Seedbed's Daily Text delivered to your inbox each morning. Why Singing the Psalms Is a Matter of Life and Death LISTEN NOW! March 9, 2021 Psalm 70 To the tune of “Lord Jesus, Think on Me” S.M. Sing it at seedbed.com/soundtrack 1 O God, deliver me; O Lord, make haste—help me! 2 Let those ashamed and humbled be who seek my life wrongly.  May all who seek my end, who in my hurt delight; Be turned back in disgrace, O Lord; dishonored in Your sight.  3 May all who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” in spite; May they be turned back in their shame; hear me, O God of might.  4 But may all who seek You; be glad, with joy abide; May those who love salvation say, “Let God be magnified!” 5 Still I’m afflicted, Lord; make haste, O God, I pray; You’re my deliverer and help; O Lord, do not delay! CONSIDER THIS Over the years I have made many trips to the Abbey of Gethsemani for days of spiritual warfare. I always join the monks as they sing the Songs (Psalms). I learn from them what it looks like to put on the full armor of God. Every two weeks they systematically sing through all 150 Psalms, gathering seven times a day, seven days a week. Every single time, they begin their singing prayers with the opening lines of Song 70. I can hear their chant now as they sing these words: "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me." Have you ever considered that the Psalms are Scripture's strongest strategy of spiritual warfare? These songs train us for the unconventional warfare of the Holy Spirit. In singing them, we heed Paul's exhortation to the Ephesians: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes" (Eph. 6:10–11). The chief scheme of the devil is to convince us that our enemy is other people and lure us into an offensive attack.To be sure, our enemy does come in the form of other people. Because these enemies have become the unwitting and unknowing pawns of darkness, we must learn to pray, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34 ESV). Paul reminds us: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 6:12). God is not looking for people to fight for him. Remember the word from Moses on the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea: "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again" (Ex. 14:13). The warfare of the Spirit teaches us to stand firm. (In Ephesians 6:10–14 we see this call to "stand" four times in the span of five verses.) "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Eph. 6:13). And what is this armor? Truth. Righteousness. Peace. Faith. Salvation. The Word of the Lord. It is primarily in singing these songs of deliverance that we put on this invisible yet impenetrable armor. Perhaps the most pressing lesson of these Songs comes from the words of the one who wrote so many of them. Facing an opponent twice his size, against all odds, David, without armor, shield, or sword, spoke to the giant Goliath, "The battle belongs to the Lord!" (See 1 Samuel 17.) I repeat, spiritual warfare is not fighting with some kind of jihadist ethic against Satan. It is about standing firm in the full armor of God. Singing these songs makes us strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Are you getting this? There is an absolute urgency to singing these songs. It's not a nice devotional exercise. It's a matter of life and death. Ask Yourself. Share with Another. Have you considered the Songs as tactics of spiritual warfare? Will you? P.S. I’m doing a live Daily Text Zoom session every Wednesday morning at 7:30am (CST). 30 minutes tops. I would love to see you there. Zoom link here. Be warned– I sing! ;0) Password if requested is 123456 For the Awakening, J.D. Walt Sower-in-Chief seedbed.com The post Why Singing the Psalms Is a Matter of Life and Death appeared first on Seedbed. Share Tweet Forward Copyright © 2021 Seedbed, All rights reserved You signed up to receive Daily Text posts via email at dailytext.seedbed.com.  Our mailing address is:  Seedbed 415 Bridge St. Franklin, TN 37064 Add us to your address book J D Walt J.D. Walt serves as the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed whose sole ambition is to sow for a great awakening, by developing theological and ministry training resources for the local church. A sought after speaker and conference leader, a published author and songwriter, J.D. is also the voice of Seedbed's Daily Text. He hails from Dumas, Arkansas and currently resides in Franklin, Tennessee with his family. Want to buy J D Walt's Books on Alibris? Want to change how you receive these emails? You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list.  Subscription Information This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog   *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally