Psalms, Proverbs                                        

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In Psalm 119:8 we see David asking God not to give up on him.  David loved God but made many mistakes.  One day he could be tight with God and the next day blow it.  In David’s mind he had messed up so bad he knew he deserved for God to give up on him.  Many of us can relate to David.  When we blow it big time, we may be scorned.  If friends and family reject us when we blow it we may think that God rejects us too.  But He doesn’t.  God is not a quitter—He sees the potential in us all—He sees what He wants us to be.  No matter what, God won‘t give up on us!

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David loved and honored God.  He chose to be a servant of God.  David tried with all of his heart to obey God.  He put it into practice—he applied himself to be a servant of God.  Because David had his heart right toward God, his friend and Lord, David knew what he could ask of God.  God knew David would make mistakes, humans always do.  What was important to God was David’s love of God, and his humble, wholehearted, teachable heart. 

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Psalm 119 has 176 verses and in over 50 of those verses is a request.  Almost one third of David’s psalm was requests.  David knew God was his source of strength and help.  He depended upon His heavenly Father.  David made right requests of God and what David asked of God we too can ask.  What God did for David, He will do for any of his children.

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When we pray, we are to pray in God’s will, or pray scripture.  (the Bible)  That may sound rather theological but let’s make it simple.  God wants to be our Heavenly Father and wants to adopt us into His family.  That is accomplished when and only when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and believe it with all our heart.  Then God is our Daddy—we are His kids.  God’s will is to give each of us what is HIS best.  God does not want any of us just squeaking by with a so so life—He has a plan for us—the best plan for our lives. If we were robots without the ability to make choices all would be living in God’s will.  However, God has given each of us a free will.  With every decision we make we can choose to ignore God’s best.  God stands ready to help us to have His best but the decisions we make either further or hinder what God desires for us.  Sometimes we deliberately go against what we know God wants and sometimes we don’t know if we are in or out of God’s will.  Only when we know God and know what the Bible says do we know if what we want and what we do is in God’s will. 

 
When we pray we are to be thankful and humble.  But just as David had requests it is a good thing to ask God for help.  The requests that David made of God in Psalm 119 are right requests for our lives too.

 

• A right request is to ask God to teach you.

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In verses 12, 26, 27, 33, 34, 64, 66, 68, 108, 124, and 125 the request is for God to teach him.

He asks God to teach him His principles and His laws.

He wants God to teach Him how to follow those principles.

He wants God to give him understanding of the Bible

and He asks God to teach him good judgment and knowledge.
 

• A right request is to ask God to guide your life. 

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In another six verses the request is for God to guide his steps. 

He asks God to make him walk on the right path,

and he asks for God to give him the sense to follow Him. ​

(10, 18, 19, 35, 73, 133)

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• A right request is to ask God for an abundant life filled with His love, joy, and peace. 

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In ten verses David asks God to give him life. 

He asks God to restore and sustain His life.

Verse 159 says,

“See how I love your commandments, Lord, GIVE BACK MY LIFE BECAUSE OF YOUR UNFAILING LOVE.” 

(17, 36, 37, 107, 116, 117, 144, 156, 175)
 

• A right request is to ask God to help us defeat sin in our lives. 

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David made many mistakes and didn’t pretend to be perfect. 

He asks God to help him abandon his shameful ways.

He asks God to keep him from lying to himself. 

He asks God to turn his eyes away from worthless things and to make him eager to obey. 

And then because the Psalmist knew he was too weak in his own strength to obey,

he humbly asks God to stand ready to help him and to come and find him when he wanders off. 

(29, 36, 39, 173, 176)
 

• A right request is to ask God to keep His promises to you. 

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In six verses we see that we can ask God to keep his promises. 

The Bible is full of promises for God’s kids,

but the four promises that David reminds God of is

​the promise to sustain life, ​

the promise to protect life, ​

the promise to give discernment, ​

and the promise to rescue.

(116, 117, 154, 169, 170) 
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• A right request is to ask God to deal with you in love, grace, and mercy. 

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We can ask God to not give up on us, and to be good to us. 

We can ask for God to give us His unfailing love to comfort us. 

We can ask for the mercy of God to surround us. 

And we can ask our Heavenly Father to look down and listen to us in love. 

None of us deserve the love, grace, and mercy of God,

but He desires to lavish it upon us anyway. ​

(8, 17, 41, 76, 135,149)
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• A right request is to ask God to defeat your enemies.

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David had enemies. 

David’s life wasn’t easy. 

He faced many hard, discouraging, and defeating times. 

David asked for God’s hand in these matters. 

He asked God to punish his enemies and bring disgrace upon them. 

He asked God to rescue him from their oppression.

(84, 134)
 

• A right request is to ask God to comfort, encourage, and restore you. 

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In ten verses

David goes to God Almighty and asks Him for

encouragement, comfort,

reassurance, restoration,

renewal, and sustenance. 

(25, 28, 38, 40, 76, 77, 107, 116, 117, 132)

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God loves hearing from His kids, but He will deny our requests that are not good for us.  God answers prayer, but He is not a sugar daddy giving us whatever we ask.  He loves us too much to do that.  He is all wise.  We can’t tell God what to do, and we can’t make demands of God.  Much like a father who ignores or disciplines the child who stomps his feet and throws a tantrum to get his way, our Heavenly Father will do to us.

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On the other hand, it is so precious to see a small child reach his arms up to his Daddy in humble simplicity asking for help.  If we approach our heavenly Father with the right attitude, He listens and He will help.  As a good father is never offended when a son or daughter makes a right request of him, so God is with us. 

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Right requests made with right attitudes are always accepted.

Psalm 119