Today’s episode of Pray the Word is our 365th episode, so we’ve been reading God’s Word, praying through it together now for a full year. I know that some of you have been with us from the beginning, so episode one on August 11, 2017. Others have joined in somewhere along the way. I just want to thank you for taking the time during your day to spend time hearing the Word, praying through the Word.
I hope that you have been, are being, encouraged in the Word and in your prayer life toward greater intimacy with God and knowledge of his Word in the process and I pray that God will continue to use this podcast in your life, in the lives of others around you, around the world, to help us to pray in the Spirit according to the Word, just trusting in God’s promises that when we ask according to His word, He hears us and He answers us according to His will for our good and for His glory. So be encouraged with this 365th episode, one year anniversary of Pray the Word.
“Put them in fear, oh Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men!”
– Psalm 9:20
Actually both of those sentences from Psalm 9:20 have an exclamation point on them. “Put them in fear, oh Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men!” This whole picture here as the nations have set themselves up against David, and are opposing him in different ways and opposing God’s people in different ways, and David just asks God to give them a right perspective. “Help them to see who they are before you, for when they do, they will fear you. When they do, they will know that they are men and you alone are God.”
Oh, I think about world events right now, just think about it. Think about what you see on your news app, when you turn on the TV or you browse online to see international news, and you see what’s going on with this or that world leader. You see what’s going on in this or that nation, our own nation, other nations, how they’re going back and forth with each other, making threats against each other, promises to each other. As you watch all of this unfold, remember, these are but men and women. These are but people. None of them is God. None of them.
This Verse Prays For Others To Fear God
God holds all of the rulers, the leaders of this world in the palm of His hand. He holds their hearts, their plans ultimately are in His hand, and so we pray for them, that they would fear God and we praise God that we don’t have to fear them, because as we fear God, as we see His sovereign rule and reign over all, we remember that ultimately, no nation, no political leader, no military general is ultimately in charge. They are all but men and women. Our God is in charge, so Lord we bow our heads in thanksgiving, in security. Oh God, no matter where we are in the world right now, ultimately our lives are secure as long as they are in your hands.
Psalm 9:20 Praises God For Bringing Fear
You hold our eternity in your hands. No man holds that in his hands. No woman holds that in her hands. No one else but you holds our eternity in your hand. So God, we fear you. We fear you. We stand in awe of you. We revere you, oh God. You, alone, are God. We are not. And we praise you. We praise you that different world leaders are not God, that different nations are but made up of men and women, and you rule and reign over all of them. We exalt you as the sovereign king of kings and lord of lords, president of presidents. You rule over all, and we glorify your name, and we put all of our trust in you.
And we pray, God bring leaders to fear you. We pray for them. Please, give them a right perspective of their leadership as ultimately operating under your leadership. Put them in fear before you, oh God. We pray for that. We pray for the leaders of our country, put them in fear before you and let these nations know that they’re mere people, that you alone are God. We pray this in Jesus name, amen.