Psalm 66 - Sing!

I'm pretty disappointed in myself for not sticking with my commitment to blog a psalm a day! Believe me, the Spirit has reminded me of it every day. I knew it would be difficult once school started but it is just a priority issue and I am determined to see this through...... so I press on!

*************************************************************************************


I just returned home from choir practice after being gone for the past couple of weeks to help care for Craig's mother.

[By the way, she went home from the hospital today but there are likely long days ahead so I continue to covet your prayers for the family. ]

As we sang through some of the songs tonight, I realized how much I missed it. I really don't know of anything that lifts my spirits more than music and the blessing that comes from singing praise from the heart! Somehow, for me, music touches the depths of the soul that nothing else seems to reach.

As I read today's introduction of the psalm, I could just imagine what sort of tune must have accompanied the words.

Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious!
Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!"
So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you
All the earth bows down to you;
They sing praise to you,
they sing praise to your name." Selah

I wonder if it was upbeat and joyous or meditative and prayerful!
Was it more of a powerful anthem or quiet lullaby........

No matter the style, I am positive that it spoke to the heart! How I thank God for blessing us with music and thank him that I have the ability to hear and enjoy it!

Psalm 65 - A Tribute

5. You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O 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 the waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.

I have been listening most of the day to some of the news being reported on radio and TV. The state of our nation today is like something I do not ever remember witnessing in my lifetime.

Let me see if I can even sum it up in just a few topics:

• Homegrown radical extremists arrested for potential terror strikes
  
• Iran's secret nuclear plant is exposed
  
• School children are chanting praises in song to a sitting president.
  
• The U.N. allows for Iran's leader to mock and threaten the nation of Israel
  
• The economy continues in disarray
  

The list seems to go on and on.

As easy as it is to become discouraged by listening to all the bad news that is spewed over the airways, I had the opportunity to be greatly encouraged today. Of all the places you would expect to be encouraged, a funeral might not be on the top of the list. But it was for me.

I attended what Mickey Fugitt termed the "victory service" for his mother, Mrs. Vonceil Fugitt. Mrs. Fugitt and her husband the late Bro. Riley Fugitt hold a very special place in my heart (as does Mickey). They shared the most traumatic moment of my life with me. They taught me how to live in the face of adversity - how to continue to believe and hope when nothing is making sense. The service was very simple and very straightforward.

Death is a part of life.
For the Christian, death is a promotion!

Mickey used a scripture that is seldom used in funerals. It was from John 5:24-25 and reads:

24 I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live!

What possibly could be a more "awesome deed of righteousness" than eternal life!

I will continue to keep up to date with current events but 'I know that I know' that the God that formed the mountains and the seas and who has the power to grant eternal life, can handle the turmoil among the nations!!

Psalm 64 - Irish Prayer

1. Hear me O God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy....

The psalmist continues to pray for protection from his enemies. He seeks protection from people that have anything but his best interests in mind and who would love nothing more than to destroy him by spreading false accusations about him.

One of the most telling verses read....
6b. Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.

There will always be those people that feel such a lack of confidence and have such low self-esteem that the only way they can try to feel good about themselves is to knock others down a notch.

I have a plaque with the words of an Irish prayer that reads:

May those that love us, love us;
and those that don't love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts,
may He turn their ankles
so we'll know them by their limping.

And all the people said........ AMEN!

Psalm 63 - Night Watch

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary 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 My soul will be 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.


"I think of You through the watches of night...."
As I take a moment to post my blog this evening I am keeping watch over my precious mother-in-law as she recuperates from her surgery. On Wednesday, she fell and broke her hip and the family has been "keeping watch" every day and night since her accident.

I sit here listening to the steady pulse of the pressure cuffs on her feet that continue the circulation to her legs and the oxygen pump that whirrs steadily into the nose. I can't help but think what a scary place this would be if it were not for the assurance of knowing the One in whom all hope lies!

Tough days lie ahead,
Tough decisions are yet to be made
But my God will supply all our needs!

