Psalm Study Thread

[Evie1980]

Psalm 61

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.

1 Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.
4 I long to dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
5 For you, God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Increase the days of the king’s life,
his years for many generations.
7 May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever;
appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.
8 Then I will ever sing in praise of your name
and fulfill my vows day after day.

Dear Lord God,
All I want is You. You are all I need. If there be nothing said than this "she was married to the Lord all the days of her life" I will be content. Everything that I have is in You and from You. May Your name be glorified my life as long as I shall live and may I glorify Your name all the days of eternity in Your house.
In Jesus name,
Amen

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 62
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

I have looked for hope and salvation in many different places. I have looked for what I wanted in this world and the things the world has told I should have to be happy. But all this time I was tossed by the waves and never found what I was looking for - stability. It is always easy to find destractions. It is always easy to find things that will fill the temporary needs of our lives. It is easy to build a castle in the sand but it is harder to build a fortress out of rock. I know now that it doesn't matter what sand I build my castle in the tide will always come and wash it away. Today I have a hope and I have a trust. It may take some time. It may not be easy but I know that once I build my fortress out of the rock nothing will stand in my way. The Lord is with me, Who then can be against me?

3 How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

There will be times when I will want to give up. There will be people who would like to see me fail. There will be moments when I don't think that it is possible but the Lord will remain who He is throughout it all. As long as I continue to look to the Lord, I will continue to see His blessing, HIs love, His hope in all that I do. When I say that and recognise Him as He is, then I will never fall.

7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

It is hard to tell everything to the Lord. It is hard to share the intimate places of our lives. I am fairly open and honest about my life but even I struggle with telling people my thoughts and emotions at times. I struggle with allowing people to help me. I struggle with recognising my own failings and being weak. I struggle with sharing my uncertain heart with the Lord. But I know that when allow God into the places of my life I let noone else go that I will find His strength, His mercy and His understanding. God doesn't need me to be everything in this world. He loves me the way I come. By allowing myself to be everything I am in Him (the good and the bad) I recognise the wonderful creation He has made me to be.


9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
11 One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”

There is nothing in this world that compares to the Lord. There is nothing in this life more powerful and more loving than the Lord. There is also nothing in this life that is more fair than the Lord. The Lord knows what we have done and how hard we have had to struggle to get where we are. We can choose our reward. We can choose our life. We can choose who we trust and where we place our trust. We get a lot of choice in this life but each choice has a consequence. It is up to us to choose who we rely on - God or this world. I have made my choice. I am ready to walk this way no matter how much I loose along the way for I will count it all as gain if I am able to spend the rest of my life walking with the Lord.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 63

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals. 11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Have you ever had something or someone who takes priority in your life? Have you ever clung onto something more than you should have? At the moment I have a friend who is best described as clingy. She holds on tightly to me in all that I do and say. Every moment I am awake my life needs to be revolving around her and her life revolving around mine. It is not fun for me but this is what she has chosen for our relationship. The sad part is that it is atually destroying her. It is stopping her from stepping out and doing her own things. It is stopping her from doing what she wants because there are times when I have other things to do. She has chosen the wrong person to cling to.
But I am just as guilty. There are things that I cling to. I used to cling to cigarettes and now I am strong supporter of the coffee industry. I too have clung to people, situations, life styles, jobs etc to uphold me, to make me feel worthwhile, to give me joy and happiness. But the truth is they have failed me and prevented me from doing what I really should be doing - clinging to the Lord. There is nothing else that can fill His place. I have tried but it never really works.
You see when you cling to something you life feels like a desert when you don't have it in your life. You feel dry and you thirst for that thing to fill you up. It doesn't matter how much of that thing you drink you will always be thirsty. You will always want more but there may be nothing left. When it came to my friend, by the end of our time together, I was just empty. I had nothing left to give to her. I couldn't physically be everything for her anymore. It was sad because I wanted to do more for her. I just couldn't.
There is only One who can fill that place for us. That is God. He has a place in our life. He can quench our thirst. He can make streams in the desert areas of our lives. He can make us flourish. He is the one we should cling to. He is the one that should fill up our days. He should be the one we talk to in the midst of nights. He is meant to be everything to us and He is the only one who can do it.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 64

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the plots of evildoers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
they shoot suddenly, without fear.
5 They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, “Who will see it?”
6 They plot injustice and say,
“We have devised a perfect plan!”
Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.
7 But God will shoot them with his arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.
8 He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9 All people will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done.
10 The righteous will rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will glory in him!

