Experiencing God

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 17 & Psalm 9

Scripture:
"And those who know Your Name will put their trust in You." Psalm 9:10

Observation:
David's praise of God was not comprised of empty words. It was not based on blind faith or puffed up hope. It was grounded in the proven results of his past experiences with God. For each phrase uttered in his Psalms he had a mental picture of a specific event that had occurred.

Application:
I can't praise what I have not experienced. That is the agony of living a safe life. If I live under my own power, my faith will become built around my own ability. If I live beyond myself and truly come to KNOW the name of the LORD then my faith will become built around the name of the LORD.

Prayer:
Father my praise to You is often based on words that I do not know in practice. They are emotional expressions of something I wish to be true far more often than they are a true retelling of my past experiences with You. I play it safe and do things out of my own strength. This greatly limits my ability to truly experience all that Your name has to offer.

There is a part of my flesh that really likes this conversation because there is a desire inside of me to experience the thrill of great risk and great victory. I ask that You protect me from that man. I am not coming to You today seeking greater adventure. I just come to You today seeking a greater experience of Your name.

I ask that You allow me to keep my eyes open to what You desire for me to know today. Help me to live dead to myself and trade every selfish desire for a deep longing to see Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, and Your name established among the peoples of the earth.