Trivia:
Hey, here's a factoid for all of us chocolate lovers out there. What country eats the most chocolate per person? Germany; Switzerland; United Kingdom: Ireland. Make your choice.
Challenge:
Psalm 9:13,14 "Lord, have mercy on me. See how my enemies torment me. Snatch me back from the jaws of death. Save me so I can praise you publicly at Jerusalem's gates, so I can rejoice that you have rescued me."
Here in the middle of praising God for His fair and righteous judgement of his enemies, David requests that Yahweh be compassionate towards him.
These two verses jolt us back to the distressing present for David. For he does need God's mercy to protect him from his enemies, so that the gates of Zion (Jerusalem) can return to the echoing of happy, joyous songs of praise and adoration to God for His continuous desire to rescue Israel from those enemies who have a bent and so strive to torment God's people.
We see here David racing from the gates of death to the gates of life, all in one foul swoop. For only God can accomplish such a sudden reversal in motion, from the desperate need for mercy from the evil intention of tormentors. to the songs of praise, and words of celebration for God all in one verse.
Notice, the outcome of God's answering his childrens prayers is "so I can rejoice". This is a consistent theme throughout the Psalms, here are just a few of those times of rejoicing.
Psalm 13:5 "But I trust in your unfailing love, I will rejoice because you have rescued me."
Psalm 20:5 "May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God."
Psalm 35:9 "Then I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be glad because He rescues me."
How blessed we are that regardless of our circumstances, our Lord will "Snatch me back from the jaws of death." He is desirous of returning us to blessings and mercy, each and every day. Oh, how many times He has done this in my life how about you?. Many of those times it was undeserving yet He; my. our Yahweh ministered his grace and mercy on our life. What a blessing to know that He is intently desirous to minister His unfailing love on my life, and yes on yours as well.
SO GO WITH GOD for His mercies are new every morning. Just think, He is ready and willing to shower his mercy on you and me, regardless of how you and I lived out yesterday he is anxious to bring cleansing and renewal on us right now. How can we not desire to praise His name? As the song goes, "Praise the name of Jesus, He my rock, He is my fortress, He is my deliverer, On Him will I trust."
If you have a few minutes go to You Tube and listen to Praise the name of Jesus --Gerald Scott & company
I will guess Ireland