Summer in the Psalms - Week Four Reading

Well, good Monday morning to you! It is the beginning of a brand new week and a new Psalm to go right along with it...well, kind of - this week we are going to be doing something a little different, because instead of just one Psalm, there will be two!

You girls that have been gathering with me each Thursday throughout this past year will probably remember my Memory Verse book and how I have encouraged each one of you to join with me in memorizing a portion of Scripture every two weeks. This week it just so happens that my memory verse comes right out of one of the Psalms that the Lord has given me for our Summer in the Psalms, so-o-o, it got me to thinking that perhaps you would like to join with me in memorizing a verse from at least one of the Psalms that we will be reading, studying and meditating on this week!

Girls, your Psalms for this week are...Psalm 34 and 40! Enjoy!

Summer in the Psalms - Week Three Gathering Place

Hi Girls - and welcome to our weekly, Summer in the Psalms Gathering Place! This week, it has been my prayer that God's revealing of Himself, through Psalm 30, would become a blessing to your own soul as much as it has to mine. This week has actually unfolded quite beautifully into a lovely time of retreat for me and I am receiving it with gratitude and joy!

OK, so, I just need to let you know that because I have been so full of the Lord's blessing through this Psalm, and because that blessing is still lying heavy upon this girl, I am finding it extremely difficult, at this moment, to be able to put into words all that is in my heart! All I can tell you is that after writing and deleting and writing and deleting (honestly, a little book lies somewhere in the world of "cyber-delete"), I am simply "ceasing to strive and know that HE IS GOD!" So-o-o, if what follows seems just a tad "without form", just know that it is as pure an expression as I can give you at this moment!

My first thoughts on Monday morning as I received this Psalm, centered around the superscription that is found at the very beginning. Superscription's usually reveal several things in the Psalm that follows it - who the writer is, the occasion of the Psalm, perhaps who it is for, or how it is to be musically accompanied, or even what kind of Psalm it is. Psalm 30's superscription reads, "A Psalm, a Song of Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David", so we know that David is the writer and that this Psalm is a song that was to be sung at the dedication of the House. And here is where my blessing began!

And yes, if any of you would like, we can discuss what 'dedication' to which 'house' this superscription is referring to - whether it is David's own house (2 Samuel 5:11), or the house of the Lord (2 Samuel 7:5; 1 Kings 6:1), or whether this Psalm written by David was given a superscription at a later date and used at the temple re-dedication after Antiochus Epiphanes destroyed the temple in 165 BC...

...however, what occurred to me right away is this - a house is a dwelling place, and as believer's we know that God Himself dwells in us (2 Corinthians 6:16), we are His house, His dwelling place, His temple where He dwells..."Or do you not know that your body is a temple (sanctuary, house) of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body."

And then v.1 continues with..."I will extol You, O LORD...". 'Extol' means to praise, to glorify, and we know from our previous studies that to glorify God means to give a correct opinion of, a correct estimate of Him - that everything in His house, in our bodies would give a correct opinion, a correct estimate of The God Who dwells there! And my next thought was this...if this Psalm is a song that was to be sung at the dedication of the House, (and it was), then this entire week is to be about 'me' re-dedicating 'this house', 'this temple' in which He dwells, back to the Lord!

In order to understand this Psalm, we need to understand v.6-9. It was in David's prosperity that he stated, in some form of arrogance, that he would 'never' be moved. This is such a snare for us as well, whether it is soul prosperity or whether it is circumstantial prosperity, there is the danger of becoming spiritually arrogant or spiritually sloppy - when we believe to some degree or other, that we are beyond that temptation or that sin; when we believe that our prosperity of the moment is a ticket from any future difficulties of life. This is where assurance can turn into self-assurance, where confidence can turn into conceit, where blessing can become a curse, forgetting ' from whence we came.'

In v. 1-5 we hear David praising God for lifting him up, healing him and not allowing his enemies to rejoice over him. Whenever I read through the Psalms and see references to 'enemies', very rarely do I think about people; the reason for this is because I know from Scripture that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against those powers that are behind that flesh and blood! (Ephesians 6:12)

In Genesis 4 we hear God speaking to Cain and telling him that "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." Our enemies are spiritual in nature, but it is hard to remember that when flesh and blood is getting right into your face! Cain was given the truth by God, but he did not walk in it and ended up murdering his brother. The 'doing well' that God spoke to Cain about was not 'good works', it was the attitude of his heart towards God.

Just like Cain, David knew the displeasure of God in regard to the attitude of his heart ; the difference between the two men was that the displeasure of God caused David to become dismayed (v.7) and caused him to cry out to God in prayer (v.2,8); however, with Cain, the displeasure of God caused him to become angry and sullen, and although God reached out to Cain, there was no turning of Cain's heart towards God and with a hardened heart towards God, he murdered his brother.