Psalm 62 - My Soul Finds Rest

AMEN!

Psalm 61- Strong Tower

I have spent today sitting at the hospital with my mother-in-law waiting for news about an impending hip surgery. She took a tumble this morning and fractured her left hip. The prospect of surgery makes us all a little nervous since there have been some memory and emotional problems that she has been dealing with since her last major surgery.


She is on my mind as I read today's psalm.

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.

Psalm 60 - My Banner

I have missed posting for several days mainly because I was growing weary of the continuing desperate cries of the psalter. I started considering if others would want to read more of the same and feeling that I had nothing new to say. Each chapter I read brought to mind the state of our nation.

Tonight, it finally dawned on me that this is most likely not an 'accident' but just possibly exactly what I am supposed to be gleaning from these words.

You see, I believe that the Bible is living and breathing. I believe that its words are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. The reason they speak anew to me is because I am the one that is being changed. My world is being changed. So, the message of the word speaks to me where I am -- where we are today!!

So with that said, consider the words of the psalter as the heart-cry of our nation:


1 You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us;
you have been angry-now restore us!

² You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

³ You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

⁴ But for those who fear you,
you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.

With tongue in cheek, I commented to a friend this evening that was expressing her political views on her facebook page. She bravely stated her case without fear and took a stand for what she felt was honorable and right. I know her to be a God-fearing Christian and I must say that I admire the fact that she loves this nation and is passionate about her beliefs.

Some may not agree with me, but I too feel that our land is shaken and we are in desperate times. We are facing not only political and economic problems but spiritual apathy as well. I will not pretend to have the answers to all of our economic and political woes, but this one thing I know and believe -- only by the grace of God Almighty is this country the great nation it is. He has blessed our nation beyond measure.

But how long!? How long will God continue to allow us to blaspheme and dishonor Him?

⁴ But for those who fear you,
you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.

Exodus 17:15 - ..... The LORD is my banner (Jehovah Nissi)

The banner bearer traditionally gave identity to the troops. The troops would rally behind the banner and fight for the cause. Are we willing to stand for the Christian principles that the Word teaches?

Sometimes, I just wonder...

Psalm 59 - Enemies

Enemies - Who would I consider my "enemy"?

We just observed and remembered the events of September 11, 2001 where our nation was attacked by an "enemy". This enemy consisted of a group of radicals that would love nothing more than to see our country fail.

In the moments and days following the event, our nation joined together with one resolve and that was to show the world that we were a "UNITED" state. We were determined to show that even though we had many different backgrounds and cultures that we had a shared love and that was for the freedom and independence that this country stood for.

The years that have followed have been an ebb and flow of national pride and national embarrassment. Our "enemy" continues to plot our demise while we resort to arguing amongst ourselves. We are slowly becoming our own worst enemy.

I sincerely believe that Islam is NOT my enemy.

The opposing political party is NOT my enemy.

The government is NOT my enemy.

Rather:

APATHY is my enemy.

ARROGANCE is my enemy.

I AM MY OWN WORST ENEMY!

When will we see that our only hope is in Christ ?

Until we recognize that it is a spiritual battle that is going on in our country (around our world) and fight this battle on the spiritual front, we will never find the "peace on earth" that we so long for.

"...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

¹⁶ But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁷ O my Strength, I sing praise to you;
you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.

Psalm 58 - Pray for our Nation

My study notes say this about Chapter 58:

" A prayer to God, the supreme Judge, to set right the affairs of men, judging those rulers who corrupt justice, and championing the cause of the righteous"

Well, I may not word my prayer quite like the psalmist in Chapter 58 but I sure can respect the heart with which he wrote it.

In writing about the rulers of his day, the psalmist writes:
6 Break the teeth in their mouths O God;
Tear out, O Lord, the fangs of the lions!
Let them vanish like water that flow away; .....

If I were honest, I sometimes share this sentiment. I do get so tired of political tongue-wagging!

