Issue #640 ~ November 30, 2020

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your encouragement and support. We pray you will be blessed daily through the Word. Please freely share this email with others.  

Christ is All and in All,
Bible Teaching Resources

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Hear My Prayer
"Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth."
Psalm 54:2
"Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life - men without regard for God. Selah"
Psalm 54:3

Verse 2: "Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth."

Daniel 9:19: "O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name" (NIV).

There are 2 requests here in verse 2: (1) "Hear my prayer" and (2) "listen to the words of my mouth."

You can sense the urgency of the situation by the words David uses in these opening verses: "Save," "vindicate," "hear," and "listen."

David certainly has to feel a tremendous level of stress at this point. He has Saul chasing him to take his life. Doeg has killed the priests. Kileah betrayed him to Saul's forces. The Ziphites who are part of his own tribe, the tribe of Judah, betrayed him as well.

Don Wyrtzen asks the questions: "How do I respond under pressure? Am I paralyzed by fear? Do I panic? Do I try to escape? Do I withdraw? Do I become depressed? Do I use medication? David, hotly pursued by his enemies, knows that he is in mortal danger."

Verse 3: "Strangers are attaching me; ruthless men seek my life - men without regard for God. Selah"

David is describing the Ziphites in 3 ways. They are: (1) "Strangers"; (2) "ruthless"; and (3) "without regard for God." He also says they are doing 3 things to him. They are: (1) "attacking me"; (2) "seek[ing] my life"; and (3) "slander[ing] me."

If David had been aware of what a friend we have in Jesus, he would have been singing with great meaning and purpose that last verse: "Do thy friend despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In his arms he'll take and shield thee, Thou wilt find a solace there."

Bill Bright in one of his last books said: "Difficulties and suffering are tools with which He shapes us into the image of Jesus Christ. It is never fun to be enrolled in the academy of adversity, but unless God takes us through the curriculum of trials, we will never become the quality persons He wants us to be. Romans 5:3 - 5 explains this process. It shows adversity can become the touchstone of character." (The Journey Home, 78)

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Praises & Prayer Requests

1.  Pray: My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
John 10:27 (NASB)
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2.  Pray: In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider - God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14 (NASB)

3.  Praise: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NASB)
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4.  Praise: But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
Psalm 73:28 (NIV)
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5.  Pray: That BTR will be able to respond to the growing number of requests for Bibles from prison inmates. If you would like to participate in this ministry, please send a gift with a note for Prison Ministry.
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I feel it would be appropriate for us to sing a couple of verses from Fanny Crosby's great hymn, "Draw Me Nearer":

I am thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me; But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.

O, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend, When I kneel in prayer,
and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend!

Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 

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