But when David cried out to God, God healed him! We see David in v.5 telling us that God's anger, His displeasure is only for a moment, but that His favour is for a LIFETIME! Yes, David wept before God in the darkness of his night, but praised His Name, when that darkness turned to Light, when Morning came, there was a shout of joy that came from David! He goes on to say in v. 9 that there is no profit to God in David going down to the pit and turning into dust, much better to be saved and healed of God and declare His praise for all to hear! I laughed out loud when in v. 4 David exhorts all those who love God to go ahead and give thanks to His Holy Name - I just so get that! I mean, there is nothing quite like gathering with a bunch of God loving, Jesus praising people and just telling out loud to one another the goodness of God!

Another giggle I had was in v. 9 when David, in the throes of his praising and conversing with God says, ..."Will the dust praise you? Will it (dust) declare Your faithfulness?". I giggled because I was thinking that God formed man out of dust (Gen 2:7) and later on in Psalm 103:14 David himself writes that God "is mindful that we are but dust", and I was further thinking that isn't it just like God to breathe life into dust and then watch as that dust goes about praising and declaring His Name...and all to His glory? I wonder if God smiled as dusty David, caught up in the healing and saving grace of God, asked Him this supposedly rhetorical question regarding dust and it's implied inability to praise and give glory to God....(I'm just sayin'!)

Sheol and the pit (sounds like a bad children's book title doesn't it?) was something else that stood out to me. Sheol and the pit are two different places - Sheol is a place that is encountered on the way to the pit! In v. 3 we see that the LORD had brought David's soul up from Sheol so that he would not go down to the pit.

On this side of the cross I see it this way - we were all born in Sheol, in sin; for those of us that have been born again, God has delivered us from Sheol, from sin, so that we would not ultimately go down into the pit. Now there are a whole lot of pits that we can fall, jump or be pushed into in the course of our life, just like there are many sins that we can commit (1 John 1:8-10). The difference is, that for believers, sin does not characterize our lives in the habitual practice of it nor does the presence of an occasional pit characterize our ultimate destiny, the ultimate and final pit. No wonder David was telling the godly ones to sing praise to the Lord and give thanks to His Holy Name!

I'm thinking that I would like to leave v. 10-12 for further discussion in our Comment Cafe! They are just such good verses and I would really like to hear what you have to say - I am looking forward to meeting with you there and learning all that the LORD has shown you this week...

Summer in the Psalms - Week Three Reading

Good morning girls, and welcome to our Week Three Reading! I have been so encouraged by your comments and e-mails, knowing that, you are indeed, sitting right smack dab in the middle of the blessing that comes from being in God's Word - nothing gives me greater pleasure than knowing that my sisters are getting blessed by 'leaning in'!

This week, our reading is ...Psalm 30 - enjoy!

Summer in the Psalms - Week Two Gathering Place PART TWO

Hi Girls! Did you enjoy God's beautiful creation yesterday - His glorious creation that points to Him? Well, after looking at Psalm 19:1-6 yesterday, today we are going to be taking a little closer look at the last remaining verses, 7-14. Yesterday it was all about the heavens declaring the glory of God - today we will see two things, the Scriptures themselves making witness of God and also, the witness of the servant of God.

Think of it this way...while the heavens declare the glory of God, the Scriptures declare His grace, and because you just cannot separate the glory of God from His grace, when the child of God walks her life according to the abundance of that grace, well, don't you just know that her very life is a witness of the glory of God!

Just as the 'sun' is the dominant feature in God's 'natural' revelation through creation, so the 'Law' (God's specific revelation through His Word) is the dominant element in God's 'specific' revelation in the Old Testament. I really enjoyed going through, over and over again, these verses and the first thing that I saw was that there are six specific titles given for God's Word - the law v.7, the testimony v.7, the precepts v.8, the commandment v.8, the fear of the Lord v.9, and the judgements v.9. That phrase, "the fear of the Lord" is actually another reference, a synonym, for the Law of God - as the aim of the Law was always to instill reverence for God in the hearts of mankind.

Now, I just wanted to say at this point that we are not saved by the hearing or even the 'adhering' to the Word of God, this is what got the Pharisees into so much trouble for heaven's sake! We are told clearly throughout Scripture that our salvation comes by God's grace, through faith - and that the Law of God was simply a tutor that was to lead us to Christ that we might then, through Christ alone be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

OK, so then I looked at these titles for the Law (the Word of God) and saw, just like you did, that these titles contain qualities. The qualities of God's Word is that it is: perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, enduring forever, righteous, desirable (more precious that gold and sweeter than honey, girls!). And then of course there are the results of those qualities... God's Word: restores the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart and enlightens the eyes. Listen, if you are like me, and in need of some serious restoration of your soul, some wisdom, joy and enlightenment this summer - then you and I are positioned, in exactly in the right place, in order to be recieving it!

David understood that the very Word of God, among other things, warns the servant of God; warns us on every level. We know that our spiritual state has emotional, mental and physical state ramifications - God's Word addresses every one of these, and it really is here that we find the bottom-line, do we really believe what God has spoken to us? Because, what I am noticing more and more in the world and in Christendom itself, is that there is a blatantly wide gulf between believing that God exists, and believing God! But that is another day, another post!

