was why the psalmist adopted God as his step Watcher: “ Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip ”. As children of GOD, God is hopeful that our works, life’s engagements, and social interactions with others can be inspired by His words alone; an...

  “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭17:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When the battlefield still entertains smart strategy and superior intelligence, there is hope in every new fight move. But beyond the limits of smart strategy and superior intelligence, is there any hope for the righteous even while surrendering? Yes, there is hope for deliverance only at the sacred shield of God. When the psalmist prayed “ Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings ”, he simply surrendered at the sacred shield. Unfortunately, when the righteous is severely surrounded by the superior vices of wickedness, he is tempted to surrender cheaply with a bargain of his righteousness and integrity. Whereas, anyone who will hide securely at the sacred shield of God must learn how to trust in His rest and righteousness.

“Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭17:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/psa.17.8.nkjv The expected testimony in all of life’s struggles, especially while in the hands of oppressors, destroyers, and the enemies of progress, is straightforward: deliverance. Even if the enemies must die or disappear, the focus of most testimonies is majorly the removal of the source of discomfort in life. And when we say the prayer of the Psalmist, our misconceptions promote the philosophy of testimony without test, instead of the testimony of trust. Whereas, “keep me as the apple of Your eye” suggests the desire for a transformation within, where the heart can sincerely trust in God’s protection and preservation, even when walking through the shadow of death and the den of lion. When the righteous truly trust in the Lord as the apple of His eye, he can go to sleep like the Lord even in the midst of the storm.

http://bible.us/psa17.3.nkjv You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Many Throne Heads are generally related to birthright; but only one head occupies the throne at any time. Just like time and events of life try the heads, God tries the heart of man in the night before triumph of the head in the day. Even after the psalmist was anointed King, a new phase of his trials and testing had just begun. Troubles of life are no good until the goodness is found by a tested heart. Therefore, the goodness in the trials of life for every throne head is the training of the heart against transgressions.