Tag: God’s people

52 Reasons to Love the Church

3. Christians are My Favorite People

By Kathy Pollard

When I read Psalm 16, I envision David looking up as he says, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You” (v. 2). Then I picture David looking around as he says, “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight” (v. 3). What a beautiful psalm and prayer, one I heartily echo. “You are good, God, and I love You. And Your people are good, and I love them, too.”

David goes on to thank God for His guidance:

  • “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel” (v. 7).
  • “You make known to me the path of life” (v. 11).

And he also thanks God for His presence:

  • “Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (v. 8).
  • “In Your presence there is fullness of joy” (v. 11).

We can praise God for those things, too, and sometimes His guidance and His presence are experienced through His people. Think about the times you’ve received spiritual counsel from Christian friends, preachers, Bible class teachers, or elders. We know God uses His people for instruction (Rom. 10:14-15; 2 Tim. 4:2). And how can we not see God when we spend time with those who are doing their best to look and act like Him (Gal. 2:20; 1 Cor. 11:1)?

Perhaps the best part of this short psalm is how often David freely expresses his happiness:

  • “delight” (v. 3)
  • “pleasant” (v. 6)
  • “beautiful” (v. 6)
  • “glad” (v. 9)
  • “rejoices” (v. 9)
  • “fullness of joy” (v. 11)
  • “pleasures forevermore” (v. 11)

We know David’s life wasn’t perfect or trouble free. He speaks of his pain in other psalms (see Psalms 6, 13, and 38). And yet his joy is undeniable. How is that possible? I think the answer goes back to the opening lines of the psalm. He looked to God for goodness and also saw goodness in the people of God. I love how David unashamedly praises God’s people. There was no doubt how he felt about them. “The saints are the excellent ones! I delight in them!” We’d get some funny looks if we went around talking like that. But I imagine we could all benefit from looking for and believing in the goodness of fellow Christians. And then freely sharing it with others. (Shouldn’t the people around us have an idea that we love God’s people and enjoy being with them?) Then we, too, will experience the joy, gladness, and pleasure of keeping God before us and His people around us.

Revive Me #34–Pray for the People of God

Revive Me, Week 34– A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord

Pray for the People of God

I’m at Polishing the Pulpit this week and was able to attend a powerful lecture by John Moore (of Dripping Springs, TX) on the subject of prayer.  He said if our prayer life is like the apostle Paul’s, then:

  1.  We will place a high value on prayer- Eph. 6:18
  2.  We will speak and talk about prayer with others- Phil. 1:3-11
  3.  We will be constant in prayer- 1 Thess. 3:9-13
  4.  We will extol the nature of God (“extol” means “to speak in a positive way about enthusiastically”)- 2 Thess. 1:3-12
  5.  We will center ourselves upon the Christ of God- Col. 1:13-20
  6.  We will concern ourselves with the people of God (see verses below)

It is this last point that I want to share with you.  Brother Moore pointed out the different ways in which Paul prayed for God’s people.

Let us concern ourselves with the people of God.  Let us pray that…

  • They will be filled (Col. 1:9)
  • They will walk worthy, pleasing God and bearing fruit (Col. 1:9,10)
  • They will increase in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10)
  • They will be strengthened with all power (Col. 1:11)
  • They will give thanks (Col. 1:12)
  • They will not do anything wrong (2 Cor. 13:7)
  • Their faith will be perfected (2 Cor. 13:9)
  • They will have wisdom that they may know hope and the greatness of God’s power (Eph. 1:18-22)

As Brother Moore said, “Satan doesn’t want Christians to see these things!”  Imagine the impact we can have on strengthening the Lord’s church if we all began praying these same things.  Oh how we need to unite and stand strong in our current culture!

Suggestions for the Week:

  1.  Pray these things for God’s people every day.
  2.  Pray these things for your family every day.
  3.  Look up the Scripture references and read Paul’s original prayers.

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(Photo borrowed from Bear Valley Bible Institute collection)