Somedays it feels as though the world is out to get me. I feel the stares of people as I walk through the supermarket. I walk into the staffroom at work and find people stop their conversations. I try my hardest to do the simplest of things yet everything seems to be wrong. I get into trouble in all that I do and say. I spend my day making sure that all those fires started don't converge and burn the pitiful remains of my life into cinders. All the dramatic moments in my life start to become traumatic.
Have you ever felt like that? The world seems to be out to get you and then you realise that it actually IS?
We have all been there. It is never easy to face up to the people who only want the worst for us. We choose to prove them wrong. We work hard at showing them that we didn't deserve to be treated that way. Or we choose to prove them right. We figure that if we are going to get the blame for it anyway, we may as well have done it. It doesn't really matter which way we look at it, both ways are wrong. You see, when we focus on proving this world right or wrong our focus has changed from God to other things. We are being successful only to show off ourselves to others but not to show off the Lord to others.
When we take refuge in the Lord, we allow Him to call the shots and that means we choose not to retaliate in anyway. God will be our avenger. We don't need to do anything but trust that the Lord will vindicate us in His time and His way.
It goes against all that we, as humans, want to do but David learnt how. He could have taken the throne. He could have killed Saul but he knew that was not God wanted. It is not easy to live through all the pain and drama but God calls us to trust in His ways and rely only on Him in all things.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 65

For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.

1 Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.
2 You who answer prayer,
to you all people will come.
3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.
4 Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.

How do you pray to the Lord? Do you start by recognising who He is or are you quick to jump into the middle of life's drama? How we approach prayer is a reflection of our relationship with God. When we place our focus solely on ourselves we loose sight of God and the fact that He can answer prayers. Our shallow prayers that are focused on us get us nowhere.

Now I know that I am guilty of forgetting who God is and how I should talk to Him. I forget all that He has done for me and starting complaining on the unfairness of all I am going through. I also need to remind myself that God will answer my prayers. I may not see it right now and it may take a while for me to see the fruit of all the labour I have done. I know that the Lord is working everything in my life for my good - even the yucky bits and the parts that I am not really ready to let go of yet. But I know that I recognise Him, acknowledge His ability, release my sins and my past, I will be blessed.

5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
6 who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
8 The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.
9 You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.
10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.

It is funny how willingly we settle for near enough. We think "all I need is a little Lord. If you give me that I will never ask for anything more." When we think of all the possible things that the Lord can do we are so willing to limit His ability. The God that made the world, provides the rain, grows flowers and trees, created you and me, cannot be limited. Many times we work for just enough. Now I am not sying that the Lord will make us all millionaires and we will never have to suffer. David suffered a lot in his lifetime and had to face his own dramas and trials. However, the Lord was able to provide him more that he could ever possibly imagined as a shepherd. In our life time we will have the opportunity to shout and sing praises unto the Lord for His goodness.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 66

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.
1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
2 Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.
4 All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”
5 Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!
6 He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.
8 Praise our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.



10 For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

You may have been in a long time of trial or maybe you have just started. There is no better learning than we have learnt in suffering. I have suffered so that I may know God more intimately. The more I know Him the more I know His purpose for my life. The more I live my purpose, the more my life is with abundance and happiness. It is not always easy to go through this learning curve but there is a huge reward for those who willingly hold onto the Lord at the end.


13 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you—
14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.

Have you ever made a promise that you didn't want to keep? I have promised many things but know that it is easier said than done. When we suffer we are willing to give up the world and walk with the Lord but when the good times come we forget where they actually come from. We need to honour, pray, repent and follow the Lord in the good times and the bad (and vice versa).
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!

