Psalm 108

I can’t remember if I specified, but I use the NABRE bible, New America Bible Revised Edition, so my numbers may be different than yours. 

Psalm 108:3 Awake, my soul; awake, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn.

David was a musician, as we know he played the harp and sang for King Saul. So him awaking his musician gifts to present them to God first thing in the morning is a special presentation of those gifts. Instead of waiting until he felt he was ready to present himself, or rather making God wait until David was ready, David made himself ready at the beginning of the day. God is awaiting our presence from the moment we wake up. He gave us the gift of another day, why would we not give praise and grace first thing in the morning? 

God loves when we sing to him. But singing with our whole heart and our whole soul is different than being in the back of the choir, muttering the words half heartedly just to get through the song. When we praise God, we should do it like the children singing their little hearts out to their favorite song. We need to be awake and give our best self to God. 

How can you use your gift to praise God? Are you fully awake when you give it?

Psalm 107

Give thanks to the Lord who is good, whose love endures forever.

In this chapter, we see several times/ways the Lord has saved us. Those who were lost in the desert, who were hungry and thirsty, he saved. This could be those physically lost, but also those who are spiritually lost. Those who hunger for their soul to be filled, and search in the wrong places for fulfillment. Those who are lost in their own sin. Those who thirst for spiritual peace. Only the Lord our God can fill those needs. Only he can fill our longing souls. Pray for those who are lost to be rescued.

There are those who are imprisoned, whether by being in jail/captivity because of a wrong choice they made, or imprisonment by the devil because of their rebelling from God. They will have To suffer for the choices they made, but if they are truly wanting to be saved, God will rescue them. Pray for those who are imprisoned, that they may see the light in their darkness.

There are those who are sick because of their wickedness. Like those who are sick from addiction, and are struggling to make it day to day, those who are spiritually sick don’t even have appetite for God’s food. Once again, God will save them if they ask. Pray for those that they call out for God’s spiritual medicine of healing, that even in their weakest moment may be saved.

There are those who have seen many unfortunate places of this earth. They had traveled long to get to their destination. They have witnessed God’s fury and mercy in the highest and lowest places they have been. Their job or journey may have had them witness things that would question the Lord’s will. But even in the distress of war, they will be heard by God. He can calm the waves of an angry sea, he can calm the waves of an angry soul, if they ask. Pray for those who have to continue to ride the angry sea, that God may calm the waters they are on and the waters in their soul.

Lord I pray for those who suffer and long for you. And I pray for those who don’t know you. I pray for those who refuse you. Calm the waters. Feed their souls. Break their chains. Be their map. So that they may find the spiritual relief in you.

Psalm 106

Alexander Maclaren, a minister from the late 1800s, observed, “The keynote of Psalm 105 is, ‘Remember His mighty deeds,’ that of Psalm 106 is, ‘They forgot His mighty deeds.’”

Psalm 106 beings the same as the last chapter, with “Give thanks to the Lord.” The first paragraph praises God, reminding us that those who do what is just will find happiness. Then we are reminded of what happens when we do not do what is right. The author tells us again of this story of the Israelites exodus from Egypt, and how God brought them out with his mighty power. “He rescued them from hostile hands, freed them from the power of the enemy (v10).” They witnessed so many times God putting them first, yet the did soon forget what he had done. The challenged Moses, made a calf, and then complained against the Lord when things didn’t measure up to their expectations. Such selfish people, only thinking of themselves, their desires, and the small picture. 

God scattered them among nations, and they allowed themselves to fall into the customs of those nations, worshipping their gods. They become prisoners again to foreign nations. And again cried out for God’s help. He chose to rescue them, remembering his covenant. Although his people were unfaithful to him, he chose to be faithful to his word. 

Psalms 106:48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, Amen! Hallelujah!

Blessed be his name, because he doesn’t forget us. He doesn’t walk away from us, even when we turn away. His love is unconditional. That doesn’t mean we should blatantly test his limits. Instead, we should know that when we falter, he will still love us fiercely. 

Psalm 105

Psalm 105 is titled "God's Fidelity to the Promise," in my NABRE Bible.

Psalm 105:4-5 Rely on the mighty Lord; constantly seek his face. Recall the wondrous deed he has done, his signs and his words of judgement. (NABRE)
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgements he uttered (ESV)

We are called to rely on God and seek his strength when ours is failing. There are so many times in life where we may not think we can handle the situation. Yes, there is the familiar saying "God won't give us more than we can handle." But in those moments, it seems like an elephant on our chest. God wants us to seek him, to use his strength to get through those moments, for us to allow him to carry us through. He wants us to remember all the times people struggled and suffered, and he brought them through, and he wants to do the same for us.

