October 13

 
"O Lord, in Your strength the king will be glad, and in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice! You have given him his heart's desire, and You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah (pause and contemplate)." (Psalm 21:1-2)

 
David wrote this psalm to his Lord Master personally. He reveals a supernatural knowledge of God in these verses, as in all of his psalms. Kind David possessed this otherworldly knowledge because he was indwelled by the Holy Spirit of Christ as he wrote. Like every Christ follower, David was continuously aware not only of the Presence of His Lord, but he was quite conscious of the discipline of closeness, expressed so powerfully in this passage. At this noonday pause, we too can reflect on what David revealed ages past. David opens his heart and, through the discipline of his personal relationship with God, allows us to see what he desires most: God's salvation. A less mature Christian could immediately interpret that as an expression of gratitude for the end result of his relationship – the ultimate salvation to life eternal at the crossing of Zion's great gates. But in reading psalm after psalm, it is clear that final salvation is not the only consideration of David's heart. For David's true salvation, like ours, began the very moment he was indwelled by the Holy Spirit of Love and Grace. It is certainly not only realized at the distant end of our journey. For David, as for us, salvation is described as deliverance from the living death that plagues the lost and eternally dying who have no hope at all day after desperate day. We have salvation from the sin that lies within us and from lives of impoverished emptiness. Most importantly, we have salvation from the quiet desperation of living lives empty of the very purpose for which we were created – walking with the Lord Master in deep communal joy with praises of adoration each hour of every day! Selah. Selah indeed!

 
Before the King at Midday

 
"Lord Master and Savior, permit me to join in the songs lifted up high to You by the Host of Heaven today. Permit me to enter into sacrifices of praise now as I make my way along this rugged path and enjoy the blessing of Your continual Presence. Allow these blessings to continue until the day that we shall meet at the end of my life's journey, and I receive a renewed body, a mind filled with Your joy, and I am finally emptied of sin. Amen."