Encourage yourself like David did: Encourage yourself remembering God’s works

 

I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. Psalm 77:11

If I remember my troubles, my wrong deeds, the wrong deeds of others, I will be discouraged, but if I remember the works of God, I will surely be encouraged. The works of the Lord in the past encourage us to expect by faith His works and wonders in the present and in the future. I have seen His wonders and wonderful works in the past, and I know I will see them now too, because my Lord does not go on vacation, He continues to do His wonderful works. So how can I be discouraged and worried?

Counting blessings, keeping a gratitude journal is a wonderful way to remember and be encouraged by God's works.

I have been greatly blessed and encouraged by Spurgeon's meditation on this subject.

‘’ Whatever else may glide into oblivion, the marvellous works of the Lord in the ancient days must not be suffered to be forgotten. Memory is a fit handmaid for faith. When faith has its seven years of famine, memory like Joseph in Egypt opens her granaries.

Faith hath a good memory, and can tell the Christian many stories of ancient mercies; and when his present meal falls short, it can entertain the soul with a cold dish, and not complain that God keeps a bad house. Thus David recovered himself, when he was even tumbling down the hill of temptation: ‘’This is my infirmity; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember thy wonders of old. ‘’

Therefore, Christian, when thou art in the depths of affliction, and Satan tempts thee to asperse God, as if he were forgetful of thee, stop his mouth with this: No, Satan, God hath not forgot to do for me, but I have forgot what he hath done for me, or else I could not question his fatherly care at present over me. Go, Christian, play over thy own lessons, praise God for past mercies, and it will not be long before thou hast a new song put into thy mouth for a present mercy...’’

Let me remember what this topical meditation reminded me about encouraging myself with verses from Psalms.

1. I will encourage myself remembering God’s forgiveness

2. I will encourage myself because God is my refuge and help

3. I will encourage myself because God is merciful, because He cares for me

4. I will encourage myself because God answered my prayers

5. I will encourage myself because God is my Guide and my Teacher

6. I will encourage myself because God gives me victory

7. I will encourage myself remembering God’s works in the past

Topical meditation 2023

June 11

Encourage yourself like David did: Encourage yourself because God gives you victory

 

For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. Psalm 18:39

Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies. Psalm 60:12

Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1

As long as we are on earth, there is no truce for the soldiers of God's army, the enemy will continue to attack, but I must not be discouraged. Remembering God's victories and thinking about the promises of victory, I will be encouraged and continue to fight. I should remember the past victories and expect new victories, I should be hopeful and thankful, because small victories will lead to bigger victories.

I have a Trainer for war, I have promises of victory, I have weapons, therefore I will be encouraged by all this and continue my battle.

Topical meditation 2023

June 10

Encourage yourself like David did: Encourage yourself because God is your Guide and Teacher

 

For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.Psalm 48:14

What encouraging and faith-filled words are these: this God, this mighty, great, miracle-working, Omniscient God, merciful God is our God, there is no other, He is our Guide, the only trustworthy one.

If He is my Guide, then I have nothing to fear or worry about. He is a Guide who knows the way, He knows the difficulties encountered along the way, He knows me and my weaknesses, and will never lead me astray, He will never leave me halfway, never leave me alone, He will surely bring me to my destination safely.

He walks with us on the road, warns us about traps, talks to us, watches over us so we don't fall.

We have a Guide, therefore we must be His followers, having the willingness to follow Him all the time and everywhere.

The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. Psalm 25:9

To learn the ways of the Lord, one must go to the Lord for lessons. But not everyone can participate in His classes, but only the meek and humble. They know that they don't know what they should know, they know they can't learn on their own, and they know only the Lord can teach them.

There is no one who humbly realizes that he does not know what he should know, and is willing to learn, and the Lord does not teach him.

Topical meditation 2023

June 9

Encourage yourself like David did : Encourage yourself because God answered your prayers

 

The LORD has heard my supplication; The LORD will receive my prayer. Psalm 6:9

Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! Psalm 28:6

I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. Psalm 118:21

In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me. Psalm 120:1

There is not a Christian who has not ever given this testimony: The LORD has heard my supplication. I too have said these words many times and rejoiced in the answers to my prayers. Such testimony encourages not only the hearers, but also the one witness about it.

Answered prayers in the past assure us that we will have more answered prayers in the future.

If I say with assurance, " The LORD has heard my supplication", I can say also, " The LORD will receive my prayer."

Remembering the answer to prayer glorifies God, strengthens the faith of the one whose prayer has been answered, encourages those who hear his testimony, and it angers our enemy.

Topical meditation 2023

June 8

Encourage yourself like David did: Encourage yourself because God is merciful, because He cares for you

 

The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. Psalm 103:8

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. Psalm 145:8

The Lord is merciful and gracious. This is the object of my hope, the theme of my song, the reason for my joy, the reason for my gratitude, the source of my peace.

He is slow to anger, He gives time to repent, He gives us a chance to correct ourselves. He is patient with sinners, how much more patient He is with His children who hate sin, fight against sin. He does not cast out anyone who comes to Him.