We all have a story to tell about what the Lord has done for us. We have a story about how we were willing to let go of the past sin and walk with the Lord. We let go of the sin and the Lord washed us clean. He honoured us and loved us. He listened to us and cherished us as His children. We have this story and we need to share it with others so they can also praise the Lord in their life.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 67

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

God isn't going to write a story for you where you end up loosing. He isn't going to make our life miserable. God is going to make an amzing story of our lives so that our name and His name may be known throughout the world. Many times we think that God is out to get us and make us miserable. We think that the suffering is going to last forever and that when the end comes our lives will never be remembered. But that is far from the truth. God's glory is going to be revealed in your life. He will let His name be known through your life. People will hear the story of your life and be amazed by the work of the Lord in it. Do not fear - the Lord is on your side. He will bless you and shine His face upon you so that people will know Him through your life.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

All the beautful, amazing things that happen in my life come from God. My days in Australia never turn out the way that I want and disappointment always is willing to come knocking on my door. My dad (whom I love immensely) can drive me to the brink of tearing my hair out. All the plans I had... well they were just dreams. So today I got news that my last, easy week in Australia before going back to Dili is just as complicated as my life in Dili.

And yet, I am blessed. I have parents that drive me to the brink of insanity but I guess I kindof like it there. It is a glass half empty or glass half full thing. But most of life is. God blesses us with the things in life that we can be greatful for or not. We have to work hard, maybe suffer a little (or a lot), we have overcome doubt, fear and other boundaries that may stop us. God treats us all equally in this. True, I may suffer in things you find easy but that doesn't mean that the Lord isn't working in my life. Equality is not about being the same in suffering but equally being able achieve God's will.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 68

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
2 May you blow them away like smoke—
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
3 But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.

Which is greater - your fear of your enemies or your love of God? To live in fear sometimes seems to be an easier thing to do than to live in love. As a bonus of my time in Sydney I have been able to share God's love with my nieces. My brother is not a Christian though allows me to share God with his daughters. The funny thing is that I am being blessed more than they are through the reading of the word. When I have to explain to my nieces what things (they are very young and have many questions) I realise that I am not living exactly the way that I am encouraging them too. This includes living in love.

Living in love is hard. It makes living with enemies seeom like a walk in the park. I spend a lot of my day focusing on my problems and woundering how I will over come rather than focusing on God and praising Him for His ability to overcome. It is so easy to loose perspective and let go of the Lord's love.

5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

This is an amazing true thing - the Lord sets us up in families. I am blessed to have been "adopted" by many people and I know that it is the Lord's blessing in my life. I am part of families and have people watching over me through the love of the Lord.

7 When you, God, went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.
10 Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

This is how we know the Lord will provide for us - He has provided for others. It is easy to be jealous of other people's blessing from the Lord but the truth is we should be thankful. We should be thankful because He has provided and in this we have hope because He can (and will) provide for us also. We know that the Lord keeps His promises. We may have to wait longer for them to be revealed in our lives but it can and will happen.


11 The Lord announces the word,
and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:
12 “Kings and armies flee in haste;
the women at home divide the plunder.
13 Even while you sleep among the sheep pens,
the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,
its feathers with shining gold.”
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,
it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.
15 Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,
Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,
16 why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
where the LORD himself will dwell forever?
17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands
and thousands of thousands;
the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.
18 When you ascended on high,
you took many captives;
you received gifts from people,
even from the rebellious—
that you, LORD God, might dwell there.
19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
20 Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.




21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.
22 The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan;
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
23 that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes,
while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”
24 Your procession, God, has come into view,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians;
with them are the young women playing the timbrels.
26 Praise God in the great congregation;
praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.
27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,
there the great throng of Judah’s princes,
and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 Summon your power, God;
show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings will bring you gifts.
30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds,
the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.
Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver.
Scatter the nations who delight in war.
31 Envoys will come from Egypt;
Cush will submit herself to God.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord,
33 to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens,
who thunders with mighty voice.
34 Proclaim the power of God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
whose power is in the heavens.
35 You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God!

