👁️I Will😍

“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”

Psalms 18:1 (KJV) I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

I will" is a phrase used to express a firm intention, determination, promise, or voluntary consent to perform a future action. It functions as a modal auxiliary verb conveying strong volition or a decision made at the moment of speaking. Webster 1828 

Firm intention or promise Determination, firm intent Voluntary consent, no one’s making you do it. 

David said I will, I’m firm and I’m determined, no one has forced me to love you Lord. Lord my strength is in You. Lord you are my foundation (rock) Lord you are my place of safety (fortress)

Lord you are my (deliverer) Lord you are my protector (buckler) Lord you are my (salvation)

I promise, I am determined, I will voluntarily call on thee for you Lord will save me from mine enemies. Then the first enemy that David speaks of is death. Psalms 18:4 (KJV) The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

Is death an enemy? 1 Corinthians 15:26 (KJV) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Every time you go see the doctor, take that pill, walk that mile, eat that healthy food you and I are fighting our enemy, death. The sorrows of “death” the the sorrows of “hell.” Psalms 18:5 (KJV) The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

Is not death ever before us? How about a place called hell? Does that ever cross our minds? Have you ever asked yourself, is there such a place? My pastor of many years ago used to say people have overcome the place called hell. Today high powered drugs have taken away the yells in the hospital hallways. The screams from those who were headed to that place called hell. He said now people quietly go there. Does the near afterlife stress anyone out enough of them to call upon the Lord? Psalms 18:6 (KJV) In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

Is that what many want the best of both worlds? Live here and get all you can get and right before your eyes close in death ask the Lord to save you? Oh what selfish thinking. What a lie straight from the enemy's lips. Most people don’t die healthy with a mind that would even consider such. Is there a place called Heaven? Is there a place called hell? What do you think? May I remind you that what you and I think has nothing to do with what’s real. One night sitting outside a house me and my family lived in. It had electricity and running water; if you needed or wanted water you ran out to the well and drew up a cool bucket of water. We had plenty of heat in the summer and our house was kept cool in the winter, on this night I went out and sat by the well. On that night I prayed and asked God I needed a better place to raise my family. I asked God to please help us. Not long afterwards I was able to buy a house on a piece of property in the city. The house was better than what we were living in for sure although it did need much work. Long story short God answered my prayer for sure. What I couldn’t see and didn’t know that God was giving me and my family much more than I asked for. In just a few years a man wanted to buy our home and offered us more that 25 times more than we gave. The blessing of that night sitting by the well as God answered my prayer is more than I can pen down. I have watched God answer many a prayer and open many doors. Is there a heaven? I haven’t seen it but I have felt it over the years. I know and understand that feelings will fail you. So I’m not going on my feelings alone. I have it written down, a promise from God our Heavenly Father. One day soon I’ll see it. Why do I say that? 

1 John 5:13 (KJV) These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

If you don’t know. Could it be you don’t know the promises of what our Heaven Father has left for us in His Book called the Bible?

🫵RU LISTENING👂

“Silence is quietness but when silence is replaced by noise, what we would have heard has been left silent.”

Psalms 17:1 (KJV) Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

David starts off praying to his Heavenly Father saying “Hear” the word “Hear” is mentioned 57 times in the Psalms. David says “Hear” as he begins his prayer. Hear, O LORD, pay attention unto my cry, LORD give an ear to my prayer. Have you ever prayed, LORD are You listening to me for my heart is broken. Please give an ear to your child. I remember many years ago a Pastor said he could remember the prayers of moms and dads for their children during World War II. He said the altars were wet with tears as they prayed time after time so much that it stained the floor. Do you think that they may have said words such as these? O LORD please hear our prayers. Our son is in harm's way and his life is in danger of being lost. Please hear our prayer, protect our son. LORD in You do we place our trust. We read in the New Testament of one continuing to knock asking his friend for another friend that came at midnight. Not a good time to show up. What is interesting is this comes immediately after the disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray. We find this in the book of Luke Chapter 11. We all should be knowledgeable about what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Luke 11:2 (KJV) And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

When things in our life show up unexpectedly we can and should pray and ask knocking at Heaven's Door. 🚪Luke 11:5 (KJV) And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

Luke 11:6 (KJV) For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

Luke 11:7 (KJV) And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

In other words NO! Unexceptable answer. So the asking continues. Luke 11:8 (KJV) I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity (Urgent Request) he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Then the Lord said Luke 11:9 (KJV) And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Now can you see and understand something about praying or asking a friend? Hear my prayer, Lord give an ear, my heart is broken and I don’t understand why this has happened? 

⁉️The Questions Asked?🤔

Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.

