if my people,
who are called by my name,
will humble themselves
and pray
and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
A Garden
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations. Isaiah 61:11
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11
The Snares of Death
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield
and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry. Psalm 18: 1-7
“What then can a thundering legion of such praying souls do? It was said of Luther, iste vir potuit cum Deo quicquid voluit, That man could have of God what he would; his enemies felt the weight of his prayers; and the church of God reaped the benefits thereof.
The Queen of Scots professed she was more afraid of the prayers of Mr. Knox, than of an army of ten thousand men. These were mighty wrestlers with God, however {contemned} and vilified among their enemies.
There will a time come when God will hear the prayers of people who are continually crying in his ears, “How long, Lord, how long?”
John Flavel (1627-1691)
The Treasury of David (Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms)
by Charles H Spurgeon page 254
Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind. Psalm 18: 8-10
When God comes to punish his foes and rescue his people, nothing has ever surprised his friends or foes more than the admirable swiftness with which he moves and acts: He flies “upon the wings of the wind.”
William S. Plumer (1802-1880)
The Treasury of David (Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms)
by Charles H Spurgeon page 256.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded. Psalm 18:11-13
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,
great bolts of lightning and routed them. Psalm 18:14
-“Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them,” etc. O that you who are now strangers to God would but consider these things! O that you would but think what the battle may be, where the combatants are so unequal! Stand still, O sun, in the valley of Ajalon, till the Lord have avenged him of his enemies! Muster yourselves, O ye stars, and fight in your courses against those miserable sinners that have waged war against their Maker; plant your mighty cannons, shoot down huge hailstones, arrows of fire, and hot thunderbolts! Oh, how do the wounded fall ! How many are the slain of the Lord, multitudes in the Valley of Decision, for the day of the Lord is terrible.
James Janeway (1636-1674)
The Treasury of David (Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms)
by Charles H Spurgeon page 257
The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:15-19