We are never truly alone. It can get really dark sometimes in the world. We can feel lost or abandoned by those we trusted, by those we loved. But our God is always there. He is the light in the darkness. He is the light that chases away the darkness. His love for us has overcome darkness. It has defeated death. If you ever feel the darkness caving in, please know you are not alone! Please contact someone, anyone, to walk with you through it. Do not be ashamed to struggle. Do not be ashamed to admit fear or defeat. Let someone help carry your burden. God is right there with you, friend, through it all. And he has some mighty strong angels that walk this earth.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out for help. I promise you, these angels want to help you.


Suicide Prevention Hotline

suicidepreventionlifeline.org

 1-800-273-8255

Psalm 104

Chapter 104 begins with a description of heaven. God is clothed with majesty and has spread heaven out like a tent. The clouds are his chariot, and he travels on the wings of the wind. Then from his palace, he created the earth. He laid the foundations of the earth (v5). Through his power, he chased the wild ocean waters into place. Thinking of all the waters in the world, all their power  and strength to carve and create, God's power is more than impressive as he controlled those waters. And if we see the beauty of the world God created, imagine what the heaven he created much look like!

Charles Spurgeon has said about Psalm 104 “The Psalm gives an interpretation to the many voices of nature, and sings sweetly both of creation and providence. The poem contains a complete cosmos: sea and land, cloud and sunlight, plant and animal, light and darkness, life and death, are all proved to be expressive of the presence of the Lord.” 

He raised grass for the cattle, plants for the beasts, food from the earth, and wine to gladden our hearts. He made a healthy nature for the animals. He gave the moon its job to control the seasons, and the sun to bring light. He has made the world full of creatures. It is beautiful imagery in Psalm 104 to further paint the portrait from Genesis. 

Psalm 104:26 Here ships ply their course; here Leviathan, your creature, plays.

This verse's explanation in my Bible caught my attention. The notes for this verse state: a sea monster symbolizing primeval chaos. God does not destroy chaos, but makes it part of created order. Leviathan is also mentioned in the book of Job, Isaiah, and Amos. It is a sea monster that can be found in ancient texts in many religions. The thought that caught me was that God makes chaos a part of created order. So many times, during serious wars, crimes, famine, and death, people will say "Where was your god? Why would God allow these things to happen?" Well, God set the world in motion, and allowed chaos to be part of it. He allowed humans to have the sense of right and wrong, and the ability to choose the better. There are bad people in the world. No one is born that way, they choose to be that way. And unfortunately those choices can affect a lot of good people. But the people who have God in their heart will always win. If the affects of the chaos causes us to leave this world, there is heaven to look forward to. To spend eternity with God, which was always his intention. 

We are going to the beach

Well, we actually are at the beach. Our good friends have a beach house in Gulfport, Mississippi. We haven’s seen them for two years, so this was a trip we all looked forward to. We booked the trip a whole year ago for this week. And the day we got here, so did Tropical Storm Cristobal. There were high winds, up to 50 mph gusts, lots of rain, and it was a little frightening. We arrived on Sunday, and sat in the beach house until Monday evening. The rain stopped for a bit and we were able to get to the beach. *I’m from south Louisiana, so I am well aware of the dangers of storms and hurricanes. Had the storm been predicted to be worse, we would have stayed somewhere else. We would never put our kids lives in danger.*

As with any storm, it had pulled lots of debris onto the beach. But there were also lots of little birds that had been dragged by the waves from the coast of Louisiana. We found several that appeared to be hurt, but I think they were more shocked from the waves than anything. There were several nests of eggs among the debris. We even found two dead young pelicans. We didn’t stay long on the beach that evening. The next morning, our friend had gone out to see the status, and through the previous night, the waves continued to pull more marsh grass ashore, along with lots of dead rats. The local government decided to close the beach for cleaning. So we just hung around the beach house the rest of that day.








By the afternoon of Wednesday, we decided we had to find somewhere to go. The kids were becoming restless (our 3 plus their 3), and we didn’t drive 14 hours to sit at the beach house. The husbands did find a spot about 10 miles down the road, near Jones Park, and we all packed up and went. We all went back the next day, and spent 7 hours there. Another couple and their 3 kids joined us. It was a blast! So now it’s Friday, and all the kids are still asleep because of the sun and playing hard yesterday. I’m not sure of the plans for today yet, but i imagine it will be much like yesterday. Because it’s supposed to be beautiful, and why waste the beauty God has given us.