God is awseomes. He has done awesome things and He will continue to do amazing things. The choice we have is whether we want to recognise it or not. But the time we come when everyone will recognise regardless. We can be in the congregation or we can forces into sumission. That is the choice but the Lord will be praised.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 69


1Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

Have you ever felt so much sorrow that you feel that the tears are flowing out of your eyes and into your heart? Have you ever felt like your life was drowning in your own sorrowful tears?

There are times when we all can do is hold onto God. There are times when there are not enough words to describe the pain and the broken heartedness. But David had some words which we can borrow. The next time you feel like you can't explain how you feel I think these are some excellent words - "Save me, O God; for the waters (my tears) are come unto my soul."

4They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
7Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.

Have you ever done anything that you have lived to regret? Even in folly or silliness? I could write a list of things that would make Homer Simpson look like a genius. I am so hopeless that I avoid embarassing humour because I empathise too much (or have actually done the stupid things that people are laughing at). I am not a poster woman for "What To Do With Your Life". True, I now have an excellent sense of humour in regards to myself but the challenge is always trying to show the Lord through my life. And the truth is, most of my most embarassing moments don't reflect the Lord at all.

But in all of this my biggest fear is that I have a mockery out of God. I fear, in my follishness, that I don't turn people away from the Lord. You see, in everything I have a choice. I can make a fool out of myself for the Lord or I can just make a fool out of myself. The former allows me to walk humbly with the Lord all the days of my life regardless what everyone else thinks. The later allowe me to walk with the rest of the world (I amuse a lot of people) all the days of my life regardless of what the Lord thinhs.

13But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
18Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
20Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

This is it, All I have in my life is the Lord. There is nothing else I need or want. The Lrd knows me. He loves me. He is quick to answer me and quick to save me. Though I feel like I am drowning I know that I am same. I have tried to turn to others but they do nothing for me. I am alone but I have the Lord. That is my hope and that is my deliverance.

21They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

David had a long list of consequences for his enemies that he wanted the Lord to hand out. I have a couple of people I am kind of irritated with at the moment as well... but I am not sure that I really want all this to happen to them. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies but I am pretty sure that He didn't mean to pray what David just did. When we had our enemies (or those people who really, really irritate us) over to God when need to be careful how we pray.

29But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
33For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
34Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
35For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
36The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

God loves our sacrifices but He also loves the works of our hands. David gave God songs as well as His sacrifices. David planted seeds into the lives of many when he wrote the psalms and he is still doing it today. We will never know how many offerings David gave to God. We won't know how many sacrifices he made but we do know some of his songs. The praise and the glorification of the Lord through our own hands is equal to the sacrifices we make.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 70

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.

1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, LORD, to help me.
2 May those who want to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
3 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
turn back because of their shame.
4 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
“The LORD is great!” 5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
LORD, do not delay.

Do you rejoice in the Lord always? In the midst of trials and pressures? I would love to say at this moment that I am rejoicing in all the hardship I am now facing but the truth is, I am not. Poor and needy is the best way to describe my attitude.

The best thing about being poor and needy is that you recognise that you can't do it on your own. You don't need to do it on your own (I feel a U2 song coming on). God will deliver us. We have His promise of deliverance. He delivered the Israelites in all of His majesty. There is a hope and a reason to rejoice in Him.

