Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord

                                                                        Psalm 40:11-17

 

May 25, 2022

 

Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;  may your love and faithfulness always protect me.  For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.  They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.  Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.  May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.  May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame.  But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!”  But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me.  You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.

 

In keeping with David's words of mercy, love, and faithfulness always protect me.  Let me share a testimony of the faithfulness of our great God, that is currently in the last three months of my life.  Dr. Banks, a Nephrologist was at the hospital when I showed up with a sodium count below 100. That is not only a very dangerous sodium count, it is a death sentence.  She was part of the team that saved my life, the next day she came into my room and said, “Mr. Rice, I am Doctor Banks, and last night at 1:30 p.m. the Lord woke me to pray for you.  My response was to cry uncontrollably it seemed forever, and then to tell her how much that meant to me.  Having a doctor that not only heard from God but allowed Him to lead them.

 

That was around April 26  of this year, but in the last week once more Dr. Banks was used by God to more than likely save my life.  She looked at a blood workup from 5/9/22 and reviewed it on 5/12/22, had her nurse call me the week before my Urologist Dr. Williams was to do surgery on my prostate and all the doctors agreed that I might not come out of being put under anesthesia with my electrolyte that far out of balance.  She also took me off a blood pressure medicine that I had been on for three years.  It was amazing how fast my sodium went back to 132 from 125.2 and my potassium went back to 4.1 from a high of 5.70.  Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ is and always will be faithful in protecting His family.

 

Let me also state that I’m a long way from being perfect, and I've yet to meet such a person, we are all a mess, but God is well aware of our flesh and loves us anyway.

 

Now back to the Psalm, yesterday in a little town I spent some time in 19 children were gunned down, by a man under the control of the devil, Jesus gave us a clear insight into what the devil or Jesus refers to him as a thief, came to do; to steal, kill, and destroy, you will find that warning in John 10:10.  Yesterday, the devil rejoiced over this action of his servant.  David tells us that sin is overtaking Him, and he is crying out to the Lord to save him.  Let’s make it clear Man cannot fix this problem, but God can when His people humble themselves and pray to ask for forgiven of this nation that has told God to stay out of government, and public schools and He has as He did with His chosen people Israel, allowing the destruction of our nation, by evil people in all facets of life.

 

How do you see yourself, as poor, and needy, probably not, but David not talking about your wealth, but faith, and trust, are you a seeker of Truth if so you must be seeking after Jesus for He is the Truth?   David understood, that he needed Jesus for He is the victory.  I hope we learn to study the Scriptures and be a nation that looks to God.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice