Today's devotional was submitted by Ed Chisam, who serves as Chairman of the Deacons at First Baptist Church. Eddie's wife, April, also serves as one of our deaconesses. Eddie and April are expecting their first child, and they are grateful to God for His precious gift. In today's blog, Eddie shares a word of exhortation from the Psalms, blending its theme with a testimony from the life of William Walford, who wrote the much-beloved hymn, Sweet Hour of Prayer. This has special relevance to us as a congregation at this particular time, as we have been meeting each evening to spend an hour before God's throne throughout this Week of Prayer. We thank Eddie for sharing this encouraging devotional, which I'm sure will bless and strengthen your heart.
When we meet together to pray, we stir each other up to praise God's holy name. To help reflect upon the Lord's faithfulness and love towards us, I often read some of the Psalms, which help to stimulate a prayerful spirit.
Last night, I read Psalm 146, which teaches us to place our trust in the Lord:
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.
An example of a man who trusted in the Lord was one William Walford, a blind pastor who lived in England in the 1800's. Though he was blind, the Lord gave him an uncommon insight. He memorized large portions of scripture, which he would quote verbatim during his sermons. Walford composed musicial verses of praise. And he prayed continuously to the Lord.
Some in the world may have pitied William Walford, because he could not see. But God loved him, and loved to hear his prayers, and blessed his ministry. Thomas Salmon, from New York, spent some time with William Walford. One day, William Walford recited a song he had been working on, and Thomas Salmon copied down the verses. Today, we sing his song, "Sweet Hour of Prayer", which is a fitting composition from a man who drew such great strength and joy from his time of prayer with the Lord:
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father's throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter's snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
When we meet together to pray, we stir each other up to praise God's holy name. To help reflect upon the Lord's faithfulness and love towards us, I often read some of the Psalms, which help to stimulate a prayerful spirit.
Last night, I read Psalm 146, which teaches us to place our trust in the Lord:
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.
An example of a man who trusted in the Lord was one William Walford, a blind pastor who lived in England in the 1800's. Though he was blind, the Lord gave him an uncommon insight. He memorized large portions of scripture, which he would quote verbatim during his sermons. Walford composed musicial verses of praise. And he prayed continuously to the Lord.
Some in the world may have pitied William Walford, because he could not see. But God loved him, and loved to hear his prayers, and blessed his ministry. Thomas Salmon, from New York, spent some time with William Walford. One day, William Walford recited a song he had been working on, and Thomas Salmon copied down the verses. Today, we sing his song, "Sweet Hour of Prayer", which is a fitting composition from a man who drew such great strength and joy from his time of prayer with the Lord:
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father's throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter's snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!