Summer in the Psalms - Week Seven Gathering Place, PART TWO

Hi girls, and welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the change of pace this week as you all gathered together to write the posting yesterday, you did a fabulous job - I was blessed by both your depth of insight and your willingness and eagerness to share. Some of you seemed to like the challenge of the change - I love to hear that!

Yesterday, Debbie and Angie each had a question - Debbie was wondering about the placement of the word 'even' in v. 9 - you will notice in your Bible that this word is in italics (the word itself being slanted), this was done by the translators to show that this word is not found in the original writings of Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic, but it is implied and so added to give even better clarity. Take out the italicized word, and you will see the sentence as it was written originally. Debbie, personally, there are times that I think they should have just left it, but in this instance, I really like the added emphasis, I mean the Psalmist is basically saying, "Look, you have made the LORD - Who, by the way, is my refuge - your dwelling place, and I'm just needing you to know, that He is not only the LORD, but He is THE MOST HIGH!... you just can't be getting any higher than THE MOST HIGH!"

Now, Angie was wondering if she had interpreted v.15-16 correctly by assessing that 'honour' was meaning salvation. The short answer Angie is, yes! Think about it this way, we learned from our study in John this past year (John 5:23) that the word 'honour' basically means 'to give place to'. So, on this side of the cross, God honours us by giving us 'spiritual place'; that through salvation in Christ we are now seated in heavenly places in Christ (Colossians 3:1-3). During the time of the Psalmist, God gave 'physical place' to His people that pointed to the spiritual yet to come. If you would like we can discuss this more when we meet in the Comment Cafe!

OK, so, I was thinking that I would perhaps talk a little about the promises that we see in Psalm 91; the conditions of those promises; how we are to interpret and apply those promises Biblically; and then perhaps touching on the subject of 'knowing His Name'. Maybe not in that exact order, but let's see how far we can get!

Before we get into the promises though, let's do a quick overview - did you know, that in all probability, this particular Psalm was written by Moses just at the very beginning of the wilderness wandering of God's chosen people? If not, then take a look at the superscription of Psalm 90 - go ahead, look ... I'll wait for you!

Can you just imagine, as you read the first verse of Psalm 91, Moses standing before the people and proclaiming to them, with great authority and with the weighing of each word, "He who abides in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." I mean, there is no mistaking his point here - if you are dwelling then you are abiding! And don't even get me started on that, just go ahead and read John 15!

After the psalmist makes this proclamation, he then makes clear where he personally stands in all this, "I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, My God, in Whom I trust!'" I consider this declaration to be absolutely magnificent, right up there with the confession of Thomas in John 20:28; and by the way, due to my fondness for emphasis, the use of the exclamation mark just endears this psalmist to me more than I can express!!! He then goes on, throughout v.3-13 to declare the results of abiding and trusting in God, and then in v.15-16 we see the confirmation of God Himself over His Word through the psalmist.

One of the reasons that this Psalm is so well-worn is that it is full of God's promises, some of these being more obvious than others. As I initially read through, the promises that I noted first were those that were directly linked to God Himself - for instance, in v. 4 "He will cover you..." or v. 11 "He will give His angels charge concerning you..."; then I noted all of the many other promises, such as v.5 "you will not be afraid..." or v.10 "no evil will befall you..." . It is so important not to miss that the reality of these promises in a person's life, all hinge on three things found in v.14-15 ... that the (he) loves Me; that (he) knows my Name; that (he) prays.

How about if we look at these three things a little closer?

The best way that I know how to describe loving God is what we saw in John 21, it is AGAPEO love... loving God in His best interest. This is the love that Jesus had for God, Jesus Who only and always did those things that were pleasing to the Father. In John 21, Peter definitely loved Jesus, but it was a PHILEO love, a 'brotherly' love. Jesus knew that for Peter to be able to endure all that lay ahead of him, he would need an AGAPEO love for Jesus, and in 1 Peter 1:6-9 we see that Peter surely did grow from loving Jesus like a brother to loving Jesus in Jesus' best interest, and this AGAPEO love in Peter led him to glorify God right up until the moment of his death.