Psalm 103

Psalm 103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.

This chapter is so uplifting. Especially after 102. This chapter is even titled "Praise of Divine Goodness," in my Bible (NABRE, New American Bible). We are to praise God's divine goodness. He has given us a beautiful bounty. Just last week, the kids and I were running errands, and got stuck in construction traffic. In our small town, there are still lots of trees/grassy areas on either side of the main road we were on. One of the kids were fussing about us going so slow/being stopped. And I told them, "What if we were meant to be here at this exact moment? We are always in such a rush to get our errands done and back home, and God thinks we need to take a second and appreciate things. Look around? If we hadn't been here in traffic, we wouldn't have noticed the way the wind blows the long grass in those patterns." It's all I had in a jiff to calm them, but it worked. And it's so very true.
We even noticed a cool red flower growing in the ditch because we were stuck there. We certainly wouldn't have noticed it if we were going at regular speed in traffic.


God forgives our sins, heals our illnesses, surrounds us with love and compassion. He wills us with good things, and renews our lives (v3-5). Why should we not praise him every second of the day? Do we praise God and his works often enough? And not just say the words, but praise him with our soul? Do I praise him with everything in my being?

Psalm 103:11-12 As the heavens tower over the earth, so God's love towers over the faithful. As fas as the east is from the west, so far have our sins been removed from us.

I read this online, and was fascinated by it. I never thought of directions in this way, nor how this verse related to it:
"If you travel north on a globe, you begin to travel south as soon as you go over the North Pole. But if you travel east, you will continue east forever. Given the true shape of the earth, east and west never meet – and this is how far God has removed our sins from us! (Enduringword.com)"
How awesome is that! Our sins have been taken away so far from us, that we never meet them again. And God's love for us surpasses that.

I should take every opportunity to bless God and thank him for everything he has given me. From the greatest sequoia trees to the smallest flower, God's love is everywhere. He just wants us to take a second and look.

Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) - YouTube

Psalm 102

Psalm 102 begins with a cry of distress. The author is wasting away and is crying out to the Lord over the brokenness around him.

Psalm 102:1-2 Lord, hear my prayer; let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me now that I am in distress.

This person has an affliction and it is made worse by them feeling God doesn't see or doesn't care. Has there ever been a time where your affliction (physical or emotional) was so overwhelming, and you felt no one could see or they did and didn't care? I am so sorry if you ever felt you had to suffer alone. Your pain is not meaningless. Know that God does see you. He hears you.

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 God is the light. He banishes all darkness. We must remember that our life is not totally in our control, but in God's control. It is hard to see that in the passing moment of pain and fear, but God has bigger plans for you. Even when this world is done and gone, He endures forever (v12). And all the wonderful things in your life have yet to be written. 

Friend, please know that in your dark times, there is light to be found. God is not hiding from you. Seek him. Let him heal you. Find him in yourself, in your community, in the world he made, in future generations. God is ever lasting, just as his love.  He has not forgotten nor forsaken you. He loves you. And so do I. 

Birthday celebrations

I have seen many posts on Facebook about people's disappointments about not being able to celebrate their children's birthdays with parties. Two of my children, as well as my husband, have had birthdays during this COVID-19 pandemic. As it was getting close to the first birthday celebration (my oldest was turning 10), I could see her disappointment at not being able to have a birthday party. I think for her, it was more the longing to see a friend in person, over having an actual party. Besides, all we had for her last birthday was 3 of her friends came over for pizza, and had a sleep over (where there wasn't much sleep, of course).

My mother made the point that neither she nor my father could remember having parties to celebrate their birthdays growing up. They might have had a cake, maybe one present, is what they said. Growing up, we never really did big parties either. My two brothers and I had birthdays within 3 weeks (July 17, 21, Aug 5). Several times, my mom would allow us to have 2 friends come to the city swimming pool with us, and that was our celebration. My kids were looking through my photo album and saw one of these pictures, and my birthday cake was an actual watermelon with candles. And it was the best!

