Hi welcome to faith and Bible ASMR. Thank
you for being here today. I'm so glad
you're joining me. We're gonna be going
through Psalm 11 and 12  Bible study from
the first 5 app and that's put out by
Proverbs 31 Ministries.
If you are not subscribed to this
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It just helps more people be able to
find it who may need to be encouraged
in God as well. So let's dive into our
study.  It's written by Anne Swindell and
I just wanted to start off differently
 this time and start off with the
prayer that she actually gives in the
study. And she says,"Oh Lord lift my eyes
to see from heaven's perspective today.
In the middle of my own struggles and
crisis, I confess I often focus on what
is right in front of me more than I
focus on your authority over all things.
Thank you that you are in control and
thank you that I can trust you to carry
me through my current situation as I, as
I follow you.  Please replace my fear with
faith in who you are.In Jesus name,  Amen"
And you know we can ask God those things.
We can ask him to replace our fear with
faith.  We can ask him to help us trust
him more. And he will help us
with those things because he wants us to
do them.He wants us to live after him
successfully and help us in that process.
All we need to do is ask him and turn to
him. So she gives a a key verse of 11:7, and it says, "For the Lord is
righteous. He loves righteous deeds; the
upright shall behold his face."
Are you tired, beaten down, facing a
crisis and exhausted, afraid? If so, you
know how David felt in Psalms eleven and
twelve.
Although distinct in their purpose, both
of these Psalms point to the struggle
the faithful follower of God has in life;
along with the hope we have in the
justice and faithfulness of the Lord.
Although distinct in their purpose,  both
of these Psalms point to the struggle
the faithful follower of God has in life
along with the hope that we have in the
justice and the faithfulness of the Lord.
We also face trials. In Psalm 11 David is
experiencing calamity. While we don't
know the details, I imagine he feels
closed in on every side. He has tried to
escape the trouble, but it seems his
adversaries have readied their bows and
arrows to shoot at him.
And we find that
in Psalm 11:2 which says, "For behold the
wicked bend the bow.
They have fitted their arrow to the
string to shoot in the dark at the
upright in heart.'
He even despairs that there is no longer
any solid foundation on which to stand.
In verse three he says, "If the
foundations are destroyed, what can the
righteous do?" When the foundations of our
lives seem to crumble beneath us, what
can we do? When our finances flounder,
when our relationships crumble, or when
our future is uncertain, where do we turn?
Even in his pain and trial, David has the
answer for this. "The Lord is in his holy
temple" in verse 4 of chapter 11. It may
not seem like an answer to our struggles
but it really is. For what can we do when
we feel ensnared like a bird surrounded
by ready archers?  When life closes in on
us and we feel like we have nothing to
stand on, we can turn our hearts toward
God.  He is still seated on his heavenly
throne, and he is still in control. This
is our answer,
our ultimate answer to the calamities
that we face. God is still reining, he is
still ruling;he is the Lord and he is
righteous. That's from Psalm 11 verse 7.
And Psalm 11:7s says, "For the Lord is righteous. He
loves righteous deeds. The upright shall
behold his face."  Once we have Jesus
as our Savior that we will behold His
face. We will be in heaven with Him
someday.
Does this change David's immediate
circumstance? We don't know for sure, but
probably not. But it does give David
perspective.  Perspective that the pain and
crisis he is experiencing, is not the end
of his story.
It gives him hope that although the Lord
tests the righteous,  as it says in verse
five, "the righteous ones are also those
who will behold His face," as it says in
verse seven. It takes away the immediacy
of his fears and gives him peace that
God is in control. The life we live as
believers is not going to be easy. Christ
Himself promised us that in John 16:33,
but we have this ultimate hope to
sustain us in any trial that we shall
see his face. And it says that in Psalm
11:7 and in 1 John 3:2.  One
day we will be with Christ and he will
make all things new.
It tells us that in Revelation 21:5.
Calamity, pain, trials and crisis do not
have the last word. Christ does and
that's good news indeed. Psalm 12 deals
with similar themes as Psalm 11 but on a
communal rather than individual scale. In
Psalm 11, David struggles with an
individual crisis, while in  psalm 12
the people of God struggle with a
communal crisis.They find themselves in
a culture where everyone utters lies to
his neighbor with flattering lips and a
double heart they speak, and we see that
in Psalm 12 verse 2. Does that sound
familiar? We  too live in a culture that is
glutted with lies. All you have to do is
turn on the TV and listen to a couple of
advertisements to hear both flattery and
lies at the same time. "You're not enough
they scream, but you will be enough if
you buy our product."  Social media shows
us words and images of lives that are
filtered and glossy. It shows us the
highlight reel of other people's lives
doesn't it?
Often those in positions of authority
lie to get their way and garner more
power. This is why more than listening to
the words of others, we must listen to the words
of the Lord.
We must meditate on them in the midst of
a culture overflowing with lies and
flattery. David declares this in Psalm
12:6, "The words of the Lord are pure
words, like silver refined in a furnace
on the ground, purified seven times. God's
words are true. In contrast to the lying
lips around him David finds consolation
and hope in the pure words of God. These
words are pure, refined and purified. And
if we want to be a people who are also
pure, refined and purified, we must
immerse ourselves in the words of God,
rather than the words of this world."  So, 
the application questions that she gives
to us are,  "In what area of your life are
you more focused on a crisis than on the
power and authority of God? How can you
lift your gaze to the kingship of Christ
in your current circumstance?
And I am gonna tell you something that
helps me and I have told you guys this
before.  But seeking out  Bible studies
online or you can listen to podcasts
that are Christian podcasts and they can
be so encouraging.  There's some wonderful
Christian ASMR youtubers. There are also
incredible worship songs and almost all
them are on YouTube and and I
have actually a playlist on my channel
of songs that are meaningful to me
that are worship songs that you can go
to. The Bible app is wonderful and it
will encourage you and you can listen to
the audio on it very, very easily.
While I'm like cleaning the house and
doing mundane work, it's just a great
tool for giving us a godly mindset you
guys and helping us to stay on course. I
just want to help you guys. I'm not
trying to in any way make you feel
guilty about your time, but I really want
to help you. And that helps me. We get so
bombarded by this world and what it
tells us. It's just nice to revel in
God's Word for a while and think about
him. I'm just gonna close us in  prayer.
Dear father I just pray, I pray that you
would help us fill our minds with good thoughts. 
I pray that you would help us to to
really meditate on some of those when we
are struggling or to turn on worship
music and sing with it to you when we
are struggling. I know those things help
me. I thank you for good friends that
will encourage us also in your word and
and just really all of podcasters and
youtubers and and people that read on
the Bible app and people that have good
Christian blogs.
I just thank you for all of those things,
in addition to our pastors Lord and how
they also encourage us. There
is just a wealth of things we can seek
out to encourage us in you. thank you for
that. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen
Thank you for being here. I'll see you in
my next video. Bye