So today this is my prayer -
Lord God,
You know my suffering, You know my pain. You know the hardship and oppression I face. You know the people who long to see me suffer and continue to keep me the way they want me to be. But I want to be Yours. Come quickly into my life. Overcome all the people who are stopping me from being Your child and doing Your will. Lord, I long to rejoice in You all the days of my life and today I will choose to rejoice in You regardless of what happens. I will rejoice in Your answers that are coming soon. I will rejoice in Your love for me regardless of my circumstances. I will rejoice in Your plans for my life. Lord forgive me when I loose sight of the most important thing in my life - You. Forgive me when I think that the load is too hard to handle. Forgive me when I choose to follow others instead of You.
In Jesus name,
Amen

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 71
1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.
5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,
my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
7 I have become a sign to many;
you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.
9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.
11 They say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.”
12 Do not be far from me, my God;
come quickly, God, to help me.
13 May my accusers perish in shame;
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 As for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
of your saving acts all day long—
though I know not how to relate them all.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.
19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
you who have done great things.
Who is like you, God?
20 Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once more. 22 I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I whom you have delivered.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.

This is the prayer of a life time. From the beginning of David's life to the end He knows that the Lord needs to be with Him. God was there in the beginning and David is asking Him to be there at the end.

A life time is a long time for us. Sometimes we struggle to look into the future. We are taught to be prepared and be ready. To have the back up plan and know what we will do "just in case". But David's only concern was that the Lord may forget Him. He knew that God would restore his life in eternity and that life would be far better than all of what happened in this life. God was David's retirement package.

But how do we allow God to be our rock, our provision, our hope in this modern era when we are told to invest all that we have in the stock exchange or property market? How do we rely on Him when we are constantly reminded that we need to be self sufficient with a credit card? (That is actually a contradiction within itself.)

The truth is God is the potter, we are the clay. How He makes us and our lives is up to Him. You may be struggling with singleness, someone else childlessness, another person might have money problems, others addictions. For David he had physical enemies tracking his down and trying to kill him. You may easily be manipulated by a friend or your boss might be abusive, you may be struggling against a couple of people or only a few. Your enemies might be inside yourself and feed of your insecurity. Your life is unique to you and your problems are your own (just as mine belong to me). It really doesn't matter as long as we remember who our maker is and why we are living this life. When we shift our focus to Him and allow Him to be our retierment plan. We need to let Him be our daily plan from the beginning of our lives to the end.

Follow the in the footsteps of David and Solomon as it is written in Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
5 May he endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.
8 May he rule from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 May the desert tribes bow before him
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
bring tribute to him.
May the kings of Sheba and Seba
present him gifts.
11 May all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
May the crops flourish like Lebanon
and thrive like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.
Then all nations will be blessed through him,
and they will call him blessed.
18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen. 20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

If I only had one wish of you Lord....
If I had only one request, Lord,....

 

[Evie1980]

Psalms 73
A psalm of Asaph.

1 Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Have you ever had the Cinderella moment - the moment where the clock strikes midnight and you realise then you have to leave? You slip away from the party back to the world that you once called home. You go back to your old friends and your old ways. You find that nothing has changed and slowly the promise of Forever slips away and your fairy tale becomes a distant dream. Then one day, the Prince comes along. He holds out your slipper, your one piece of hope to go back to the ball. But can you really leave your life, friends and percieved happiness?

There are traps that are so easy to find our selves in and recently I found myself in the middle of them. I found myself in a place, a moment in time, that I was ashamed of. My Prince walked into the moment. It was not where I thought I would find Him but He never comes when we expect Him. He offered me my hope and life in Him back. It has not been easy. Yet I am finding that is normal. For I, like David, nearly feel. I aligned myself with people who I shouldn't have. I got caught up in this world. An easy thing to do.

But my Prince restors me just like He did David. Without God I will never make it in my faith. He completes it. I finally understand it. I can't do anything, not even love the Lord, wthout His help. When Jesus said "this is impossible with man but not with God. All things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27) He meant that we will never live a life without slipping. We can't do it on our own but God makes this all possible. He is my hope, my Saviour, my all in all.

4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They are free from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
their evil imaginations have no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.
11 They say, “How would God know?
Does the Most High know anything?”
12 This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

To live the life of someone else. Pink sang a song about - give me another person's life because mine isn't the one I want to live. Even as Christians we fall into the trap of looking at others and thinking that they are better than we are. They have more things in the here and now. In a world that has not changed in thousands of years, it is hard not to be affected by the desire for more. The economy is based upon buying things. Status quo is not good enough any more. We need to continue progressing. So when we come to a time in our lives that we find us stalling or even going backwards we cry out in pain and jump ship. It is hard to hold on to our faith when we would rather have something else.