David then went on to say that there is also great reward in keeping God's Word; it would be a good thing to note that the reward is 'in the keeping' of God's Word, the reward is not 'for the keeping' of His Word. Meditate on this and let me know what you think!

In v. 12 David asks, "Who can discern his errors?" This is a rhetorical question, meaning that the answer is in the question itself, and the answer is...'no one'. Only God alone knows the inclinations of the human heart, Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways..."

Even in the doing of what we would consider 'good' works, our motives or attitudes of the heart might be stinking, literally to high heaven! No wonder the Psalmist cried out to God asking, "Create in me a pure heart and renew a right spirit within me!" (Psalm 51:10) Look, we all have hidden faults, hidden sins, we just plain do, and we are in desperate need of the Word of God to show us, just like in a mirror, those areas of sin in our lives. (James 1)

We see this in Psalm 139:23-24 where David prays and asks God, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there my any harmful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." What is this everlasting way? well, we saw it in Psalm 19:9, it is the way of the Word of God!

David asked God in v.13 to keep him back from presumptuous sins, I liken this to praying... "Lord save me from myself!" You know, I think a whole lot gets blamed on the enemy of our souls when we should be looking a little closer to home - James 1:14 tells us that "each one is tempted when he is carried away by his own lust." Satan might set out the bait, but it be all about us and the intent of our hearts, whether we are bitin' it or not! When I am eating of the Living Word of God, I am full, I am satisfied, and no stinking dead bait of the enemy will smell good after I've eaten at God's own banquet table! You know what I am sayin' - I know that you do.

So, a presumptuous sin are those sins that are in open defiance and rebellion against God's revealed Word, brought about by our own lusts, baited by the enemy. So David was not only praying to be cleansed of hidden sin, but he was also asking God to restrain him from running directly into open sin. If ever a man ran head-long into this blatant kind of sin it was David. He seemed to be minding his own business one day, looks out a window, sees a naked woman in a tub (the bait) and he bit, hook line and sinker. Not only did he sleep with another man's wife and get her pregnant, but he plotted, and had carried out, the murder of that woman's husband. You can believe that David was praying this particular prayer, knowing the kind of man that he was capable of being apart from God.

Most of the time, people believe sin, in all of it's various forms, to be freedom - after all that was the lie that was sold in the garden and many have fallen for it ever since. But God knows that sin itself is slavery, and keep in mind this, that every action we commit, whether in word or deed, whether good or bad, first begins as an intention of the heart. I remember years ago hearing this... that sin will take you farther than you ever intended to go, keep you longer that you every intended to stay, and cost you more than you ever intended to pay. God knows this, and longs for us to be set free of it - through the humility of confession and repentance that leads to salvation, YES! But also through the confession and repentence and godly sorrow that needs to come simply by being a child of God living in an earthly body!

I am not talking about living any way that you want and claiming that contrary living to the Word of God is not sin; or, confessing that it is sin, but that claiming that God is an understanding and forgiving God, so you ask forgiveness and go out and commit the same sin again, until it becomes a habitual way of life! A true child of God will ALWAYS be grieved over sin in their life, because the Holy Spirit in them grieves! For this we have this assurance, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His Word is not in us." 1 John 1:9-10

Verse 14 is my "take away" verse from this Psalm. That the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in God's sight, for He is my Rock and He is my Redeemer. My eyes are to be on Him and Him alone; I am to take my counsel and direction from Him and Him alone. And girls, isn't it true, that when we know His good pleasure, His particular joy is made full in us! And this joy of the Lord is our blessed strength!

Remember the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" that I quoted in part yesterday - well, let's hear the rest of it...

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow -
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided -
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

This is how the servant of God witnesses in this world, right along side creation and the Word of God - His grace covering us, His Holy Spirit (Who leads us into all Truth) in us, and His glory (well, I declare) revealed through us!

I can hardly wait to hear what you have all gleaned from this Psalm this week!

Summer in the Psalms - Week Two Gathering Place, PART ONE

Hi Girls! Welcome to our Week Two Gathering in our Summer in the Psalms series, this week our focus being Psalm 19! I'm thinkin' that this is going to have to be a two part installment... it was just too good to try and condense down into one posting!

The theme of this Psalm is all about God's revelation to man - which in itself just astounds me, I mean to know that God Himself speaks to us - mankind, who every one of us was born into sin (Romans 5:12) and has no natural inclination to listen to God, and yet He graciously continues to speak, and through Psalm 19 we see Him speaking in three very specific ways. He speaks in the heavens (v.1-6), He speaks in the Scriptures (v.7-11) and He speaks in the soul (v.12-14).

One of the first things that I saw, was that each of these three instances of 'speaking', can be taken in the context of witnessing. In v. 1-6 we see the witness of the heaven's "telling" the glory of God; in v. 7-11 we see the witness of the Scriptures declaring the Word of God; and in v. 12 -14 we see the witness of the servant of God. Let's take a closer look at the first witness, that of the natural revelation of God's glory...

