YOUR PERSPECTIVE OF GOD IS?
Psalm 17:6-9 NKJV
6 I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
7 Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand,
O You who save those who trust in You
From those who rise up against them.
8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9 From the wicked who oppress me,
From my deadly enemies who surround me.
This is a prayer of David, a man who had a very healthy view of God. One of the key things we can learn from David is his perspective. How he perceived the Lord to be and how he perceived the Lord would be toward him.
Notice the confidence in verse six. "I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God." Not, I am calling upon You and begging You to hear me. Not, I have called upon You, and I doubt You will hear me. Or I hope You will hear me. David said he was calling on God because he knew God would hear him. That's positive, and it's powerful.
David prayed that God would incline His ear and hear, but I do not believe David was contradicting himself. He was still working with the God hears theme. And the next verse is in line with David's confidence in God.
"Show Your marvelous loving kindness by Your right hand." The word marvelous in Hebrew means set apart, distinct, different. David believed that God was full of loving-kindness. God's loving-kindness is also rendered: mercies, kindness, loyalty, good, favor, and unchanging love. Any way we look at this word, it is really good. And David is declaring that God's kindness is different. Different from the kindness of men. David believed God was better than man and that God could be trusted to be kind much more than man. And David knew that God delivered the one who trusted Him. That God would help him from the people who came against him. This is from the man who was hunted and persecuted for years. But God delivered him.
"Keep me as the apple of Your eye;" or the pupil of Your eye. We might say, keep me in Your sight and focus all the time. But again, notice David said, keep me at the center, not make me the center. David believed he was never out of God's gaze. And that God would hide him from all his enemies. David knew that with God, he was on safe ground.
APPLICATION
Think about how you talk about God. What is Your perspective of Him? Is He the God who sees you and hears your prayers? Is He the God who will answer you and help you when the enemy comes against you? These are valuable questions because they help us uncover our view, our perspective, of God and how He is toward us.
So, if you recognize that your perspective is not very healthy, that maybe you see God as angry or indifferent toward you, there is hope. Perspectives can change. You always have to be intentional when it comes to making corrections, and the best place to start is with the words of your mouth. The Psalms were the songbook of Israel, meant to be prayed and sung out loud. So, by speaking these psalms out of your mouth, you are impacting your heart and making positive progress toward changing your perspective of God.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that You hear me, You answer me, and You help me. Your kindness toward me is greater than any person I know. Thank You that I matter to You.