He is merciful, that’s why my heart is thankful, peaceful, joyful.

What an amazing blessing this is: I am a daughter of God, who is slow to anger, full of mercy, who is gracious and full of compassion.

Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22

My Lord has proven time and time again that He is adept at shouldering burdens, resolving insurmountable problems, and accomplishing the impossible. So why should I try to carry my burdens by myself, why should I look for a way out with my own efforts, when I can take them all without sorting them to my Lord, who takes care of me.

I will leave my burdens with Him and not go to retrieve them.

Topical meditation 2023

June 7

Encourage yourself like David: Encourage yourself because God is your refuge and help

 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 9:9

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and He helped me. Psalm 116:6

You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the LORD helped me. Psalm 118:13

The Lord helped me. As the psalmist did every child of God can give this testimony. No one could help me, but the Lord helped me, fears and doubts captured my heart, but the Lord helped me, there were many people who hindered me, but the Lord helped me, I had no hope of getting help, but the Lord helped me, I was not worthy, but the Lord helped me.

The Lord helped me, so he will help everyone who asks, the Lord helped me in the past, so he will help me in the future.

He is constant help, immediate help, sure help, reliable help, a very present help in trouble.

He is my safe Refuge, protects me from the attacks of the enemy, the sinful desires of my heart, and the temptations of the world.

So when trouble comes, let my first thought be this: My Lord is a very present help in trouble.

Topical meditation 2023

June 6

Encourage yourself like David: Encourage yourself remembering God’s forgiveness

 

You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah Psalm 85:2

My Lord gave His life so that my sins could be forgiven. If the realization of this miralce does not produce in the heart infinite gratitude, joy, a desire to be holy, a hatred of sin, I don’t know what else will.

If I want to be happy, I should remember that my sins are forgiven, if I want to always be thankful, I should remember that my sins are forgiven, if I want to hate my sins, I should remember that my sins are forgiven. He forgave all my sins, so that I always steadfastly say "no" to every sin.

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. Psalm 86:5

What more can I ask for when I have a God who is good, ready to forgive and merciful? How can I not hate my sins when He is willing to forgive them? His forgiveness and mercy are for all who call upon Him; there are no exceptions. I call upon Him, therefire it's for me too. If He is always ready to forgive, then I must always be ready to go to His throne of grace. The recipient of His abundant mercy must go to His throne with abundant praise.

Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases. Psalm 103:3

There is no greater miracle than the forgiveness of sins, no greater joy than being forgiven. There is no more blessed person than the one who knows that God has forgotten his sins. The Lord has forgotten, and David tells his soul not to forget that miracle, the forgetting of our sins.

He erased sins from my life. the memory of that miracle will not be erased from my heart.

Topical meditation 2023

June 5

A tried-and-true method against temptation

 

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:38

Our enemy knows very well when we are sleeping, when we are not praying, in order to attack. We also need to know some things: we need to know the crafty schemes  of the enemy, our besetting sin, our inherent weaknesses, the suddenness of temptation, and a tried-and-true method for overcoming all of these: the prayer. But it is not enough to know the importance of prayer, it is necessary to practice it. Then the enemy will leave without succeeding in his mission. We have a reliable, effective, strong way  to overcome temptation.  We'd be fools not to apply it.

From my diary,

June 4, 2023

Abominable prayers

 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. Proverbs 28:9

There are abominable prayers. Those are the prayers when the person praying does not know how to listen, he has closed his ears to not hear God's Word, instruction and rebuke, and thus he closes heaven for himself. How you hear God's Word shows how your prayer will be heard. If I listen to the Word of God and do not correct myself, do not want to change, renounce sin, my prayer will not be heard. Let me open my ears to hear the Word of God, so that when I open my mouth to pray, the heavens will open and God will answer.

From my diary,

June 3, 2023

Joyful saints

 And let Your saints shout for joy. Psalm 132.9

And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Psalm 132:16

Here is the psalmist's wish let Your saints shout for joy.

Here is the Lord’s promise to fulfill that wish, to answer that prayer: the saints of Zion will shout aloud for joy.

Saints will rejoice because they are sanctified.

Holiness and joy are together, it is not possible to be holy and not to rejoice.

Nobody can fully rejoice unless they are holy. When we pray for holiness, God also gives joy. It comes as a set and cannot be obtained separately.

He who once cried: " O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?", one day he will surely shout with joy, he will thank the Lord for deliverance from sin.

From my diary,

June 2 2023

Weak but strong

For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)

This is one of the paradoxical verses of the Bible: when I am weak, then I am strong. Only God's children will understand this. To the carnal mind this is nonsense. We are strong in times of weakness because, realizing our weakness, we turn to Him who is strong and receive strength from Him. He who thinks he is strong is actually weak because he is self-confident, and self-confidence, even a little, is sure to lead to defeat. Our enemy is very happy when we rely on ourselves instead of relying on God, because he knows that then we will surely be defeated.

From my diary,

June 1, 2023