Psalm 86 - Have Mercy!

.......mercy is God’s infinite kindness and unending
favor toward his people whose lives have been ruined
by sin or stressed by trials. ~ Charles Spurgeon

"Mercy" is frequently confused with " grace". I have always distinguished between the two this way:

GRACE - freely receiving something I do not deserve: the unmerited, unconditional love of God Almighty.

MERCY - being graciously spared from something that I completely deserve: judgment and punishment for my sin

Both are free.
Both are gifts from God.
One (love) is given freely without condition.
The other (judgment) is compassionately restrained.
Neither are deserved!


In Psalm 86, David is begging God for mercy! I think many of us need to use a page out of David's playbook and pray this prayer along with him!

¹ Hear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.

² Guard my life, for I am devoted to you.
You are my God; save your servant
who trusts in you.

³ Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to you all day long.

⁴ Bring joy to your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.

⁵ You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.

⁶ Hear my prayer, O LORD;
listen to my cry for mercy.

⁷ In the day of my trouble I will call to you,
for you will answer me.

Psalm 85 - Bounty and Blessing

I have spent my morning preparing for family Thanksgiving tonight. Just sitting in my living room, I look around and am amazed at the number of things I have to be thankful for! Not one area of the room can I look and not think, "and that...and that...and that".

Here are just the high points:

1. FAMILY -

• When the "middle" child arrives this afternoon, my immediate family will all be under one roof once again. Clothed, Healthy, Happy!
• My mother and Craig's parents will both be here reminding me of how thankful that we are for still having them in our lives and how appreciative we are for the legacy they have built.
• Tomorrow, I will have lunch with seven siblings and all their offspring. What a blessing that though we have weathered some storms, we are all still able to support and enjoy one another.

2. FRIENDS -

• How very blessed I am to have such good friends. Friends that are genuine and love me for me. Not asking anything from me but to love and respect them in return.
• I am blessed to work with colleagues that are both respectful and professional. I am so blessed to have the job that I do.
• I am blessed to be able to serve and fellowship with the ladies of A Woman's Heart Sunday School class and the congregation of First Baptist Church, Clyde.

3. FAITH -

• The greatest blessing of all is that I am able and free to express myself and my beliefs in an open forum and that right is protected by the laws of this great nation.
• I am thankful for the blessings that God has given me - family, job, home, material possessions - but most of all for the peace of knowing that I am secure in the assurance of life everlasting.

1 You showed favor to your land, O LORD; (NIV)

1God, you smiled on your good earth! (Msg)

Oh yes! God gives Goodness and Beauty;
our land responds with Bounty and Blessing.

.
12 The LORD will indeed give what is good,

and our land will yield its harvest.
13 Righteousness goes before him

and prepares the way for his steps

Psalm 84 - Better is One Day

If you are anything like me, as soon as you begin to read Psalm 84, your heart starts singing a song. I have heard this song many times but this morning I LISTENED to it.

According to my study, I found that the author to this particular psalm is not known. That might be a good thing because we can move from worrying about HIS particular situation to looking at our own. The psalmist is obviously some distance from the the temple court and longs (even aches) to be back there in a place of worship.

When the Israelites were wandering through the desert, the temple (tabernacle) was actually a movable tent and when they would relocate, so would the tabernacle. The Levites (Israelite tribe in charge of the temple) would move and reset the temple. They took "GOD" wherever they went and NOTHING was more important than that Holy Place. It was the center of everything. All of the tribes encamped in set positions around it.


Do I take Him with me wherever I go?
Do I take Him to work with me?
Do I take Him on my social excursions?
Do I take Him to my family gatherings?

As I listened to this song with new ears today, I thought:

"That is where I want to be. I want to be wherever God is.

I want to be in the center God's presence because
NOTHING in this world compares to that"

I spend wasted energy chasing after things I think will make me happy when only ONE thing will bring about true happiness and peace.

BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF ALMIGHTY GOD.

² My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

Psalm 83 - Prayer for Israel

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

I know that some people get very nervous when talk of the "end days" comes into conversations. I KNOW this because I used to BE one of those people. I couldn't stand the thought of prophecy being fulfilled before my eyes because frankly the prospect scared me terribly.

Today, I no longer have that "fear". Now, I watch current events expectantly because I am amazed at how the words of scripture seem to be unfolding before our very eyes.

