OUR DAILY BREAD : ATTENDING TO OUR WORDS

[cimi]

November 30
saturday


ATTENDING TO
OUR WORDS

READ:
Psalm 66:10-20
_____________________________________________________________________________

Certainly God has
heard me; He has
attended to the voice
of my prayer.
__Psalm 66:19
____________________________________________________________________________

A week after C. S. Lewis died in 1963, colleagues and friends gathered in the chapel of Magdalen College, oxford, England, to pay tribute to the man whose writings had fanned the flames of faith and imagination in children and scholars alike.

During the memorial service, Lewis' close friend Austin Farrer noted that Lewis always sent a hand-written personal reply to every letter he received firm readers all over the world. "His characteristic attitude to people in general was one of consideration and respect," Farrer said. "He paid you the compliment of attending to your words."

In that way, Lewis mirrored God's remarkable attention to what we say to Him in prayer. During a time of great difficulty, the writer of Psalm 66 cried out to God (vv.10-14). Later, he praised the Lord for His help, saying, "Certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer" (v.19).

When we pray, the Lord hears our words and knows our hearts. Truly we can say with the psalmist, "Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!" (v.20). Our prayers become the avenue to a deeper relationship with Him. At all times, even in our hours of deepest need, He attends to our words. __David McCasland

``````````````````My Savior hears me when I pray,``````````````````
```````````````````Upon His Word I calmly rest;````````````````````
`````````````````In His own time, in His own way,``````````````````
```````````I know He'll give me what is best. __Hewitt``````````````
_______________________________________________________________________________________
We always have God's attention

***************************Today's Bible Reading __ Psalm 66:10-20************************

10 For You, O God, have
tested us; You have refined
us as silver is refined. 11 You
brought us into the net; you
laid affliction n our backs.

12 You have caused men to
ride over our heads; we went
through fire and through
water; but You brought us
out to rich fulfillment

13 I will go into Your house
with burnt offerings; I will
pay You my vows, 14 which
my lips have uttered and my
mouth has spoken when I
was in trouble. 15 I will offer
You burnt sacrifices of fat
animals, with the sweet
aroma of rams; I will offer
bulls with goats.

16 Come and hear, all you
who fear God, and I will
declare what He has done
for my soul. 17 I cried to
Him with my mouth, and He
was extolled with my
tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity
in my heart, the Lord will
not hear. 19 But certainly
God has heard me; He has
attended to the voice of my
prayer.

20 Blessed be God, who has
not turned away my prayer,
nor His mercy from me!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

In this psalm, comprised of two songs, the composer praises God for
His redemption. The first song is corporate, focusing on how God
brought the Jews out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the
Promised Land (vv,1-12). The second song is a personal response
and tells of the psalmist worshiping at the temple in thanksgiving to
God and testifying to what God had done for him (vv.13-20). The
psalmist speaks of an important condition for answered prayer: "If
I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear" (v.18). God
desires that we come before Him with a pure heart (24:4).