Wednesday, November 29, 2023

God Be Merciful unto Me - Psalms 56:1

Psalms chapter fifty six begins with the heading, “[[To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.]]” which breaks down, “to the chief Musician” or “to the preeminent, overseeing superintendent or chief choir director” “upon Jonathelemreckhokim” which means “with a silent congregation with mute justice and to the tune of A Dove on Distant Oaks”, “Mictam” or “a technical term found in Psalm titles which implies an engraving or poem” “of David” which means “belonging to David whose name means blessed and was the second king of Israel”, “when the Philistines” or “at the time and moment the Philistines whose name means immigrants and were inhabitants of Philistia who were descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) to the western seacoast of Canaan” “took him in Gath” which means “caught, grasped, enclosed and received him, David, in Gath whose name means winepress and was one of the five royal or chief cities of the Philistines and the native city of Goliath”, and in chapter fifty-six and verse one of Psalms David said, “Be merciful unto me, O God”, where we read,

Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresses me.

The verse begins, Be merciful unto me, O God:” David began with the words, “Be merciful unto me” or “be gracious, show favor and pity to me, David”, “O God” which means “O Divine judge, ruler and Supreme God”. David appealed to Jehovah God to be gracious and show favor to him.

The verse goes on to say,for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresses me.” David continued with the words, “for man would swallow me up” or “because, since and on account that the Philistine would gasp, pant after, long for and breath heavily after me, David”; “he fighting daily” which means “the Philistine battles, makes war and engages in devouring and” “oppresses me” or “squeezes, presses and crushes me, David”. David said the reason he wanted Jehovah God to be gracious and show favor to him was because his Philistine enemy desired to consume him by engaging in battle with him every day.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we see how David desired that Jehovah God show him favor because the Philistines desired to consume him by battling with him every day. We can only imagine what it was like for David to have an oppressive enemy continually wanting to kill him, but David appealed to Jehovah God to be his protection and defense. No one loved David more than God, and no one loves us the way God does. God sent His perfect Son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and everyone who believes and trusts in Him as their personal “Savior and Lord” will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life with God. Therefore let us surrender ourselves to Jesus and call upon the Lord and give Him praise, honor and glory for His favor when people daily arise against us.

Next time David says, “My enemies would daily swallow me up”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".








 

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