I don't claim to know WHEN "the" time is -- the scriptures tell us that "not even the Son knows" but I wait expectantly for the day when we will get to leave the madness of this world and ALL is made clear.

I found this video that specifically applies to the nation of Israel, which Psalm 83 is written as a prayer for its protection.

http://www.acwitness.org/psalm83english.html

.
.
.

Psalm 82 - Defending the Poor

"God has a particular concern for those who are powerless, poor, and without adequate human protection. Any ruler who is to reflect God in His administration must have the same concern for the oppressed and the afflicted. "-Bob Deffinbaugh

Thanksgiving is frequently a time that we think about those that are in need. Students bring canned goods to school and coats, blankets, and other home supplies are donated to ministries for helping the poor and needy.

Psalm 82 brings to mind the call of leaders to see after the needs of those that are less fortunate. Personally, I think that the role of "leader" could be used to identify not only political leaders or spiritual leaders or any position with a title but any person that wants to step out in an act of faith and give back based on the measure of blessing he/she has received. More than the government mandating programs to assure that those less fortunate are seen after, I feel that that duty lies with you and I and any believer that God has richly blessed.

What about it? Has God blessed you? How can you give back this season to make sure that those less fortunate have their basic needs met so that they may "see your good works and glorify the Father which is in heaven"!


v.3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless,
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy...

Psalm 81 - Fill us

Today's psalm was written in celebration of a festival. But, while reading it you notice that the tone changes dramatically. As I read, it seemed to correspond with the range of emotions that I have encountered in the last few weeks - the highest of highs and the .... well, not so highs!!!

The psalmist begins by expressing his excitement and joy:

1."Sing for joy to the Lord, our strength
Shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2. Begin the music, strike the tambourine,
play the melodious harp and lyre...."

In other words...."PARTY TIME"

And He answers their praise with a promise:

10."I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt (bondage)
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

I can say that I have had a wonderful time the past few weeks watching God move in ways that I have not witnessed for some time. At times, I felt so filled that I could hardly hold any more. It has been one exciting time watching blinded eyes open to a whole new world and having the opportunity to share in the celebration.

But, as exciting as that was and is, I have also watched as others that have had a long term relationship with Christ struggle with meeting the fleshly desires that the world throws at us or being obedient to what Christ set as our example. I have seen how very easy it is even for believers to get caught up in living just like the world and fall victim to the trappings of this world.

11. "But, my people would not listen to me ...
12. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
13. If my people would but listen to me,
If Israel (the faithful) would follow my ways,
how quickly would I subdue their enemies and
turn my hand against their foes."

Lord,
Today I rejoice for those of us that have recently
discovered the miracle of a new relationship with You
and
I pray for those of us that take that relationship
for granted and selfishly seek to follow
the desires of the flesh.

Lord,
I pray that you will deliver us from the enemy
that seeks to distort and deceive.
Return to us the music complete with tambourine, harp and lyre.

Lord,
Come and fill us completely!!

Psalm 80 - Tribute to Vets

This has officially been my longest break from posting since beginning my journey through Psalm in July. It has been just over two weeks but what a wonderful two weeks it has been. I am not sure that I have ever been witness to the moving of God's spirit any more than I have in the last two - three weeks. I am so very thankful that He allowed me along on this journey. But now, back to task.
************************************************************

This psalm is a prayer for the restoration of Israel after she has been ravaged by foreign powers.

I want to pray along with the psalmist for a restoration of our own country to her former greatness and God-fearing ways. Oh, how far we have come!

A couple of nights ago, I participated in a tribute to veteran's for their service to our country. I felt such pride as the speaker talked of her service to the people of Iraq and how she viewed her service there as a way to "help" people in need. She did not talk of the people of Iraq as enemies but as living souls without any of the comforts that we have learned to take for granted in this country. Some of these people would walk hours for a single dose of medication while some were unable to access medical intervention because of the fear of death from their own people. We take so much for granted as Americans.

I looked around the room as men from the "greatest generation" gathered to honor their respective branches of service. Chills came over me as they proudly stood for the posting of the flags and as they sang America, the Beautiful. We owe them and those currently serving such a great debt. Thank you veterans for your service and may God continue to bless America (though I feel we may not always deserve his blessing)!

3. Restore us, O God;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.