I think I am not a fan of large and over-the-top birthday parties, because I don't want the stress of putting it on. So we haven't had many parties for birthdays. Maybe 3 that I can count between the 3 kids over the last 10 years. My mom has done some for the kids when their birthdays were around the time we were visiting them, which made it easier on me. But I prefer just us with them, eating homemade cake, and celebrating the fact that God allowed me to carry their heavy butt for 9 months and then birthed them without medicine (the last two anyway).

So here are their celebrations:
Jeanne was able to Zoom meeting with some of her friends, which funny enough they were quiet for the first 3 minutes. I had to prompt her to ask them how they were.
Her birthday cake was supposed to be a two layered homemade chocolate cake, but I didn't spray the pans well enough, and the cakes didn't want to come out neatly. So we had two single layer cakes. Which was just as good. Then of course she got to Zoom with my mom, dad, brother and sister, while she opened the gifts they mailed here.

 My husband's favorite dessert is New York-Style cheesecake. And that's what I made him. We also picked up from Texas Roadhouse (our first eat-out of the COVID lockdown). For breakfast, he had a candle so we could sing happy birthday.









Then for Katie's 5th birthday, we did unicorns (Again). She also got a birthday zoom with my family, and a homemade unicorn cake. So, all in all, I think birthdays were celebrated just fine. There were no tears nor complaints about what we did once the day had started. And I enjoyed celebrating their sweet faces.

 

Psalm 101

This summer, my Bible study group is going through Pslams, 101-150. So I will begin here...

Psalm 101:2 I will follow the way of integrity; when will you come to me? I act with integrity of heart within my royal court.

Integrity is defined as "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness"1. David was grateful to be among God's chosen, and wanted to show his moral principles. He kept his household honest by banning all officials who abused their power. He wanted to use his household as a model for Israel. He was higher in power as king, and with higher power, minor flaws are more greatly viewed. So he wanted to keep any flaws out of his reign.

How can I use my household as a model God for others? To start, I must have characteristics of a follower of God. I must behave wisely. I cannot model God for others if I do not first have God in the center of my heart and life. I must model God in my own house before I can do for others.

I mustn't put anything unholy in my life. I should not allow my eyes to be tempted by things that are unholy. I mustn't allow myself to become lazy to sheltering my heart from sin. I also mustn't have pride because of my blessings. I must always know and put forth that all blessings I have are because of God, and nothing of just myself.

Psalm 101:3, 6 I do not allow into my presence anyone who speaks perversely. Whoever acts shamefully I hate; No such person can be my friend(3). I look to the faithful of the land; they alone can be my companions (6).

One way to model God is by the people I choose to keep around me. If I choose to be around people who speak perversely, or who have devious in the heart (v4), who slanders others in secret (v5), I am no better than they. My heart could be taken down by their ways if I don't stand up for those they offend. It is better to keep those who follow the way of integrity, those who do not practice deceit or do not speak falsely (7). Those who speak with moral rightness have God in their heart. They are the ones I should allow my heart to connect with. People see who we allow ourselves to be around, and judge us for that. If I allow my self to be friends with someone who has bad morals, then I will be thought to have bad morals as well.

If I want to use my household as a model, I must first look inside myself for a guide. God is there, ready to lead me for His will.

Joel 4

As we finish Joel, we can reflect on his prophecies of the Ascension and Pentecost. God's plan was in place way before anyone knew. So his plan for us was in place way before we were born. No, this doesn't mean we have no power over what happens to us. God has a plan for us. He set up the path for us, to lead us to him. There are many mountains and valleys in this path, and we have to navigate through them. And some stumbles or distractions may cause us to fall away from the path. Sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. God wants to use us for something good. He wants to see us fruitful, faithful, and obedient to him. His plans for us are bigger than we could ever imagine. No matter what type of life we are born into, God loves us and wants us to fight for him.

God will bless his people. We are reminded at the end of Joel, that "the Lord is a refuge to his people (16)," and that when we reach Zion, "the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk (18)." We read that all our enemies will become a desert waste because of the blood in their land, and that God's people will abide forever. God will avenge any wrongdoings that have come upon us. Because he is good. He is faithful. He is loving.

We may hit many walls in life because the devil does not want God to succeed. The devil wants to use our failures to lure us away from God's promises. God never promised life would be easy, or that we would get everything we ever prayed for, or even get things as soon as we want them. God did promise the glory of heaven for those who stick with him no matter what we are tempted with. For those who choose to continue the fight and walk with God, they will see the land of milk and honey. This world is not the end. Our eternity lies in heaven. There will be wars and desolation we may have to endure on our way there, but God has fully equipped us. We just need to call on him.