13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.
15 If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20 They are like a dream when one awakes;
when you arise, Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.

This is the moment when we realise that all we have gained is for nothing. You stand in front of the mirror asking "who is the fairest of them all" and He tells you thr truth - it is too late. For the Creator of the mirror is the Creator of you. He cares not for all that you have or what you look like. He cares about your relationship with Him. He cares about the time and the life that you lived. The mirror is dropped and it shatters. The story of life is over, like a dream in a night, without your happily ever after.

21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

And here is your Prince again, calling you back to the ball. Do you take all that He is offering and leave the life once again? You realise that there is nothing in this world that will come close to Him. There is nothing you could want other than Him. So you take His hand, His hope, His suffering, His peace, all the things that He is are now yours. It is not the easy life but one day you will be dancing in glory with Him. Until then He will never let you go. He will always follow you with His hope.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

May my life be summed up in these words. May this be all there is ever of me.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

I am nothing but lost without Him. All I am is in Him.

27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 74
A maskil
1 O God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago,
the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—
Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all the carved paneling
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9 We are given no signs from God;
no prophets are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.
10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?
Will the foe revile your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!
12 But God is my King from long ago;
he brings salvation on the earth.
13 It was you who split open the sea by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 It was you who opened up springs and streams;
you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is yours, and yours also the night.
you established the sun and moon.
17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.
18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, LORD,
how foolish people have reviled your name.
19 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.
20 Have regard for your covenant,
because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.
23 Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.


This psalm is a little different to the others around. When we first read it seems to be a cry to God to rescue the Israelites. The author does give a persuasive argument for God to stand in judgement of the people who over threw His temple (see v. 22). The psalmist is almost demanding it of God. The psalm has a simple outline –
(a) State what the problem is
(b) Remind God how powerful He is and how able He is to overcome
(c) Tell od what needs to be done so that His glory will be manifest

The problem here is that psalmist is placing all the blame and responsibility on God. It is almost as if he is telling God what His job is. The psalmist never talks about himself. When we read Psalm 73:28 we read the words “But as for me…” and in Psalm 75:9 we also read the words “As for me…” In these psalms the author is reflecting upon themselves in the light of the Lord. They acknowledge the relationship that they have with the Lord and how important our relationship with the Lord is when asking the Lord for His help.

The important thing to learn here is that, when we approach the Lord God, we need to be careful about our motives. At first it may seem like we are saying the right thing. After all it is not a bad thing to want the Lord’s love and glory to be reflected in our lives. However, God doesn’t need our lives to reflect His glory to others. The whole earth already does that. We need God to reflect His glory in our lives because we need Him. We can’t solve our problems without Him.

Remember: God doesn’t want a shopping list of what we want or to be told what He needs to do. He wants to having a loving relationship with us. That requires us to be humble and honest with Him about our motives and desires.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 75

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph. A song.

1 We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds.

Isn't it just a glorious thing just to reflect upon the Lord and speak of Him? I had an amazing thing happen the other day - when I flew back to Timor Leste from Singapore my bag was loaded with goodies and treats for myself and some friends. I had prayed over my bag before leaving for the airport knowing it will be too heavy and I would have to pay excess. But to my surprise when I checked in my bag only weighed 8.8 kilos! The scales were all jumbled up and unable to be read clearly. What a true blessing! The Lord provided me a way to supply my friends with His love.

But that is the least of things that the Lord has done for me. He has given me a smile and peace. He enabled me to have a glorious holiday with a friend which far exceeded my expectations (I thought it was going to be problematic!). God provided me the love I needed and the strength to overcome. He is doing amazing things in my life!