Psalm 19 was written by David, and it is clear that he was quite moved by simply observing that the heavens, in all of their expanse, were 'telling', not only of the glory of God, but also 'declaring' the very work of God's hands. It brought me such joy to see that it was the sun that David highlighted as the dominating influence in this witness! Light dispels darkness girls!

Now, if you could indulge me for a moment, I would like to look at something that is, in my opinion, just too good to pass up! I would like to contrast for a moment the 'sun' in Psalm 19 being a witness and glorifying God, with the 'Son' in Hebrews 1 being a witness and glorifying God.

I'm almost sure that some of you saw that word 'glory' in v. 1 and were probably thinking about what you learned through your study in John about glory. The word 'glory', whether in the New Testament Greek (DOXA) or the Old Testament Hebrew (KABOWD), carries with it the same meaning - to glorify God is to simply 'give a correct opinion, or estimate of Him'. So, in Psalm 19 we see the heavens 'telling' of the glory of God, by giving a correct opinion, a right estimate of Him, and using the sun to highlight this witness!

OK, so now this is where I got really excited in my own observations this week! I turned to Hebews 1:1 and saw the Son giving His witness of the glory of God..."God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets (that would be the Old Testament Scriptures girls, one of the three ways that He speaks in Psalm 19!), in many portions and many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the world. And He (the Son) is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His (God's) nature and upholds all things by the Word of His power." Jesus is the ultimate Witness and it gets even better!

Now, back to Psalm 19. So we see that God's power and glory are seen in creation. Today, as far as I can see, science would have us study 'natural laws' and leave God out of the equation, but the Psalmist looked at the expanse of the heavens and saw God! There are so many powerful Scripture passages that reveal God as Creator, many of them I spent time contemplating this week as I sat outside under the wide expanse of the sky - here are a few if you would like to read them...Psalm 8, Psalm 29 and Isaiah 40:12-31.

Jesus Himself pointed others to look at the lilies of the field and the birds of the air in order for them to then in turn look beyond these 'natural' things and see the Father behind them all, as Creator, Sustainer, Provider (Matthew 6:24-34). Creation itself is not to be worshipped, we are to worship the Creator, yet creation ministers to our weary souls and continually speaks of the power and magnificence and glory and presence of God, pointing us to Him, the sustainer of Life. We will see later, that the enjoyment of creation itself is not Life giving, but simply points to the One Who is the giver of Life, through His Son, Jesus.

I saw something interesting in v. 2 - although the heavens are 'telling' and their expanse is 'declaring', and even though day and night they pour forth 'speech' and reveal 'knowledge'...there is no speech, there are no words, their voice is not audibly heard. Now, I do not want to take this farther than I ought, but let me suggest to you what I believe to be true...that there were no words, because The Word, praise God, was yet to come!

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him (didn't we just see that in Hebrew 1:1?) and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being....and the Word became FLESH and dwelt among us, and we saw His GLORY..." (John 1:1-3, 14a)

Creation itself speaks a universal language to all people groups and nations, pointing them to God and ultimately salvation. "For since the CREATION of the world, His (God's) invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

Did you know that nature preaches a thousand sermons a day to the human heart? Think for instance about the cycle of each day, beginning with light and moving to darkness, from waking to sleeping - this is a picture of life without God. Remember in John when Jesus said, "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light so that darkness does will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." (John 12:35-36)

Each and every 24 hours, we have a reminder of this through our morning and night. Thing is, when it gets dark, artificial light has become quite popular! Or how about thinking about the seasons, from spring to winter, or even the seasons of life itself - life to death. Throughout Scripture we see examples of the grass being mown down (Isaiah 40:6-8) or a tree cut down (Luke 13:6-9, Matthew 3:10), or fire destroying the waste (Matthew 13:40-42). These are all the activities of nature but they are also lessons for the human heart. Let's be honest here, most people would really rather not think about such things, but nevertheless, everyday the heaven's are faithfully declaring the glory of God and pointing to Him and the salvation that only He can give, and as we will see tomorrow, God never intended that we leave all this 'declarin' solely up to the heavens...like Scarlett O'Hara, we need to be sayin' "Well, I do declare!" and then be about declarin' it!

You know, I cannot help but think back to last week and what we learned from Psalm 16...that those who go after other gods, other things, other stuff, that their sorrows will increase - but for those that belong to God there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore; there is counsel and security and we can look at all nature and know that all nature is pointing towards our Father God and doing it with great delight! (I mean take a look at some of the colours in a garden alone, creation delights in showing off the glory of God!)

The following hymn is just bursting from my heart this morning and so I am going to share a portion of it with you, (listen, just be grateful that all you have to do is read it and not actually hear me sing it, and count that as a mercy from God Himself!)...

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest;
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hands have provided -
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto to me!

Now, away you go and enjoy your God through His creation - and for Heaven's sake, go right ahead and take great delight in glorifying God right along with all the rest of creation, after all you are a "planting of the Lord for the display of His Splendor!" Isaiah 61:3

June Giveaway!

