At the End of Your Rope, Bless God

At the End of Your Rope, Bless God

When you are in distress

Blessing God will have more meaning

Then when you are at the top

Never stop blessing the Lord for

He is where our help comes from

Distress, trouble, anguish, pain ever been there?

Ever feel like you are at the end of
your rope and there is nothing below you.



Thomas Jefferson said… “When you get to
the end of your rope tie a knot and hang on.”

The Psalmist in Psalm 118 seems to
have tied the knot and is hanging on…

“In my distress I prayed to the Lord,

and the Lord answered me and set me free.

The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.

What can mere people do to me?

 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.”

Ever pray this prayer…

“Save now, we beseech You, O Lord;

send now prosperity, O Lord, we beseech

You, and give to us success!”  Psalm 118:25 AMP

Does the words

“Save “NOW”” – “Send “NOW”,

Ring a bell?

“Now!!!” not later, I can’t hang on much longer!

Have you ever been hanging on to the

knot at the end of your rope wondering

if God will answer your prayer?

You feel like you made a mess of your

life and God’s discipline is unbearable.

The Psalmist did…

  

“I will not die; instead, I will live

to tell what the Lord has done.

The Lord has punished me severely,

but he did not let me die.”

It is in this place of distress the Psalmist

recognized how blessed the Lord is…

“Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

We bless you from the house of the Lord.”

The greatest thing you can do when you

get to the end of your rope is…

To bless the Lord.

It is at that place we can truly recognize our

need for Him and His power in our lives.

The Lord does answer the prayer to

be saved, to be successful, to prosper.

He answers those at the end of

their rope who bless Him and say…

“You are my God, and I will exalt you!”

Scripture Reading

Psalm 118:5-9 NLT

5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,

and the Lord answered me and set me free.

6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.

What can mere people do to me?

7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.

I will look in triumph at those who hate me.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in people.

9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in princes.

Psalm 118:13-14 NLT

13 My enemies did their best to kill me,

but the Lord rescued me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has given me victory.

Psalm 118:17-18 NLT

7 I will not die; instead, I will live

to tell what the Lord has done.

18 The Lord has punished me severely,

but he did not let me die.

Psalm 118:25-28 NLT

25 Please, Lord, please save us.

Please, Lord, please give us success.

26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

We bless you from the house of the Lord.

27 The Lord is God, shining upon us.

Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will praise you!

You are my God, and I will exalt you!

You Oh God Know Me. Thank You

You Oh God Know Me. Thank You 

Psalm 139

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord….

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

I have had some nights where I could not sleep.

I am sure you know what I am talking about.

Times when you are very tired but

the worries of life keep you awake.

Those anxious feelings that you can’t do anything about.

Those times in the night when looking out

the window is like looking at your future.

Darkness not only covers the earth

but your ability to see lights of hope.

In those nights you pace the floor hoping you

get tired enough to fall asleep or God would

somehow cause the sun to rise early.

The other night was one of those nights.

I woke up at 3 am.

Two things were on my mind

both were over whelming me.

I not only did not want to deal with these problems

 but I did not know how I could deal with them.

The next day someone told me they saw one of

those problems and they were going to help.

 They also said I have asked a

professional to donate his time to help.

 

In that moment Psalms 139 came to mind…

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.”

Oh Lord, you know my anxious thoughts.

You saw me worrying in the middle of the night.

One of my core values is “caring”.

If you care about something or someone

you will find yourself worrying.

You don’t worry about things that are not important to you.

On the other hand things that are important

to you can cause us to worry and be anxious.

The Psalmist found comfort in knowing

our Lord God knows all about us.

He knows how we were made in the womb

and what things in life would matter most

because of the way He wired us.

He sees us in those places of darkness

whether it is by choice we are hiding there

or the overwhelming darkness of fear.

The Psalmist says…

 

“Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.”

How wonderful it is that God is close enough to us

that He knows what we are thinking and feeling.

For some of us that might be scary.

There are things we want to keep private.

But God loves us so much He makes it His

business to know everything about you.

 Not only to help you with the things you are

anxious about but also the private things that

keep us from the blessings of being like Him.

So next time you can’t sleep because of anxiety

know your loving and powerful Lord is

there with you and before you speak

a word in prayer He knows.

Scripture Reading

Psalm 139 NIV

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.

5 You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.