THE POWER OF DECLARATION

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com. 

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to You. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to You, because You answer me.

Among the gods there is none like You, Lord; no deeds can compare with Yours. All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, Lord; they will bring glory to Your name. For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God.

Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. I will praise You, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me; You have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.

Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God; ruthless people are trying to kill me — they have no regard for You. But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; show Your strength in behalf of Your servant; save me, because I serve You just as my mother did. Give me a sign of Your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalm 86:5-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

July 4th, 1776. It’s an important day in American history, the day that the first 13 colonies boldly proclaimed independence from British rule and came together as the United States of America. The intentions were stated in what was called the Declaration of Independence, a formal description of why the colonies were breaking away and going it on their own. If you read the text, you’ll see that there was a clear lay out of the oppression the colonies were under and that requests to the King of Great Britain for redress had gone unanswered. And so the colonies made it clear where they stood and in doing so displayed the power of declaration.

Within this declaration, we can find God referred to. Consider these lines:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Truly, there was little doubt that the colonies were placing their faith, hope, and trust in God.

So how powerful was this powerful moment of declaration? Well, every year we celebrate that day on the 4th of July or what we call Independence Day.

You know, as I thought about this, I couldn’t help but think about the salvation that I, and all who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus, have gained. For through our Savior, we all have experienced our own spiritual independence days, days when we became new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) and received an eternal hope that no one will ever be able to take away from us. And just like those 13 colonies some centuries ago, we too should be using the power of declaration in our own lives, consistently proclaiming what we have gained through our salvation and the blessed relationship we have with our Lord.

As we look at the remainder of the 86th Psalm, we see the psalmist giving us a great example as to how to go about announcing all that God has done for us. It’s something that we should want to eagerly tell others about as we consider just how good God has been, how good He is, and how good He is still yet to be in our lives. Let’s look at some specific declarations in this psalm and see how we too can apply them:

1. You, Lord, are forgiving and good.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) freely given by God as a living sacrifice to pay the price for our transgressions. In that act, God’s forgiveness freely flowed to all mankind, their debts not held against them eternally as long as they received Jesus as Savior. Indeed, the Lord is forgiving and good.

2. You, Lord, are abounding in love to all who call to You. You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

The scriptures make it clear: God is love (1 John 4:8). We won’t ever experience true love and compassion outside of Him and we will never love right without allowing Him to love through us. That love, when received and given through God, is abundant and, as 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us, never fails.

3. When I am in distress, I call to You, because You answer me.

You may not always have someone in this world to help you when you are in need but God is always available and we should be turning to Him. After all, who could help you any better than God Himself? The good news is that God is with us, only a prayer away, and He’s always ready to respond to our petitions in a way that relates to His will.

4. Among the gods there is none like You, Lord. For You are great and do marvelous deeds. No deeds can compare with Yours.

Israel had witnessed many miraculous events that underscored the amazing power of God through deeds that only He could pull off. Certainly since then, God has continued to display His magnificence over and over and over again. Indeed, there is no god like our God Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, the God who is ever with those who place their faith and trust in Him.

5. You have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.

Without the salvation God offers through His Son Jesus, we are destined for death and the depths of the lake of fire. But through Christ, we have deliverance from death to life, and not just any life but life eternal. Because of this, we, like the psalmist, should be declaring, “I will praise You, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.” For no one but God is worthy of all our honor and glory and praise.

6. You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Think of every time you were in need of help and God made the way for you. I know in my life I can’t count how many times He has done this. It’s a great comfort and peace for me to know that no matter what life might try and bring, I am able to get through it because God, my very present help in times of trouble, is always there to get me through. I hope you can relate.

So there you have it. Six declarations taken from one psalm.

Are there others we could come up with?

Absolutely, and we should. For friends, God is forgiving and good, loving and compassionate, always with us, great and mighty, delivering and saving, helping and comforting, but He’s so much more. Truly, there is no one like our God so let’s make sure we declare that powerfully to everyone we know now and forever!

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com