Tonight while practicing for a Veteran's Day program with my dear friends, one of them shared that they had a copy of a letter from Franklin Roosevelt that was written to her grandfather, a Baptist minister. She retrieved the letter and I literally had goosebumps as I read the words of the leader of the "free world". He was soliciting the prayers and the input from the clergy of America! He implored the pastors to write to him and let them know the concerns of their communities. He recognized that the challenges he faced were not only political, but spiritual.

Oh that we could recognize that the same is true today!

So - I offer this prayer in a language slightly less hostile than the psalmist!

Dear Lord,

Today, I pray for all elected officials.
Though I often do not understand their motivation or methods,
I accept that your Word tells me that you have appointed the rulers over the lands.

I respect their position while understanding that any position they take that is counter to Your Word is NOT YOUR WILL.

I pray that believers have the courage AND humility to speak out against those things!

I pray Lord that our leaders will seek You in all decisions.
I pray that that seek to serve more than BE served.
I pray that they honor their constituents over their own agenda.
I pray that their decisions are sound and beneficial.

As Christians, I pray that we will humble ourselves, pray, seek Your face, turn from our wicked ways!!
I pray that we WILL hear from heaven
and that YOU will heal our land!
(2 Chron. 7:14)

In the end, you Lord are the supreme judge!
You will judge the righteous and the unrighteous.
We deserve punishment over redemption!
Have mercy on us, O Lord, according to Your loving kindness.

In Jesus name I pray, AMEN

Psalm 57 - My Heart is Steadfast

<sup>Feel like smiling?? This one should do it!


7</sup> My heart is steadfast, O God,my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.




⁹ I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.

¹⁰ For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 56 - Thank you Mama!

When I read psalm 56, I couldn't help but smile because it brought back precious memories from my childhood days.

When I was younger, (ok - maybe when I was a little older too) I had a horrible fear of storms. Thunder and lightning terrified me (so did officers in uniform - but we will save that for another day). I remember on more than one occasion running to my mother's bed begging for her to let me crawl under the covers with her for safe-keeping. As we would lay there, she would gently tell me.....

"When you are afraid, just say..

"At times I am afraid I will trust in Thee"
(yeah, those were the King James version days)!

I would repeat this line over and over to myself until I would fall back to sleep.

Wow! How precious that has become to me and what a legacy. I too have used this same verse with my children to comfort them during similar moments. Just the thought of it brings tears to my eyes!

3 When I am afraid, I will trust in You.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I trust, I will not be afraid!

Thank you Mama ~
for teaching me by example that my safety and security come from God alone.

Thank you Mama ~
for teaching me that God's Word provides comfort and guidance.

Thank you Mama ~
for letting me crawl under those covers with you!!!

Psalm 55 - With Friends Like You......?

It seems that for several chapters now we have been listening to David plead and beg for God to exact vengeance on his enemies. He longs to be rescued from those that wish him harm. Today however, there is a twist in his heart-cry. Today he is faced with the reality that the one that is seeking to pull him down is a very close friend, an ally.

¹² If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were raising himself against me,
I could hide from him.

¹³ But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,
¹⁴ with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

I tend to not want to embrace this subject but I feel at the same time that this is the message that God is speaking to me today.

Sometimes we (we being those that identify ourselves as the "church" - "the body of Christ") do more to tear each other down then the "outside world" or non-believers do. We gossip and criticize our fellow believers, we exclude those that don't fit a mold that we have established as "acceptable", we hold grudges and don't offer forgiveness, we talk the talk but don't walk the walk.

We all know that the "church" is NOT made up of perfect people. I always liked the statement that said that the church is:

"a hospital for sinners - not a haven for saints"!!!

When will we embrace that reality and stop expecting perfection out of each other?

We are called to support one another, to lift each other up, to unconditionally love because WE ARE LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY!!

Recognizing that fact, maybe we should all seek to put away our halo polish and spend more time examining our own "filthy rags"!

And for those of us that feel that we have been attacked by the enemy (our friends), let us never forget the promise of verse 22:

22 Cast your cares on the LORD,
and He will sustain you,
He will never let the righteous fall!