praise the Lord – Kim Balogh Author/Blogger

Psalm 18 gives us insight into how we can achieve victory over all our troubles. The first part of the Psalm David declares that the Lord is the one who gives him help. The Lord is able to deliver him from trouble.

This proclamation assures us how mighty the Lord’s power is towards us. When we declare God’s sovereign power over all things then our faith level rises. We are reminded where our help comes from. Not in man or any other source but in the Lord our God.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:1

David then declares, “I will call upon the Lord who is my strength, my deliverer, my power, my shield and my high tower.”

From declaring who the source of our help is, David then proclaims that when we call on the Lord in our trouble he is able to save us. It is important to note that calling on the Lord to enter our situation is when he is able to intervene. The Lord will never intervene without our request or the request of an intercessor.

This spiritual principle is seen throughout scripture.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:24

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. James 1:6

David gives the Lord praise. “I will praise the Lord who is worthy.”

Praise is an important part of spiritual warfare. Praise is different than worship. Praise declares the Lord’s sovereign power over all things including the devil’s plans and schemes.

O Lord, thou art my God;
I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name;
for thou hast done wonderful things;
thy counsels of old
are faithfulness and truth. Isaiah 25:1

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. Acts 16:25

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
and why art thou disquieted within me?
hope thou in God:
for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 42:11

Next David declares what the Lord is able to do for him. How he is able to deliver! By faith David declares what God is going to do!

I shall be saved from my enemies. I shall be saved from the floods of adversity and sorrow. (depression) I shall be saved from snares and obstructions. The Lord shall silence my accusers. The Lord shall hear me when I cry for justice. He will take vengeance on my enemies and make them bow the knee under the authority of the Lord our God.

David then sees with the eye of faith what is happening in the spiritual realm as he prays. David sees the angelic realm ushered in by the wind of the Spirit. He sees the darkness and waters of affliction flee before the Lord’s majesty. David hears the voice of the Lord speaking in the heavenlies with the fire of authority.

David watches in the Spirit as the Lord sends forth his arrows against the enemy. He hears the Lord rebuke the enemy and expose the evil one’s strongholds.

David declares the victory. “The Lord took me out of my trouble. He drew me out of affliction unto himself. The Lord is my rock. My security. He brought me from bondage to freedom. He delivered me because I belong to him and he loves me. The Lord sees me clothed in his righteousness and knows that I have put my trust in him. Therefore the Lord honours me and shows his mercy by becoming my light in the darkness. ”

David’s faith is now raised to a new level. “With my God I can run right through an army of the evil one. I can by my God leap over all obstacles. The Lord gives me strength and victory. He sets me above all my enemies. ”

David has learned the art of warfare. He is taught that the strongholds of the enemy have to come down when he trusts in the Lord to battle for him. David learns that God’s protection is given when he wears the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. David is kept from falling and delivered from all the enemies attacks when he declares God’s greatness and majesty. The devil is put under the feet of the Lord’s righteous, David learns this because the Lord who is a mighty warrior has maintained his cause.

Then David boasts in the Lord. He declares to everyone that the Lord girded him with strength in the battle. The Lord dealt with those who rose up against him. The Lord has destroyed the avenger and silenced the tongues of his accusers. David is now the head. He is the victor while the enemy is the tail.

David tells others that they too can have this victory. He says to all, “Blessed is the Lord who does marvelous things ! The Lord will bring the lost out of darkness. He will deliver the captives. He will bring them from darkness to light. He will set the sinner free! The Lord will show mercy to all who call upon him.”

We learn from Psalm 18 that when we call on the Lord in trouble he girds himself like a mighty warrior ready to fight on our behalf. When we declare the Lord’s greatness and declare what he will do for us then our faith is released and the Lord begins to battle on our behalf.

As we see by faith what God is doing in the spiritual realm we will see those results in the natural realm. Our victory is sure. We are then able to declare to others what great things the Lord has done for us. When we give our testimony others can also be set free! They can be victorious over all the works of the evil one too.

“He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.” PSALM 18: 17-19

For who is God save the Lord? Who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. “He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. PSALM 18: 31-39

Steps to victory

Declare that the Lord is the one who can give you help. The Lord is able to deliver you from trouble.
Call upon the Lord to intervene in your circumstance.
Declare that he is able to deliver you!
Praise the Lord. Declare his power, his ability, his greatness!
Declare by faith what the Lord is going to do for you!
Declare by faith what the Lord is doing for you!
Declares your victory!
Boast in the Lord! Tell others what great things the Lord has done for you!
Tell others how they too can have victory in Jesus!

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Bad choices have bad outcomes !

All we have to do is look at the lives of David, Jacob, Joseph and others in scripture to see that bad choices have bad out comes.

While we can always find forgiveness in Jesus from our sin but he does not erase the consequences we experience for our wrong choices.

David was called to be a ruler but he found out through temptation that he had sin in his heart. Lust, greed, and a sense of privilege.

After David sinned he suffered from his bad choices. He lost a child and ended up in many battles that might not have occurred had he been obedient to God.

Joseph was prideful and boastful. He ended up making enemies because he had a fat head. Where did that get him? In the clink! He had to be humbled in order to find out that he wasn’t such a big shot.

Jacob was a big fibber and could decieve and manipulate others. Those choices of his because of the sin in his heart ended up having him working for a bigger deciever and manipulator than himself !

Do you see a pattern here? Yeah you are right! You reap what you sow !

Spiritual principles are the same as natural principles. You throw a ball in the air and it can land right back down on your head!

There is a reason that Jesus told people he healed, “Go and sin no more lest a worst thing happen to you.”

Our sin will always end up with dire consequences. Wrong choices which usually come from a wrong heart attitude will always work out for our good IF we love God and are called according to his purpose.

When we make wrong choices the Lord reveals to us our heart attitudes that need changing by the consequences of our wrong choices. Want to know what the sin is in your heart ? Just take a look at what you reaped from those wrong choices.

When we see our sin for what it is, we can confess our sins and ask for forgiveness and restoration. BUT if we refuse to look at our sin and keep going in the same direction we will find ourselves in a continual pattern of repeated wrong choices with repeated consequential events.

Sin not dealt with just becomes a cycle of bad attitude, bad choices and bad outcomes.

Now for the dreaded word! REPENTANCE. It is not enough to see our sin and confess our sin. Unless we repent we will perish the Bible tells us.

Repeatedly sinning because of undealt with heart attitudes will have dire consequences for us. We must put our hearts on the altar and have the Lord slay the dragon which rules in our flesh.

Once we acknowledge our sin we can then ask the Lord to help us not to continue in that sin. God gives us power to say no to temptation if we call on him to help us and he can even change our stony heart and make it soft and pliable by his Holy Spirit.

Life is a learning process and it is up to us to yield to the Lord in surrender so that he can make us what he wants us to be. That’s why scriptures tell us that ALL THINGS are working together for our good!

Even our wrong choices can end up revealing to us our heart condition so that we can repent and be changed from one degree of God’s glory into another.

Jeremiah 17:9-10
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

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Tag: praise the Lord

The Lord Our Helper

Wrong Choices Can Work Out for our Good !