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Psalm 42:1-2 ESV
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
I understand this. It is a deep longing of the soul, not just for God, but for alone time with God. It is a deep aching within just to be with our Lord and with no one else, to spend time with him, to hear his voice, and to talk with him one on one with no one else around, and with no distractions.
But, this is not just about wanting some alone time with God to have our personal devotions, though that is critical to our relationship with him and to survival throughout our days, so that we walk in his love and in his grace.
This is a longing of our hearts and minds and souls for God himself, for our Lord Jesus Christ, not only to be in his presence, but to experience him, to get to know him, to have intimate fellowship with him, and to walk with him day in and day out in obedience to his Word.
It is desiring him above all else, and wanting to do his will always. It is also desiring what he desires, which is what is holy, righteous, pure and trustworthy. And, too, it is hating what he hates, which is what is evil, impure and false.
It is wanting him to be the Lord of our whole lives. And, it is total submission to him, to love and to serve him forever. I am His and He is mine.
Psalm 42:3-4 ESV
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
Trials and tribulations have a way of increasing that longing for God, too.
When we were children, and we were sick or injured, probably most of us wanted to be helped and comforted by a parent or by someone we felt cared about us. Probably a lot of us are still that way.
When we are the most vulnerable is usually when we are more likely to seek help and comfort. So, when life gets difficult, and the pain comes, if we have a close walk with the Lord, we will naturally turn to him for help and for comfort in our suffering.
Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. Sometimes things we have waited for don’t come on time. Things get delayed. And, it can be disheartening when they do. And, when this happens, our enemy Satan rejoices, but sometimes our physical enemies in this world take pleasure in our suffering, too. And, that can cause even further pain.
So, when that happens, we need to be reminded of God’s goodness to us, and of his faithfulness, and of his sovereignty over our lives. We need to be refreshed in our thinking with regard to the victories God has given us previously over Satan’s evil schemes against us. And, we need to be reminded to hold on to hope, to be joyful in tribulation, and to put our trust fully in God and not in humans, who are likely to fail us.
Psalm 42:5 ESV
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
YES! Satan’s goal is to get us to be discouraged and to be disappointed when things don’t go as planned and when we have to wait even longer for things promised to be fulfilled. He wants to dump on our joy, and he will use other humans and life’s circumstances to try to get the best of us, too, and to make us afraid.
So, when this happens, we need to call on God. We need to put on that armor of God with which to fight off his evil attacks against us. We need to put on the joy of our salvation, and thank the Lord for all that we do have instead of mourning over what we don’t have or what we have lost. For, there we will find peace even in the midst of our suffering.
Psalm 42:8-10 ESV
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
If we have a close walk with our Lord Jesus, we should be ever aware of his presence with us and of his working in our lives at any given moment throughout the day or the night. The doors of communication should be open, between us and our Lord, all the time. Thus, we can talk to him anytime, and we can hear him speak to us in all of our life’s situations.
When we pray, it shouldn’t be a grocery list of requests and nothing else. Prayer is not just asking God for things, though that is certainly part of it, yet praying according to his will. Prayer is conversation with our Lord, our Savior, the one who created us, our best friend and our husband.
When we converse with our Lord, we can tell him what is on our hearts. We can cry out our pains to him and tell him the things which deeply distress us. It is not that he doesn’t know these things, but that we need to express them to him. And, we need to seek his comfort and his counsel, too.
Even though it is true that our Lord will never leave or forsake those who are truly his, sometimes we can feel forsaken by God, especially when our enemy is hot on our trail. Sometimes we can’t hear God or see him working, and we may feel abandoned. But, we can be assured that he has not left. We may leave him, at times, but he will never leave us. He is always there.
Psalm 42:11 ESV
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
So, even though the wicked assail us, God is with us. And, he has a plan and a purpose for it all. We just have to keep praying, hoping and trusting Him.
My special verse right now is Proverbs 13:12 NIV:
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
My Sheep
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, for these comforting words.