Well, here it is, the Summer in the Psalms Giveaway for June is - an Altered Journal!

I was so excited to offer this because honestly, I just love the one that I have recently made for myself and I wanted you to have the chance to have one too!

The one I am showing you is actually mine, and while each one that I have made is quite unique, no two being alike, they are all lovely!

Each Journal's pages are stitched (not glued), have a ribbon closure and the front and back covers are coated, inside and out for durability.

The reason that I chose this particular one for myself is because it was inspired by the title of the book, "The Secret Garden", by Frances Hodgson Burnett, a favorite book of mine when I was a young girl.

If you do not presently Journal, why not begin today? If you would like me to post some Journaling suggestions to get you started, just let me know! Through the years, I have noticed that my approaches to Journaling have changed, as the Lord changes me. The Psalmists Journaled...and so can you! And remember, each and every time you leave a comment, through the month of June, your name goes into the draw for the Altered Journal Giveaway!

Flowers On My Doorstep

What is it with all these lovely gifts that are being left on my doorstep? This is what I found awaiting me on Saturday afternoon after arriving home - a gorgeous black and white vase, a little package of needles and a plaqued clothing hook for the wall, along with a touching little card from my sister Linda (aka BabaLinda).

I know exactly where these delightful gifts will be placed - and so does Linda!

My Little Sewing Room is in the process of being planned and brought into fruition.

The plan is to have it suggest a little French boutique (now with a little touch of London!), with a large round mirrored bureau, a pedestal table by the window (now to be adorned with this gorgeous vase), and with black and white floral floor length drapes to frame it. Linda, THANK YOU!


Why my Father has blessed me with such precious flowers in my garden of friendships is beyond me, but He has deemed it as such and I am one grateful child!

Flowers On My Doorstep are not just the lovely outpouring of gifts from my sisters hearts towards me, but they are my sisters themselves...every one of you that God has placed upon the doorstep of my life, I count as precious, each one of you have found a "placement" in my life, and just the thought of you brings joy to me each and every day. I can indeed declare along with Paul, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all...".

And just to keep me humble, here is a picture of my beautiful granddaughter yesterday - grabbing a handful of her Grandma's hair and putting her whole little body into the tugging of it...and don't you know that I was loving every minute of it!

Summer in the Psalms - Week Two Reading

Hi Girls! Well, it is the beginning of a brand new week and don't you believe for one second that you will be the same girl going into it as you are going to be coming out of it! I am always amazed that God, Who is Himself, as well as His purposes, unchanging (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 6:17)), is all about changing us - from glory to glory I might add! (2 Corinthians 3:18)

This week, as you continue in His Word, you will be filled with the restoration of your soul, the rejoicing of your heart, the enlightening of your eyes and spiritual wisdom - and if you think that I am being just a little bit over enthusiastic, then this Week's Reading is just for you. Enjoy your reading of Psalm 19! And see you back here on Thursday!

I'm A Happy Girl!

Look what I found on my doorstep late yesterday afternoon! A dear sister (thank you sweetheart!) decided that she was going to bless me with my favorite indulgence...plain, sea salted Kettle Chips! I am saving them for Sunday evening - I'm a happy girl!

And, also inside this little bag was a CD of a singing group that (horrors!) I had never heard of before...Il Divo. I showed my husband and he knew who they were right away - where on earth have I been? - completely out of the loop it would seem.

So, I have music to listen to and a treat to indulge in...like I said, I'm a happy girl!

Summer in the Psalms - Week One Gathering Place

Well girls, how did you enjoy your first Psalm of the Summer? I purposely did not give you any direction, other than to ask that you read and meditate and live out what you were able to glean for yourself over these past three days. My whole intent was to allow you to sense where you are in relation to studying without direction or an outline of any sort. For some, the freedom of this can seem quite daunting, with questions like, "well, what am I supposed to do - just sit and read it? Then what?"

Today, before we actually look at this particular Psalm, I would like to share with you my own personal approach this week, in the hopes that perhaps it will deepen your time of study and meditation in the weeks to come. Although it is my express intent this summer not to study inductively beyond the basics of observation, interpretation and application - you will probably notice that some other aspects of inductive study will just naturally unfold into my time in God's Word.

The first thing that I did was to prepare a book bag with all that I will need - my Bible, a journal, pens, pencils, reading glasses (hey, age happens!), bottled water, and anything else that will allow me to have undisturbed time without jumping up because I don't have what I need. I will not always be reading or studying in the same place during the summer, so a book bag is easy to grab and put in the car or carry outside to study on the deck or under a shady tree.

With my book bag all prepared, next comes my own personal preparation. For those of you that were in my study last year what I am about to say next will be a refresher for you - for others, it may be brand new...it is regarding the way in which we approach God's Word...

We are to approach God's Word as God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s Word is alive... it is a living, active Word. Every time you open the Bible to read or study, it comes to you with a warm breath, fresh out of God's mouth, you will never be able to separate the Word of God from the mouth of God, ever. Don't ever think that what you read yesterday is old news...God's Word is fresh for you today sweetheart, believe it!