Psalms 15:1 (KJV) LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

Great question David. I’m going to let our Heavenly Father answer that one. Let me make sure I understand your question. David, you asked Who shall abide and who shall dwell? I understand the previous chapter about the fool who said in his heart there is no God. If one believes in their heart there is no God then how can they believe there is a heaven? Then we read that there is none, no-body that does good? Oh my 😱then who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Is there a holy hill? Is the answer in the first word of the chapter? “LORD”

Psalms 127:1 (KJV) Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Because we call Him Lord then we do the thing written afterwards. We walk upright, we work righteousness, we speak truth. We don’t backbit with our tongue, we don’t speak evil of our neighbor. The reason being is because we have made him Lord of our lives and we want to please Him. Not only that, those things mentioned above are fruits of our salvation. I never cared what God thought or wanted me to do with my life. Oh no, it was what I wanted, what I wanted to be. I was lord of my life, I was in charge with my life. I walked with the ungodly and the more I walked with them the more I wanted to be like them. I like what Dr. David Jerimah said on this subject. “Do we ask our Heavenly Father when we pray how can I please you today?” Wow! Wasn’t doing that. Then he explained and said “how would you as a parent feel if your child said mon, dad what can I do today that will please you?” Well let’s see. 

Psalms 15:2 (KJV) He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

Walk with integrity today. Walk in an unbroken state of mind and do what you do right without complaining. Don’t use your tongue to backbit. Don’t do evil to your friends and neighbors.

Psalms 15:3 (KJV) He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

Why would a person want to do these things? Will being good get me to heaven. You got to be kidding me? Doing good will not open heaven doors for me nor anyone else. It is the first word “LORD”

Luke 23:42 (KJV) And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

It’s when we realize who is “LORD.” When we do we will want to please Him by our walk, talk and those we sit around with. Does that mean those who do such are better than others? Of course not for the Bible is still true “there are none that doeth good.” “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it” It’s all about Him our Lord not you and me. 

🤴¿RU King?👨

 

Psalms 21:1 (KJV) The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! 

Dad: A son’s first hero, a daughter’s first love.

Two things that make this King rejoice. First he rejoices in God's strength and then in God’s salvation. You may be saying that’s great for the king hooray, but I’m no king. You think not? 

If you describe a man as the king of something, you mean that he is the most important person doing that thing or he is the best at doing it. 

Does this not describe all of us? Oh, you might not be considered a king at the place where you work everyday. At the stores you do business with. Your neighbors may not look at you as a king. At home you may not carry the title king but does the meaning of king fit you? Are you an important person in your home? Your children may not refer to you as king; they may use the name dad instead. To be honest I would rather be called dad. A dad is like a king for it is a life time event no one will ever be able to take that title from you. Maybe the verse could read like this. The dad shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall dad rejoice! You walk into your home or castle. Your wife is glad you’re home. The kids run to you and hug your neck; now I’m talking about before the teen years. Then there’s the dog who runs to greet you and to him you are a king. You are a good dad. You work at being the best at what you do. There will be times your kids will not understand why you said what you said. Wouldn’t let them go where they asked. Oh but neither does the king's staff understand his decisions at times. You understand there’s consequences for good and bad choices and you want the consequences to be good. So you say NO! or YES after you weigh things out. Sometimes saying yes may turn out wrong. Like the night I asked my dad if I could go to the Madison theater with my friend Neil. Neil was older than I was and Neil had his own car. My dad said yes. Then he put a but on his yes answer. He said I don’t want you riding around just go to Madison and back home, understand? I said yes sir and that was what I had planned to do. Not long after arriving at Madison Neil said let’s go ride around. Ride around! Oh no I told dad I wouldn’t do that. Then Neil said your dad will never know. That’s right, Neil you are so smart, so we left. We rode around kinda reminds me of the Beach Boys song in 1964 around the time of my adventure taking place.                      

Well I got into Neil’s car and we cruised through the hamburger stand now Seems I forgot all about the Madison I had told my dad about just cruising and having a good O time. Then we cruised back by the the Midson in East Atlanta and there I saw a tribble sight. There was my dad;  Dad! Oh no what was he doing here? Didn’t he trust me? What will I tell him? Maybe he didn’t see me and I can go home. Tell him when he comes home we decided to leave early because the movie wasn’t that good. That might have worked but I remembered the whipping for lying and I wasn’t about to lie.  I was busted! Now the results of my evi doing. He was about to step into the ownership of dad or king. About to do that thing he is the best at doing. Unfortunately I was the subject. My dad was not joyful that night. There was no rejoicing in his heart because his heart was saddened for I did that which he told me not to do. My strength was weak, my power to say no was weakened and turned into yes. I had hurt my dad more than I ever knew until I myself became a dad.

