“When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.”
~ Psalm 138:3
Hi James and Ellen,
What has been the happiest moment in your lives? When have you wanted to jump up and down because you were feeling so happy because of something that was really awesome had just happened to you? How do you feel when you get a test back and you find that you have answered correctly all the questions that are on the test? How do you feel right after the team that you were playing on has just won the game? How do you feel when your dad and/or ma tell you that he or she or they are going to take you to a place where you have wanted to go to for a long time? Your grandpaa can remember a lot of really happy moments that he has had in his life. Your grandpaa was really, really happy when your grandmaa said that she wanted to marry your grandpaa. Because your grandpaa was so happy that your grandmaa wanted to marry him, your grandpaa right after your grandmaa said that she wanted to marry him and as he was driving with your grandmaa down Marsh Road in Wilmington, Delaware would beep his car’s horn at each oncoming car. Your grandpaa knew that having your grandmaa marry him would be by far the very best thing that would ever happen to him in his life. Your grandpaa could hardly wait to be married to a gal so absolutely beautiful and so intriguingly personable as who your grandmaa is.
Your grandpaa knows that your grandmaa wanting to marry him could only have been divinely arranged by God. Your grandpaa knows that it could only have been in God’s will that he and your grandmaa would one day be your grandmaa and grandpaa. Your grandpaa knows that if you diligently study for a test that you will have a good chance of answering correctly all the questions that are on the test. Your grandpaa knows that if the coach of the team that you are playing on utilizes in an optimal way the innate ability of each kid, that if each kid does what the coach tells him or her to do and that if each kid plays with a desire to win that your team will have a good chance of winning the game. Your grandpaa knows that if you let your dad and/or ma know that you would really like to go someplace that your dad and/or ma will sooner or later take you to the place that you would really like to see or visit. What do you do after you have had a happy life moment? Do you like to tell your kid friends about the happy life moment that you had? Do you like to write down in a journal about the happy life moment that you had? Do you like to think about and remember the happy life moment that you had? David wrote psalm songs about his happy life moments. David’s happy life moments oftentimes had to do with winning a fight or battle against an enemy people group’s army that could have killed him. David wrote psalm songs to God to praise God for His help in a victory that he had had in a fight or battle over an enemy people group’s army. David wrote Psalm 138 after God divinely saved him from an enemy people group’s army that was threatening him. This psalm song that David wrote is the beginning of a collection of eight Davidic psalm songs. A Davidic psalm song is a psalm song that was written by David. In this collection of eight Davidic psalm songs, the first and last psalm songs are praise psalm songs while the six psalms songs in between are prayer psalm songs. Praising and praying to God is something that goes hand in hand. Praising God is much easier to do after God has answered a prayer. Knowing that God wants to be praised should have every one of His specially elected guy, gals and kids always thankfully praising Him through prayer.
What does praying to and praising God mean to you? David knew what praying to and praising God meant to him. David wrote in verse 3, “When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.” David knew that his relationship with God made him bolder and stronger. How do you feel when you are about to take a test? How do you feel when you are about to play in a game? How do you feel when your dad and/or ma are about to take you to a place that you have really wanted to go to? Your grandpaa never thought to ask God to make a really attractive young gal want to marry him. Your grandpaa knows now that God both protected and preserved your grandpaa’s life when He had your grandmaa want to marry your grandpaa. When your grandpaa married your grandmaa, your grandpaa was not trying to escape being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. Before your grandpaa married your grandmaa, your grandpaa had taken and passed the physical to be able to fight in the Vietnam War. If your grandpaa’s draft number had come up – after your grandpaa was married to your grandmaa, your grandpaa would still have had to fight in the Vietnam War. Not long after your grandmaa and grandpaa were married, a law was made that said that any guy who was married would be deferred from being drafted for the time being. A year or so after that, another law was made that said that if a guy was married that he would be if he had a kid deferred indefinitely from being drafted. It was about at this time that your dad was about to be born. Your grandpaa would have been okay being drafted into the military but . . . God had something a whole lot better ahead for your grandpaa to do. God had chosen your grandmaa and grandpaa to help fight for the guys, gals and kids who before He created planet Earth, He had specially elected for Himself to be His adopted kids. The fight is a spiritual battle against Satan and his cohorts that has been going on on planet Earth ever since Satan hoodwinked Adam into eating fruit that God had told him not to eat. God has a purpose for every guy, gal and kid who He has specially elected for Himself to be His adopted kids. God’s purpose for the guys, gals and kids who He has specially elected for Himself – like you, is for each guy, gal and kid to always praise Him as He continually reflects His glory through them back to Himself.
Psalm 138 (436)