How to Pray: God Be the Judge!

There are times in life that you need God to be the judge of your situation. Your heart may be right, but it looks like all your actions are producing, is wrong. This prayer is for you! Join us in Ps. 43 as we continue our PRESS journey through the whole Bible!

#PRESS
#PrayerReachesEverySingleSituation
#prayer
#howtopray

Transcript

Press means to apply force.

When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation.

He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through. And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us.

Greetings everyone.

Welcome to the Press Movement Podcast.

Thank you for tuning in once again.

We are going to the Book of Psalms, chapter 43. And in looking at 43, it really does seem to be connected to 42 and 44.

You'll notice if you read those two, some redundancies in scripture, and exactly what he says, he uses the same verbiage.

So 43 doesn't tell me who it's written by or why.

But 42 says it's to the chief musician, Maskil, for the sons of Korah. Now it is interesting that it's for the sons of Korah because we know the sons of Korah, their forefather was the one who led the rebellion against Moses, and the earth swallowed him up.

So his survivors, I do wonder how they felt. I do wonder if they never forgot that they're here by the mercy of God, and that their forefathers didn't all make it because of the way they betrayed God. With that said, when we look at chapter 43, I chose this Psalm because it's quite a bit different than the others. It's one where the Psalmist is asking God to be the judge. There are times when people may falsely accuse you, where they may think you're doing X Y Z and you know you're not doing it, or perhaps the outcome of something is not reflecting the intent with which you did it. And so you find yourself in a position where somebody may be mad at you, or people are misjudging you. And you have to go to God to say, God, I need you to tell me what is right and what is wrong in this situation, because I've tried to do right, but there's wrong results, it feels like.

The scripture says in Psalms 43, Judge me, oh God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

For thou art the God of my strength, why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Oh send out thy light and thy truth. Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, unto thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yay, upon the harp will I praise thee, oh God, my God. Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.

For I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. The first thing I love about this is he's asking God, not just for deliverance, but to be the judge. That word judge means to govern, to vindicate, even to punish. It's not even telling God what decision to make, it's asking him to make the decision.

I need you to plead for me. I need you to deliver me. I need you to govern. I need you to rule in this situation. I need you to execute judgment. I need you to decide controversy is another definition. God, I need you to intervene. And I need you to do it for me. Because there's some ungodly people on the other side of me, and if you don't fight for me, God, I could fall into the hands of these deceitful and unjust people.

It is a hard thing when you have to fight somebody who's deceitful.

They're crafty, they're a fraud. To be a fraud would mean they have to look like one thing and actually be another.

You know, it is illegal. Fraud is illegal in the United States.

If you have fraudulent money or fraudulent goods, that is not legal. If you pass off a fake dollar bill, that can be a big problem for you. You could end up in prison or I don't know, I've never done it, but you'll end up in a lot of trouble.

But the point of fraud and deceit is to purposely make it look like one thing when it's actually another. And that's what makes it so hard to sometimes fight on the surface, because you may think you're fighting in truth, but what you're fighting against is a mirage. The Bible is so wise when it says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. Because sometimes we're fighting that face and the surface of it, but the reason things don't go right is because all people see or all is that is known is that you're fighting against this, and it looks like it's about that person or that action.

When in reality, there's more under the surface. When you're fighting somebody that's deceitful, there's always something under the surface. There's always something that can't be seen.

But this prayer is for deliverance from the deceitful thing, from the deceitful man. And the unjust man, the one who just is not right, they're wicked on the inside, they're unrighteous. And the whole reason we get to ask God to do this is because he is our God, the God of our strength.

Why should I go crying because of this enemy oppressing me?

God, is this really the way the story ends for your people when you're my God?

Are you really going to let me fall to them? But what I need you to do, God, is send out the light of thy truth. Truth is exposing.

That is the similarity that it has with light. Where truth is, there is always exposure.

It will at the very least expose lies. It will expose what's wrong.

If you walk in truth, it's not that your exposure is verbal. Sometimes it's just your lifestyle that exposes to somebody else their own darkness.

People will start to feel convicted having you around. They won't want you to sit with them. They don't want you to hear them say certain words. They don't want you to see them watch X Y Z or do this or go there.

Why?

Because light and truth are exposing.

But the prayer of this Psalmist is that I be led in this exposure.

I'm not trying to do anything behind the scenes, not even me, not even internally.

I want to be led by your light and by your truth. And God, in that, let your light and your truth let them bring me unto thy holy hill, unto thy tabernacles.

I want to be in the place where you are.

Bring me there, Jesus.

By your light, by your truth, expose me.

Let the exposure work to bring me to you.

Then will I go unto the altar of God.

Sometimes people try to rush to the altar but you don't want to be exposed. You want to rush to the sacrifice, but really what he wants is the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. He wants something honest. He wants something clear. He wants clean hands and a pure heart.

Sacrifices were never allowed to be dirty or tainted, and light exposes when something is dirty.

This prayer is not just overlook anything I did.

It is saying expose me so I can come close.

And then I'm coming to you, God, and I'm coming to the place of sacrifice. I'm coming to the place of brokenness. I'm coming to the place of slaughter. I'm coming to the altar. And I'm coming to God, my exceeding joy. For those who don't know God, it may be hard to conceptualize the fact that you can be broken, slaughtered, exposed, and happy about it. But when you are broken, slaughtered, exposed in God, you find his grace, you find his mercy, you find his love, because you find a God who really, really, really loves his people for what they are, and is willing to change them from where they are to where he wants them to be. His exposure is not the kind that just leaves you and says, wow, I knew they were dirty. No, it's the kind of exposure that says, they were dirty, but I take joy in cleaning them up. I take joy in walking with them. I take joy in knowing them.

And so you can have joy when you're exposed to God. And that is what this Psalm says, unto God my exceeding joy. Yay, upon the harp will I praise thee, oh God, my God.

And so he begins to then talk to himself, and he says, why art thou cast down, oh my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.

That word hope means to wait, to tarry, to trust. My heart, my insides, they don't have to get all chaotic. I don't have to worry about the enemy. I don't have to worry about the exposure. I don't have to worry about is God going to deliver me? I'm just coming to the place where he can deal with whatever he wants to deal with, because I've fully exposed to him, and in that place I know I'm safe with him, and I praise him for being there. He can break what he's got to break, and he can change what he's got to change, but that change is bringing me joy, and I'm going to give God glory, and I'm not going to worry about it.

Why art thou disquieted?

I'm going to hope in God, for I shall yet praise him.

Even now, even in this, because he is the help, or the salvation, or as the Bible says, the health of my countenance, of my face.

He's already making me look better than I am. He is what sustains me, even in the face of the enemy. Today, pray, and remember God has the final say. He is the judge, and he makes the decisions.

Be blessed, and keep pressing, because prayer reaches every single situation.

Join the movement, join the community, like, share, and subscribe to this podcast.

Visit us at press2pray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook.

Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears?

I know some of us have prayed and we're wondering how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows?

How will I know God is answering?

And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice.

It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have.

You have to raise your voice, and God wants to hear from you.

It's too quiet.

A book about prayer is designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith.

Visit press2pray.com.