 

👁️Welcome the “fool”👀

A fool is one who sees the facts, knows the truth, but still believes the lies. Jeffery Fry

The word “fool” is mentioned 73 times in the KJV.

64 times in the Old Testament

9 times in the New Testament

What is a “fool” One who is destitute of reason, or the common powers of understanding; an idiot.  

2. In common language, a person who is somewhat deficient in intellect, but not an idiot; or a person who acts absurdly; one who does not exercise his reason; one who pursues a course contrary to the dictates of wisdom. 

3. In scripture, fool is often used for a wicked or depraved person; one who acts contrary to sound wisdom in his moral deportment; one who follows his own inclinations, who prefers trifling and temporary pleasures to the service of God and eternal happiness.

• The first thing our Bible tells us about the “fool” is about what he Pursued. 

Pursue means to “To follow; to go or proceed after or in a like direction”

1 Samuel 26:21 (KJV) Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

• In the psalms we learn what the fool says in his heart. “There is no God.”

Psalms 14:1 (KJV) The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

• We learn what happens to their wealth.

Psalms 49:10 (KJV) For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

There is not one that escapes, for all must die. Poor planning and your wealth will go to those in whom you know not. 

For it is a true saying Job 1:21 (KJV) And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

It is for sure we came with nothing and we will leave the same way; with nothing. 

• How the fool sees themselves

Proverbs 12:15 (KJV) The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

Ever know one who knows it all?

 

🧐How Long 🥰

Love is the only thing there’s just too little of. No, not just for some but for everyone. 

Four times David says “how long” 

Psalms 13:1 (KJV) How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

Psalms 13:2 (KJV) How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

How Long, what a question to ask God. Is David distressed here? He must be because we read before of David talking about “TRUST” “SINGING” "PRISING" Now we read of David asking “How long” God is not a Glenie in a bottle that gives 3 wishes. I can trust God even when I don’t understand. I may not have said it out loud, it may not be recorded in a book but I have thought about it for sure. The very first time I can remember was when my Dad was in the Hospital. I was driving to see him and I saw a raggedy man who looked like he was living on the street. I remember thinking and saying why, Lord is my dad in the hospital and this man is here doing nothing but robbing society? I was young in my Christian faith and I loved my Dad and this man I didn’t know and had no love at all for. Jesus came into this world to save all those I love, and those I don’t. What if God had thought that WAY about me? 

Romans 2:11 (KJV) For there is no respect of persons with God.

God wants all to be saved, those we love and those we don’t even know. God teaches us to love our enemies, our neighbors, those who despitefully use us. I’m so glad that God loves me that he gave His only Son to die for me. “For whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved.” God loves all no matter what position, rank, age, color, rich or poor. It makes no difference for we all came into this world the same way, with nothing and naked and we leave the same way. So “how long” before we love one another? How long before our loved ones hear the words from our mouths “I Love You?”

In 1965  Jackie Deshannon recorded  the song “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and it became a Top Ten hit, peaking at #7 on the US Hot 100 list. Here are some of the lyrics.

“What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. No, not just for some, but for everyone.”

These words still stand true today in 2026. I have never heard anyone say “I’m just tired of hearing the phrase I Love You.” No, that is a Phrase that is not said enough. 

1 Corinthians 13:2 (KJV) And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

God didn’t forget David because He loved him too much. 

Neither did God hide His face from David because God loved him too much to do that.

Neither will God forget you and I or will God hide His Face from you and I. Why? Because no matter what others think of you; no matter what you think of yourself; no matter what you have done God loves each and everyone of us. We have that in writing!

⏳Foundation vs Frame⌛️

 What shine is not always gold

Psalms 11:1 (KJV) In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

David said that he put his trust in the Lord; not in man, not in the greatest of men but in The Lord. Where do I put my trust? Do I trust the Lord in my daily activities? With my finances? 

Psalms 11:3 (KJV) If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Can I? Do I sing? 

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly lean on Jesus' name

David said where his trust was placed. The enemy eats away at the foundation of our trust. If the enemy can get me to look at the storm then he can weaken my trust. Where is my security? The song says “I dare not trust the sweetest frame” The foundation supports the home. Everything afterwards depends on its foundation. If my foundation is not built on the blood of Jesus Christ; a sure foundation. Then it matters not the frame. In other words it matters not what one has in this life. For things in this life are only a frame and when this life is done that’s it. Wealth beyond comparison, you have worked so hard to be there. Oh but on what foundation was it built? “I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean on Jesus' name.”

The arrows come to wound, weaken, to destroy.

Psalms 11:2 (KJV) For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

Destroy the heart, the life line is stopped. Destroy the foundation and the rest falls apart.