In Isaiah 55:10-11 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we can clearly see that God speaks an accomplishing Word over us. Every time you open your Bible, God is all about accomplishing something in you, accomplishing a good work in you - and by the way, He will (Philippians 1:6) be faithful to complete it! God is all about equipping us for today and for what lies ahead, so we are to approach God’s Word like no other book - having respect for the Bible whenever we open it, knowing that every time we do open it's cover, God's mouth is literally opening towards us, the mouth and voice of God Himself - it is your right, as a child of God, to be able to spiritually sense the warm, living and active, FRESH breath from God, each and every time you open His Word.

We are to approach God's Word with the Spirit's filling. The moment that we are born again, the moment we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior - having acknowledged in humility through confession and repentance our sinful state and His death on the cross as payment for our sin - His Holy Spirit immediately takes up residency in us…literally the very Spirit of Christ…and we are then, at that moment indwelt by the Holy Spirit. God speaks to us by His Spirit and it is His Spirit that leads us into all truth. It is imperative then, when approaching God's Word, that we ask Him for the infilling of the Spirit to “open our eyes that we might behold wondrous things from His Word" (Psalm 119:18)...very often this is the missing link when we open the Word of God, and so it remains dry to us. God's Words are spiritually discerned - without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit any study of Scripture will simply be an intellectual pursuit...or worse, a complete and utter frustration.

Approach God's Word ready...when God talks, talk back! We need to not just read God’s Word…but actively respond to it! God is about relationship…not just scholarship - if you are completely lost in Deuteronomy or Leviticus, for heaven's sake tell Him and ask Him to give you understanding! Understanding then may come through your own further personal study of His Word or perhaps through your study group, your pastor or your teachers.

Or perhaps you are suddenly hit with a spirit of unbelief. Then tell Him (Mark 9:24) and ask Him to increase your faith! Sometimes, it is just a matter of not being able to stay awake during Bible reading or study, once again, tell Him! Talk to Him about what He is speaking to you...dialogue back with whatever it is that is upon your heart and mind...listen girls, God already knows our hearts and minds, but when we open our mouths to Him then we are actually living in a full on relationship with Him. Honestly, there have been times when I have raised my hand and "high fived" God, yelling out "Yes!" as I saw unfold in Scripture His magnificence and power and let's face it...just sheer Godness! Get active in your dialogue with God, after all, the God of the Universe is walkin' with us, and talkin' with us, and tellin' us that we are His own...do we really have nothing to say back to Him? Just wears me out thinking about it!

We are to approach God's Word as healing. Psalm 107:20a tells us that God "sent forth His Word and healed them". That is just about enough to cover this particular point...He sends forth His Word and healed them...period.

Think upon this...you and I are sanctified (set apart) by God’s Word (1 Timothy 4:5)
We are healed by God’s Word (Psalm 107)
God's Word is the Word of Life (1 John 1:1)
God’s Word is Living and active (Hebrews 4:12)
And as redundant as it sounds...God’s Word – is God’s Word, for heaven's sake!

His Word is everything. Read Revelation 19:13 and see that Jesus is "THE WORD OF GOD"! Some people say that they just want a Word from God...well, we've been given the Word, He is Jesus and Jesus is God (John 20:28) and He has Spoken! Have you ever wanted to hear God speak...read His Word! it has been literally God-breathed into existence for us. And here is the thing...John 8:31 tells us that those that continue in His Word prove to be His disciples. And that is exactly what you are doing over this summer girls, you are continuing in His Word and proving yourselves to be His precious disciples!

Now, onto Psalm 16!

Monday morning was my time to spend reading through this Psalm...over and over again. As I went through it verse by verse, writing in my journal, I began to notice that with every verse a question arose within me, I will not go through every verse and response in my journaling for that initial day, but I will share a few of them with you...by the way, these questions were not just written down and left, I then took these questions and presented them to God - the reason that it is so important to take these questions that arise in our hearts, directly to God, is that quite often we begin asking ourselves...and ourselves will usually rise up and take the opportunity to answer! What sorry counsel that has the potential of becoming and hugely dangerous to our souls! Ask these questions of God and let Him, by His Holy Spirit counsel you...what refreshment this brings to our thirsting souls!

Just a little note, don't ever assume anything when reading Scripture, if you think you know what it means, then check it out, back up your position from Scripture on why you think that way...a little time consuming, but well worth it!

v.1 I know that I belong to the Lord -but do I always take refuge in Him?; or have I begun to take refuge (comfort and security) in the things of this world? Is this "preservation" in this verse a one time thing that comes with salvation, or a continual "preserving"?

v. 3 Is all of my delight in the saints that are upon the earth?; do I truly consider them to be majestic?

v.5 All that I have, all of my days, the time that I live in, the body that I have are all given to me by God; do I truly view them as such?

v.7 The counsel of the Lord goes deep - instructing me even as I sleep; am I then blessing the Lord by truly walking in the counsel that He has given me?

v.8 Setting the Lord continually before me and acknowledging the reality of His continual presence at my right hand is my responsibility...do I actively engage my thoughts towards this reality and walk accordingly?

