Day 28: The Summer of His Face Shining Upon Us- Psalm 28

Day 28 – Join Johnny Enlow for a 67-day walk through Psalms.

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HE HAS HEARD

Key Verse: “Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!” (v.8)

Key Theme: Answered Prayer

Key Descriptives of God: Rock; Strength; Shield; Saving Refuge

Psalm 28 is a simple Psalm with a simple theme. The God of answered prayer is celebrated by David. Typical for him, it doesn’t start in a celebratory place but that is where it will all go. The first two verses David is in the contradiction of it all. “To You I will cry”, “Do not be silent to me”, “Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You”. Then the next three verses David is asking God to do something about the wicked around him. “Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors”, “Render to them what they deserve”. 

As we see the overt “wickedness” of our day, we can relate very well. How many of us have been crying out to the Lord for Him to answer us in this unforgettable year? How many of us have seen and learned way too much to ever forget about human trafficking, child sex trafficking, pedophilia—  and worse, of our day? A massive spiritual war is playing out in very overt and visible circumstances. The agendas of darkness are becoming black and white obvious. The more the “wicked” get exposed the more they dig their heels in. It causes you to shake your head as it defies logic. 

PHARAOH AGAIN

It reminds me of Pharaoh during the plagues of Egypt. You would think he would learn that God is on a mission to free His people and before things get worse let’s go ahead and relent. But NOOO he digs his heels in. Interestingly enough the scripture says, “And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart…”. I think this is going on right now in our nation and is presently most obvious with “wicked” governors, mayors, politicians and media, and social media platforms and personalities. Pharaoh looks different today but is recognizable by his war against freedom and against worship. I am sure in Moses’ day it must have been frustrating for the children of Israel to assume Pharaoh would now relent as the checklist of plagues hit him—  and to see him instead harden his heart. As we experience a similar dynamic today remember that it was and is GOD who is behind the “hardening”, and for the same reason today as back then. The longer Pharaoh resists the more clearly God gets to reveal Himself. If the testimony of Israel’s exodus was only that the Nile River turned blood red and Pharaoh let them go, perhaps a question arises on down the line on whether it was actually supernatural or maybe something else. Perhaps some farmers upstream had suddenly killed a whole herd of pigs by the river and so it had affected the Nile. Maybe it was some kind of visual phenomena tied into a phase of the moon that at night made the Nile look red. Different ways of de-Nile (denial). You know, it is always amazing what history revisionists can do. “So the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart”, so that “fake news” couldn’t distort what had actually happened. Undeniable plague after plague came and went as Pharaoh almost repented but then backed off his repentance. Flies, frogs, lice, boils, hail etc.etc. piled on one after another in ways that registered forever with Egypt and with Israel. Egypt needed to be clear on what was happening. Israel needed to be clear on what was happening. When God wants this kind of clarity He “hardens the heart” of the evildoers. Both sides see His face of justice, one from a plaintiff’s view and one from a defendant’s view. Justice is always good for the innocent plaintiff and always bad for the guilty defendant. We are in such an operation today so take heart.

HE HAS HEARD

“Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications!” (v.6) As you read this Psalm there is a very clear pause between verses 5 and 6. Something shifts between them. There is no way the Psalm could have been written in one day and for sure, not in one setting. You cannot go from “why are you being silent?” to “He has heard!” in 5 verses. Days, weeks, or months could’ve gone between these verses. I like it that David ends that verse 6 with an exclamation point. I believe that this is what God wants to do for us right in the middle of the 2020 Summer of His Love. He wants to bring exclamation points to our supplications. He wants us to be able to say as David did in the next verse 7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”

I WILL PRAISE HIM

The enemy’s attempts to mask us and restrict worship are backfiring. Praise and worship is breaking out all over. Sean Feucht made it again on Fox News and other media outlets as he did the very courageous thing of going into the heart of ANTIFA troubled Portland and worshiped HIM. Thousands came out this past weekend with estimates of up to 7000! Many, many got saved and many were baptized. He went to Seattle as well but I haven’t heard the report. Also this weekend there was another gathering on the beaches of Orange County, California with another large crowd praising HIM. Close friends of mine who are there say the air is electric with revival, with a move of God— not just the day of an event but in between the events. These all qualify as “answered prayer” and are evidence of His face shining upon us in the Summer of His Love. Something big and good is brewing.

Pastors are beginning to recognize the “Pharaoh element” of their worship services being targeted and are standing up and taking “Pharaoh” on. Once again the “troubled” state of California is leading the way here and I salute my friend Pastor Che Ahn for his courage in suing the state on this matter. Pastor John MacArthur is standing up to the state. Others are doing so as well and I am sure there are hundreds of pastors and churches around the nation defying orders. May it quickly be thousands upon thousands. God is going to “plague Pharaoh” until he lets us go worship—  so work with Him. Those trying to suggest it is always Biblical to “submit to authority” just remember this very story. It is 100% “Let My people go!” and there is no submission to authority in that. The matter then was worship as well. (Pharaoh, God says let My people go worship) Can you imagine as God is revving His messenger Moses and as He is plaguing Pharaoh— for some “meek pastors” to be saying, “Well, you know we really don’t have to leave here to worship. We can do that anywhere. Let’s show our “honor of authority” by not pushing for freedom. It will be safer as well”. Would that not be the epitome of absurdity? The epitome of not understanding the day you live in? I want to extend grace to pastors and I know the pressures are great, but since when is having church and worshiping God ever supposed to be the “safe and honoring” thing to do? Have we done church and worshiped unopposed for so long that we think that the new standard? Yeah, there is a reason God has to “harden Pharaoh’s heart” to crack down more and more. It is tied into us finally awakening. Our King is going to get us to stop bowing to clearly antichrist government officials and ordinances. He is going to get us to quit bowing to “cultural relevance” ( the more you bow, the more irrelevant they actually believe you to be), to “seeker sensitivity” (that ship has definitely sailed) and to pseudo “honor of authority” (CHRIST is the head of the church, not your governor).  Your True Authority is working on your behalf to honor the cries and supplications of those oppressed by the wicked. Submit to HIM!

A SAVING REFUGE

We close with the promise of the last two verses. “The Lord is their strength, He is the SAVING REFUGE of His anointed. SAVE Your people, and BLESS Your inheritance; SHEPHERD them also, and bear them up forever.”

This is what our Saving Refuge is presently doing. He is here to SAVE us, BLESS us, and SHEPHERD us. We can cooperate with it now. We can celebrate it now.

 

Written by: Johnny Enlow

Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash


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The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.

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About the Author

Kingdom Winds Contributors - Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow are social reformers at heart, as well as international speakers and authors of The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, and Rainbow God. As ones focused on the reformation of the 7 primary areas of culture, they are spiritual mentors to many in Media, Arts and Entertainment, Government, Family, Religion, Economy, and Education. Their passion is to awaken our generation to the reality of the God of all of life, Who not only cares for our souls but also has practical solutions to offer through His sons and daughters for every problem that exists in society.