So I praise Him in my quiet time but do I praise Him with my friends? Do I tell of His glorious deeds in my life to everyone I can? I try to take each and every opportunity to share God's awesomeness and though I may not always be able to use my words, I can always use my deeds.
2 You say, “I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge with equity.
3 When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm.
4 To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.
5 Do not lift your horns against heaven;
do not speak so defiantly.’”

We know that the Israelites in Judah had a troubled time when the Babylonians came. They finally lost everything. They had watched Israel get destroyed and now it was their turn to go into exile. Then all they could do was wait on the Lord.

We know what it is like to loose everything, to pray and get nowehere, to have to wait on the Lord. But God promises us there will be an appointed time. There was a time when He sent Salvation to Israel and there will be a time when He will let His presence know in our lives. The key here is that we must not turn our back on God. Whist waiting we need to continue to seek Him. God has the ability, we just need to be paitent. Don't turn away from God, don't praise other things and seek other ways to solve your problems. Look to the Lord and wait.


6 No one from the east or the west
or from the desert can exalt themselves.
7 It is God who judges:
He brings one down, he exalts another.
8 In the hand of the LORD is a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices;
he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth
drink it down to its very dregs. 9 As for me, I will declare this forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,

As for me... this is my declaration. This is my choice. As for me... Famous words from Joshua 24:15

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

And as for me...
I walk in the ways of the Lord all the days of my life
I will seek Him in the morning when I rise
I will seek HIm in night before I sleep
I will lay down my life as an offering to Him
I spend my days searching His word and binding it in my heart
All my days will honour Him and will speak of His love in all that I do

10 who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 76

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 God is renowned in Judah;
in Israel his name is great.
2 His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
4 You are radiant with light,
more majestic than mountains rich with game.
5 The valiant lie plundered,
they sleep their last sleep;
not one of the warriors
can lift his hands.
6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
both horse and chariot lie still.
7 It is you alone who are to be feared.
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
8 From heaven you pronounced judgment,
and the land feared and was quiet—
9 when you, God, rose up to judge,
to save all the afflicted of the land.
10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
11 Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them;
let all the neighboring lands
bring gifts to the One to be feared.
12 He breaks the spirit of rulers;
he is feared by the kings of the earth.

Have you ever sat back and thought about God? If you could write about Him. It reminds me of the beginning of a Third Day song called Show Me Your Glory. It goes like this

I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I'll never be the same

I have been blessed enough to see God's glory manifest in my life and in the lives of others. I have watched His hand move through people's lives. I have seen miracles happen. In those moments I am awestruck but they quickly leave my thoughts as I deal with the next problem and the next drama. Yet I would never be able to stand in His presence. I would never amount to anything that could even remotely compare to Him.

Yet, I sit in judgement of Him at times. Especially when I don't get my own ways. Or, worse, I make vows/promises and then don't fulfil them. It is easy to make a promise standing in the spendour of the Lord and then refuse to do it later when it comes down to it.

So who is God to me? What words do I have that I use to describe Him? What vows do I still need to fulfill in HIs name?

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 77

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

1 I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands,
and I would not be comforted.
3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
13 Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
16 The waters saw you, God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.
17 The clouds poured down water,
the heavens resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen. 20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Remembering the Good Sheherd

There have been times when it has been easy to Iforget the Lord. There have been times I have doubted the decisions that I have made and wondered where the Lord wwas in the midst of all the drama. It seems that I have cried out in anguish and nothing happens. I go through my days not really thinking. I just do what I do and hope the television (or something else) will make up for the empty feeling I have inside.

We all know that empty feeling. It doesn't let you rest or if you do sleep, you wake up just as tired as before you slept. The psalmist knew this feeling. He was struggling with the Lord's decisions. He was struggling to see a future. He was struggling to rely on the Lord's promises. He was struggling through the same type of feeling and emotions we have.

Yet he came up with a solution. He knew about the God's faithfulness to his people in the past. He reminded himself that God is a good shepherd. He will lead us and never leave us. There is nothing God couldn't do. He performs miracles. He leads us on paths we never think could be possible - though deserts and through rivers.