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
I understand this. It is a deep longing of the soul, not just for God, but for alone time with God. It is a deep aching within just to be with our Lord and with no one else, to spend time with him, to hear his voice, and to talk with him one on one with no one else around, and with no distractions.
But, this is not just about wanting some alone time with God to have our personal devotions, though that is critical to our relationship with him and to survival throughout our days, so that we walk in his love and in his grace.
This is a longing of our hearts and minds and souls for God himself, for our Lord Jesus Christ, not only to be in his presence, but to experience him, to get to know him, to have intimate fellowship with him, and to walk with him day in and day out in obedience to his Word.
It is desiring him above all else, and wanting to do his will always. It is also desiring what he desires, which is what is holy, righteous, pure and trustworthy. And, too, it is hating what he hates, which is what is evil, impure and false.
It is wanting him to be the Lord of our whole lives. And, it is total submission to him, to love and to serve him forever. I am His and He is mine.
Psalm 42:3-4 ESV
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
Trials and tribulations have a way of increasing that longing for God, too.
When we were children, and we were sick or injured, probably most of us wanted to be helped and comforted by a parent or by someone we felt cared about us. Probably a lot of us are still that way.
When we are the most vulnerable is usually when we are more likely to seek help and comfort. So, when life gets difficult, and the pain comes, if we have a close walk with the Lord, we will naturally turn to him for help and for comfort in our suffering.
Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. Sometimes things we have waited for don’t come on time. Things get delayed. And, it can be disheartening when they do. And, when this happens, our enemy Satan rejoices, but sometimes our physical enemies in this world take pleasure in our suffering, too. And, that can cause even further pain.
So, when that happens, we need to be reminded of God’s goodness to us, and of his faithfulness, and of his sovereignty over our lives. We need to be refreshed in our thinking with regard to the victories God has given us previously over Satan’s evil schemes against us. And, we need to be reminded to hold on to hope, to be joyful in tribulation, and to put our trust fully in God and not in humans, who are likely to fail us.
Psalm 42:5 ESV
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
YES! Satan’s goal is to get us to be discouraged and to be disappointed when things don’t go as planned and when we have to wait even longer for things promised to be fulfilled. He wants to dump on our joy, and he will use other humans and life’s circumstances to try to get the best of us, too, and to make us afraid.
So, when this happens, we need to call on God. We need to put on that armor of God with which to fight off his evil attacks against us. We need to put on the joy of our salvation, and thank the Lord for all that we do have instead of mourning over what we don’t have or what we have lost. For, there we will find peace even in the midst of our suffering.
Psalm 42:8-10 ESV
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
If we have a close walk with our Lord Jesus, we should be ever aware of his presence with us and of his working in our lives at any given moment throughout the day or the night. The doors of communication should be open, between us and our Lord, all the time. Thus, we can talk to him anytime, and we can hear him speak to us in all of our life’s situations.
When we pray, it shouldn’t be a grocery list of requests and nothing else. Prayer is not just asking God for things, though that is certainly part of it, yet praying according to his will. Prayer is conversation with our Lord, our Savior, the one who created us, our best friend and our husband.
When we converse with our Lord, we can tell him what is on our hearts. We can cry out our pains to him and tell him the things which deeply distress us. It is not that he doesn’t know these things, but that we need to express them to him. And, we need to seek his comfort and his counsel, too.
Even though it is true that our Lord will never leave or forsake those who are truly his, sometimes we can feel forsaken by God, especially when our enemy is hot on our trail. Sometimes we can’t hear God or see him working, and we may feel abandoned. But, we can be assured that he has not left. We may leave him, at times, but he will never leave us. He is always there.
Psalm 42:11 ESV
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
So, even though the wicked assail us, God is with us. And, he has a plan and a purpose for it all. We just have to keep praying, hoping and trusting Him.
My special verse right now is Proverbs 13:12 NIV:
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
My Sheep
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, for these comforting words.