The following day, Tuesday, I again read through Psalm 16 in the morning, again in the afternoon and then later that evening. At each point during the day, I perhaps read it through 7 or 8 times - each time taking notes in my journal...what follows are brief excerpts from those notes...

v. 1 "Preserve me..." - do not let me have any movement outside of Christ; I've been born again; I am a new creature in Christ, let none of the old, only the new be an evident reality in me.

v. 2 Humility of the heart before God, posture of humility and yielding to Him and His will, ways and purposes...He is my Good.

v. 3 I do take delight in my sisters!; when those who claim the Name of Jesus bring dishonour to His Name Philippians 4: 8 it!; When I am disappointed or grieved by their actions or words Philippians 4:8 it!; take my delight in the saints who are on the earth!

v. 4 Daily awareness of those things which are idols; turn from them; point others to the One True God as I faithfully serve Him; do not speak or lift up false gods or idols, nor uphold those who pursue them.

v.5 The Lord Himself is my portion; He is my inheritance; He is also my cup (which, Psalm 23 tells me overflows!); He supports my lot, He is the One that holds all things concerning me.

v. 6 The boundary lines, the defining lines of my life and all that concerns me have fallen in pleasant places; there is a 'cease striving' in this reality; ask God to give me eyes to see the abundant provision of this; let my heritage be increasingly beautiful to me as I see it unfold throughout the pages of Scripture and in the reality of my own life.

v. 7 The Lord Himself Counsels me - astonishing! empowering!; this instruction and counsel is living and active in me, even instructing me in the night; it is my purpose to daily, moment by moment, bless the Lord in the living out before Him, and others, His wise and sufficient counsel.

v.8 Purposeful daily living, setting the Lord continually before me; being fully aware of the reality of His close presence, will assure my not being shaken.

v. 9 Because of this awareness and assurance, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely (for time and eternity)

v. 10 My soul will not be abandoned by God, nor will my body undergo permanent decay.

v. 11 God Himself will make known to me the path of life (Psalm 23 - the path of Life is the path of righteousness); live daily in His presence where there is fullness of joy; in God's right hand there are pleasure forever (contrast this with v. 4)

On Wednesday, I took those notes and began to do a deeper study. I meditated on the fact that God Himself is my cup which runneth over. I studied further what it means to have "my glory rejoice". I contrasted the sorrows that would be multiplied to those that follow after other gods with the fact that in God's presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures forever. I further pursued the reality of my inheritance being God Himself and my heritage in the faith. Now, this initial Week One Gathering Place post is different, in that I am simply showing you my own process in going through the Psalms and also in the fact that I am writing out simple notes from my journal. From now on, these posts will contain the FINAL results of my reading and study without showing the process!

You probably noticed that Psalm 16 is referred to in the Bible as a Mikhtam of David. Mikhtam in the original Hebrew means "gold or precious", 6 of the 150 Psalms are titled in this way. So we know that David wrote this particular Psalm and that it was considered to be as precious as gold.

There are many scholars that believe this Psalm is speaking of Jesus because of what they read in Acts 2:25-28 and Acts 13:35...however, these Scriptures only refer to Psalm 16:10 which is definitely pointing to Christ and we know this from the context of the verses in Acts.

Some believe that Psalm 16 is exclusively about David - however, that is completely contrary to what we have read in Acts.

Others say that Psalm 16 is applicable to David as a "type" or "foreshadowing" of Christ, but this cannot be the case since we know that David "saw corruption".

Some say that the first part of Psalm 16 is referring to David and the second part to Christ, but, there is no change in the subject of the first person "I or my" as we move through verse by verse; the one who is appealing to God for help in verse 1 is the same one who is rejoicing in verse 11!

Consider with me, if you will, that perhaps the "precious as gold" aspect of this Psalm is in part, due to the fact that it applies, in it's entirety, both to Christ and David - but also to us! Girls, we have just left the book of John, remember Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane? In view of the sufferings set before Him did He not call upon the Father to "preserve Him", yet not His will but the Father's be done? We learned that Jesus only and always did those things that were pleasing to the Father and only spoke those things that were the very words of the Father, so did He not "continually set the Lord God before" Him, did He not "bless the Lord God, Who counselled Him"? Are we not also to become more and more like Christ, being transformed into the image of the Son? Doing those things that Jesus did? These things that we read through Psalm 16 are indeed as precious as gold because they relate and speak to us as well as of David, through belief. We too, as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17) will one day know the joy of being given glorified bodies, of not having our souls abandoned to Sheol! This is just about doin' me in...have you any idea the restraint I need to use in order not to begin teaching out of Romans and Hebrews right now...Lord, have mercy!

OK girls, I'll see you in Cathie's Cafe, through the comment link! I need to hear what you have gleaned throughout these past few days! The additional three days of Friday through Sunday are intended for us to dialogue with one another, learning and growing together and for meditating on all that we have learned through His precious Word!

Summer Windup!