Remember the Lord is with you at all times. He is able to fulfil His promises to you and He is able to be your good Shepherd. But, in those moments of doubt, just remember how awesome He is. Remind yourself what He has done in your life and the lives of others in the past.

 

[Evie1980]

Psalm 78
A maskil of Asaph.
1 My people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
3 things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God;
they said, “Can God really
spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
and water gushed out,
streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?”
21 When the LORD heard them, he was furious;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
or trust in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;
24 he rained down manna for the people to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens
and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
birds like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—
he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
even while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;
they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,
and frogs that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
their produce to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand had taken.
55 He drove out nations before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
56 But they put God to the test
and rebelled against the Most High;
they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.
58 They angered him with their high places;
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was furious;
he rejected Israel completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent he had set up among humans.
61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity,
his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;
he was furious with his inheritance.
63 Fire consumed their young men,
and their young women had no wedding songs;
64 their priests were put to the sword,
and their widows could not weep. 65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.

Spiritual Journeys

It is not always easy walking with the Lord. I always thought that Christianity and salvation where a destination. I would get there and then everything will be easy. However, it has been a journey. A journey that has taken me from Australia to England, then back to Australia, then South Korea, Vietnam and currently Timor Leste (East Timor). I was musing over it last night. Thinking how absurd it is for me to be here in Dili. It was one of those "seriously? I am living here?" moments. So this psalm, for me today, is a bit of a wake up call.

I can imagine that the Israelites had a lot of those "seriously? I am living here moments?" as well as a lot of "seriously? you want me to do that?" moments. I am sure that they thought the Promised Land was more of a destination than a journey like me. So they "put God to the test". Which in my mind means basically - God hasn't given me what I want so I am going to wail and cry until I get it. That never worked with my mum but God was faith and did provide His people their needs. Of course, God got weary of it. After all, His children all remembered Him in the troubled times. The good times they worshipped other Gods. Thus a vicious cycle started where people would cry out in pain, God would provide, they would turn away, God would send adversity, they would cry out in pain.... I wnder how quick the journey would have been if they simply asked God or waited on God for their needs and God provided?

Anyway, through this short summary of the Israelites, it is easy to see how I fall into the same traps. I have worshipped other things than God. I have put them first. I have cried out and demanded my needs be met rather than waiting on the Lord to provide. I have also put God to the test not thinking that He would provide in the "deserts" of my life.

There has been a song that has been playing through my mind a lot recently. I am sure you know it. It goes "taste and see that the Lord is good." I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good but somedays I forget how sweet He tastes. I have not forgotten the taste of ice-cream or Tim-Tams (if you don't know them, have one and you will never forget the taste). I can crave these things regularly. Even vegemite, peanut butter and olives get cravings but the Lord God? How easy we forget the sweetness of His love and mercy. How quickly we turn our backs and thank the money we had saved, or the gift from a friend, or the kindness of strangers. We thank our own brains for being so smart or our bodies for being so strong. We thank all the wise decisions we have made instead of the Source of it all.

I still think that it is absurd that I live in Timor Leste. But I thank God that this is part of my journey. That He brought me here for my own good (after all the Israelites left Egypt for their own good not just God because God thought it would be a great idea to walk through a desert). I trust Him and thank Him for it. And I am learning to remember Him.

 

[SplendidTree]

Wow, I really like this thread. Thanks for doing this.

The last Psalm you posted and how you explained it hit home for me.

 

[Evie1980]

Wow, I really like this thread. Thanks for doing this.

The last Psalm you posted and how you explained it hit home for me.

Thank you my friend.

I had to take some time off and re-focus on the Lord for a while. As a teacher I struggling a lot with the teaching vs learning experiences. Lol! I needed God reminded me that He is using this experience to teach me and if I am able to share some insight along the way with others then that is a blessing from Him. I love the way that He speaks to me and teaches me to be more like Him.

I pray that whatever seed the Lord has planted in your heart from this will grow into a full tree that will bear fruit into your life according to His will.

Blessings, Evie