PROPHETIC DESTINY

PRAYER - "Pray For Comfort In The Face Of Death"

Shortly before my friends wife died of cancer at 51, they found Psalm 116 underlined in her childhood Bible. As a teen-ager, she experienced a dread of dying, and these verses comforted her. "I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice ...sorrows of death compassed me... Then called I upon the name of the LORD... thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." Whether we live or die, we are the LORD's.

Psalms 116:15 - "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

PRINCIPALS - "The Righteous Man"

The righteous man fears God and obeys His commandments. He is gracious, compassionate, giving, and discreet. His heart is fixed - established. He is not afraid of bad news because He trusts in the LORD. He lives to see his desire over his enemies. His generation is blessed by God, and his righteousness endures forever. In contrast, the wicked grieve and gnash their teeth at the sight of the righteous. They will melt away, and not see their desires. 

Psalms 112:1 - "Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments."

PRINCIPLES - "The LORD's Name Is To Be Praised"

Hundreds of times, the scriptures urge us to praise the LORD. And the reasons are endless. "The LORD is high above all nations. ...He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, ...He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD." Jesus - Jehovah Incarnate - deserves all praise. 

Psalm 113:3 - "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised." 

PROPHECIES - "The Rejected Stone Becomes The Corner Stone "

This great Messianic psalm is about trusting the LORD. It speaks of "this gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter," which certainly pertains to Christ. Then he says thou "art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." Prophetic destiny overrules the will of men.

Psalms 118:24,26 - "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. ...Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD."

A story is told about a man parked on the side of a road. His car had broken down, and he had the hood up, trying to figure out the problem. A limousine pulled up behind him, and a man got out. Dressed from head to toe like a million bucks, he walked over to the driver of the broken-down car and asked, "Do you need help?" The man, of course, said yes. The man from the limousine tinkered around with the engine a bit and, to the other man’s surprise, the car started right up.

The car’s owner was beyond grateful, and he asked how much he owed.  While there are many variations of this story, I heard one that included this response: "Nothing. I’m Henry Ford. I’m the creator of this car. It really bothers me to see one broke down on the side of the road, not doing what I created it to do."

God doesn’t just ride by in His majesty and pass us along the side of the road when we have been broken. He wants to stop everything He is doing and come to our rescue. 

• Satan has effectively disarmed us when he can keep us too busy doing things to stop and pray.

• To substitute other forces for prayer retires God and materializes the whole movement.