Save Your Servant

[Christsfreeservant]

“Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,​

for I am poor and needy.​

Preserve my life, for I am godly;​

save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.​

Be gracious to me, O Lord,​

for to you do I cry all the day.​

Gladden the soul of your servant,​

for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.​

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,​

abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.​

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;​

listen to my plea for grace.​

In the day of my trouble I call upon you,​

for you answer me.” (Psalms 86:1-7 ESV)​

Jesus Christ told us that if we follow him with our lives that we will be hated and persecuted as he was. Other people will come against us, and will fight against us, and will accuse us falsely of what we did not do. We will be cast out of certain gatherings, and treated like the scum of the earth. We will not be wanted nor appreciated for who we are, nor for who God has made us to be for his glory and purposes. We will be outcasts, unwanted, and rejected.

And this is no picnic! This is not fun! It is not comfortable at all! It hurts like crazy!! So, we have a choice. We can go with God and face certain persecution and mistreatment, or we can live to please people and our own flesh and not have a part in the Lord and in his eternal kingdom. And you know what? You are not going to please everyone anyway. And this group of people will want you this way, and the other group a different way.

But when we go through these trials and tribulations, which test our faith, we are to call out to the Lord for his grace and mercy so that we do not lose heart, and so that we do not give up and run away from it all. For running away never solves anything. Usually it just makes matters worse. We should submit to God’s will and purpose for our lives and ask him to teach us what he wants us to learn through it all, and then give him all the glory.

“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,​

nor are there any works like yours.​

All the nations you have made shall come​

and worship before you, O Lord,​

and shall glorify your name.​

For you are great and do wondrous things;​

you alone are God.​

Teach me your way, O Lord,​

that I may walk in your truth;​

unite my heart to fear your name.​

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,​

and I will glorify your name forever.​

For great is your steadfast love toward me;​

you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” (Psalms 86:8-13 ESV)​

Now, I admit that I have a difficult time understanding the first part of this which sounds like all the nations of the earth will one day worship the Lord. For, in reading the Scriptures, as a whole, we know that not everyone on this earth is going to worship the Lord, but only a small number will choose the narrow way which leads to life and will reject the broad way which leads to destruction. So then I read, “that you have made.”

Now another word for nations is people, and although we were all created by God, and made by his hands, we are not all being formed into his likeness. And God making us is God working in our lives in conforming us to his likeness. For he is not making those who resist him and who will not submit to him. He is making only those who will bow down to him and who will obey him, and who will do his will. We are the ones who will worship him.

Now, as followers of Christ, we are to be a people who desire our Lord, to do his will, who want to be taught by him, not those who see following Jesus as a drudgery to be avoided. We should want to be taught the ways of the Lord, and so we should hunger and thirst after righteousness and for the teachings of his word. We should be so thankful for his salvation, that our lives will be surrendered to him and to his service, eager to know and to do his will.

“O God, insolent men have risen up against me;​

a band of ruthless men seeks my life,​

and they do not set you before them.​

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,​

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.​

Turn to me and be gracious to me;​

give your strength to your servant,​

and save the son of your maidservant.​

Show me a sign of your favor,​

that those who hate me may see and be put to shame​

because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.” (Psalms 86:14-17 ESV)​

Yes, this is true. If we are wholeheartedly following the Lord Jesus with our lives we should be facing some of this type of treatment. For Jesus said that if we follow him that we will be hated and persecuted as he was. So don’t be surprised when this happens, as though something strange is happening to you. For the devil is going to fight against those who are opposing him and his work, and who are walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands.

So, when we come up against this type of persecution, we should take it all to the Lord in prayer. We should seek his face and his will, and we should pray for the strength to endure and to keep pressing forward. But you are not likely to face this kind of persecution if your life is not surrendered to Jesus Christ to doing his will, but if your life is being lived for your own selfish pleasure. So not all who claim to be Christians will be persecuted.

And please know that a lot of this persecution and these “insolent men” may come, not from the people out in the world who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ, but from within the gatherings of what are called “churches.” So don’t let that take you out. For not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. So keep following the Lord, and keep speaking the truth.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 9:23-26; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 10:27-30; John 15:18-21; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

Save Your Servant
An Original Work / January 31, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love