Revelation Chapter 12 | Joe Consford | consfords.com

Good morning, and welcome to The Morning Meditation Podcast. I’m Joe, and I’m thankful you’re here. Today is Psalm Day 12 in our 30-day Psalms reading plan. We’re reading Psalms 56 through 60 in the King James Version. These psalms are for days when you feel pressure. They’re honest about fear, enemies, uncertainty—and they keep pulling you back to the same anchor: God sees, God hears, and God can be trusted. Let’s get into the Word. ===================== SCRIPTURE READING (KJV) PSALM 56 To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. 1 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. 2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. 3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. 4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. 5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. 7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God. 8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? 9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. 10 In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. 11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. 12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. 13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? PSALM 57 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. 1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. 2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. 4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. 6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. 7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. PSALM 58 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. 1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? 2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. 6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. 7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. 8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. PSALM 59 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. 1 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. 2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. 3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD. 4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold. 5 Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah. 6 They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. 7 Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear? 8 But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. 9 Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence. 10 The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. 11 Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield. 12 For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak. 13 Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah. 14 And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. 15 Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied. 16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. 17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. PSALM 60 To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt, twelve thousand. 1 O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again. 2 Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. 3 Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. 4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. 5 That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me. 6 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; 8 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me. 9 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? 10 Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies? 11 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. 12 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. ===================== STORY There’s a line in Psalm 56 that’s so simple you can miss how powerful it is: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Not “if.” Not “maybe.” Not “when I get my emotions under control.” What time. Meaning: the moment fear shows up, I’m making a decision. I remember a season when I kept waiting to feel brave before I acted. And I found out something embarrassing: if you wait to feel brave, you’ll sit still forever. Fear doesn’t send you a calendar invite. It shows up early. It shows up loud. And it tries to make you believe that your fear is a fact. But David does something different. He doesn’t pretend he isn’t afraid. He just refuses to let fear be the boss. Then Psalm 57 adds another line that feels like a man talking to his own soul: “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” That’s not a man who has no problems. That’s a man who has chosen his anchor. And then Psalm 59 reminds you that sometimes the pressure is real. Sometimes it’s not your imagination. Sometimes there really are people watching, waiting, twisting words, hoping you fall. So David does what he’s done all along: he takes the whole mess and hands it to the Lord. And Psalm 60 ends with that blunt truth: “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.” That isn’t cynicism. That’s clarity. People can help sometimes. But only God can sustain always. And these five psalms teach you how to think when the world feels sharp: God sees your tears. God counts your steps. God is your defence. And God gives you a banner to stand under when everything else is shaking. ===================== 3-POINT REFLECTION

1. Fear is a feeling — trust is a decision. (Psalm 56:3–4) David doesn’t deny fear. He redirects it. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Let fear become your cue to run to God, not your excuse to freeze.
2. A fixed heart beats steady in a shaking world. (Psalm 57:7) “My heart is fixed.” That’s not personality. That’s worship. A fixed heart comes from choosing God’s truth over your changing emotions.
3. God is your defence — and His help is not vain. (Psalm 59:16–17; Psalm 60:11–12) David sings “in the morning” because God kept him in the night. And Psalm 60 reminds you: human help has limits. But “through God we shall do valiantly.”

===================== OUTRO That was Psalm Day 12 — Psalms 56 through 60. If fear has been sitting on your shoulder lately, take Psalm 56:3 with you today: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

This episode includes AI-generated content.