Last Thursday, our Bible Study group gathered for our Summer Windup at Marnie and Angie's home - and it was such a lovely afternoon! I had fully intended on taking a ton of pictures, but when I went to take a picture of the punch bowl my camera reminded me that its internal memory card was full and I had left my other one back home in my computer - Margaret has graciously lent her camera as the eyes of that afternoon...thank you Margaret!

The above "bathing beauties" drew me into their midst as we hammed it up for the camera...and check out those poses - no need to serve cheesecake, we were definitely IT!

The grounds were just gorgeous and the weather just added to the beauty...

Ever loving the garden, I was able to snap these two pictures (with Margaret's camera) of Marnie's White Lilac (the smell was intoxicating!)...

and this alert little planting that Marnie or Angie will have to let you know the name of in the comment section of this post!

The openness and expanse of the yard lent itself well to relaxation and good fellowship....

Even Angie seemed to be able to sit down for a few minutes and enjoy the relaxation of the afternoon...

Ooops! I spoke too soon...there she is, off and running again!

Each of the girls received their little 'Believe' lavender sachet and Marnie presented each of us with a cheery pink carnation - but only after we guessed who we thought was our Secret Sister for the year. Some of us (and we know who we are) had already figured it out, but what fun it was to see the girls that completely were surprised! Debbie thought for sure it was me, when her Secret Sister was actually Linda, Joan thought that hers was Jan when it was really me...it was fun watching each others reactions.

And when I was presented with a beautiful rose bush named "Lovestruck", I was just about completely "dumbstruck"! Never had I expected anything like this - these girls have each found a special and unique place in my heart and this gift will be enjoyed and treasured as much as I enjoy and treasure them...another beautiful planting in my garden!

I knew that I would have to open my cards when I had a quiet moment at home. Later on that evening, as I opened and read each one, my heart was full and overflowing in thankfulness and joy. I watched as God hand picked each one of these women to be in this class at this particular time, their growth in faith and joy in the Lord is so evident...I consider it an honour to be counted among your number ladies.

I was also the happy recipient of two books, now on my summer reading list! Thank you girls! Amazingly, they both have a common theme...the Names of God and the Names of our Lord. As I think about the joy that we had in John as we saw Jesus reveal Himself as the Living Water and the Bread of Life (among many other names), I will certainly enjoy leisurely reading through these wonderful books! along with trying out my new calligraphy pens and instructions that a certain girl tucked into her card for me...Hmmmm, who could that possibly be? Thank you sweetheart!

And do I even dare continue with this almost 'embarrassment of riches'? As I was preparing to leave after a most enjoyable afternoon, I was presented, in the most sincere and tenderest of ways, with this extraordinary handmade garden chair. It was thoughtfully made by one of my sisters husbands (oh brother, can you see how easily I could get into trouble by not proofing my blogs...you need to know that she only has one husband!) who harvested and fashioned the tree branches by hand, as a gift to me. I was a puddle, and can't even tell you how I made it home in one piece. And here is the thing, my husband had asked me early that morning if I would mind taking the truck that day as he preferred to use the car to go to work...could God be any more providing than that? So there I was, rose bush, cards, carnation, books (calligraphy pens and directions) and chair all loaded into my truck and I don't think I have yet come out of the 'wonder of it all'!

Thank you girls, for a most "wonder-full" afternoon and year spent together in the study of God's Word, I have said it before and I will say it again...if ever a girl's cup ranneth over, it would surely, surely, be mine!

Summer in the Psalms - Week One Reading

Welcome, to our very first week of Summer in the Psalms!

Each Monday over the next 12 weeks, we will all be meeting here to recieve our new Psalm of the Week. Throughout that week, we will be reading, meditating, praying and applying all that we learn regarding that particular Psalm.

Thursdays will be our Gathering time! On Thursdays, I will be posting all that I have personally gleaned, in the hopes that you will join in on the discussion, spreading the blessing around by sharing all that you have recieved as a result of spending time in that particular Psalm. Listen girls, this can only strengthen us as sisters as we connect and dialogue our faith walk with one another this summer. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Having said that, I just need to let you know that I will not be covering, indepth, such things as the parallelism of the Psalms - for instance the synonymous, antithetical and synthetic parallelism; nor will I be doing an indepth study of the themes of the Psalms - such as the liturgical, Messianic, penitential, imprecatory, relational, historical, praise etc. (I am giggling as I write this as I imagine some of you collectively sighing in relief!)

Every single one of us knows that there are times that truly, all we are needing at that particular moment is a simple drink of the Living Water...during those times, we don't need to know all the molecular structure of it, we simply know that we thirst...well, this is my invitation to you to come and drink.

As we spend this Summer together in the Psalms, it is my prayer that this will be a time of soul refreshment, healing and renewal for you and for me. Come and join us! Hey, we may not all be able to find a tropical palm to sit under this summer, but we can surely sit under a topical Psalm!

And here is it - your Psalm for this week is... Psalm 16! Now, off you go to drink and be refreshed!

See you back here on Thursday!