This kind of love flows out of the heart that KNOWS the Name of God. Knowing God's Name will only deepen our love for Him - this 'knowing' of His Name is crucial. To keep this as simple as I know how, John 1:1,14 tells us that, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us... " Jesus is God and Jesus is the Word. In Revelation 19:13 we see Jesus returning and we are told, "He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is called The Word of God.

I can honestly tell you that the knowledge of this has governed my whole entire Christian life and praise God, I have never veered from it. Girls, if you want to know God's Name, you must be in His Word! Look back now at Psalm 91:14-15. God says, "because he has loved ME; because he has known MY NAME; he will call upon ME..." We need to be knowing God as He Himself is revealing Himself, not the way that we ourselves want to think of Him as being. That only leads to idolatry, the creating of a god of our own making and design. I cannot tell you how often, through years of leading studies, that women have said to me that they do not read the Old Testament because the God of the Old Testament is a demanding and wrathful God and that they prefer Jesus of the New Testament; Jesus 'meek and mild'. This drives me to absolute distraction! In John 14, Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father and Jesus answered saying, "Have I been so long with you, and yet YOU HAVE NOT COME TO KNOW ME Philip? He Who has seem Me has seen the Father..." To know God as He would have us know Him, to call on Him in prayer as He would have us call on Him in prayer, to love Him as He would have us love Him, is to KNOW Him as He really is, and not pick and choose those attributes that are only pleasing to us and deny or close our eyes to others. If we do that we will never know that fullness of the NAME of God.

You may think that I have said to much regarding this, but if the whole of the promises of the Psalm are hinged on this, and they are, then it is vital for us to know. Having said that however, it is important to understand that we cannot 'force feed' ourselves to know the fullness of His Name. The knowing of His Name daily unfolds throughout our life - Abraham came to know God's Name as Provider when the ram was caught in the thicket; Hagar came to know God's Name as The God Who Sees when she and her son lay in a barren desert dying of thirst. It is the experiencing of the reality of His Name that we come to truly KNOW His Name.

OK, so how do we Biblically interpret and apply the promises that we have read throughout Psalm 19? We already know from our lesson a few days ago that everything that was true physically of Israel as God's chosen people is true spiritually of God's chosen people on this side of the cross today. For instance, the believer in Christ is spiritually safe, just as Israel was physically safe when the first born of Egypt were killed (Exodus 12:23). There is a physical 'deadly pestilence' and there is a spiritual 'deadly pestilence'; believer's are safe from the spiritual deadly pestilence and plague of sin and the death that are it's ultimate wages. Can God save a believer from the physical ravages of cancer by healing him, of course! Does God always? No, not always. But spiritually, the believer is safe from the death grip of sin and we need not fear.

There is so much more that this Psalm contains, but I will leave it there for now.

Personally, Psalm 91 is well worn and marked in my Bible, God has used it to minister to my soul time and time again over these past 20 years. I have committed to memory "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and fortress, My God in Whom I trust!" He has caused my heart to be tender before Him and to know that my soul has found it's rest in Him. And because my dwelling is now in the shelter of the Most High God Himself, I am hidden in Christ... it is any wonder that no plague of this world can touch my 'tent'... after all He is my 'Tent', my Dwelling Place. I praise you Lord!

OK girls, once again you know my disclaimer... don't have time to proof so let me know if there is anything that is spiritually downright dangerous otherwise, just grace me!

Love,

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

Good Morning girls, and welcome to your Gathering Place! A big thank you to those of you who have taken the time and effort to contribute to this posting, and to the spiritual growth of your sisters, with your thoughts and insights of Psalm 91. It is a Psalm that I have returned to over and over again, for many years, and I have thoroughly enjoyed just sitting under the blessing of it this week.

I will be posting my comments tomorrow, but for today, I am going to sit back and let you sisters have a good visit together, discussing all that you have learned and gleaned and been blessed with this week as you have been reading through and meditating upon Psalm 91. So, here are a few of your contributions to get your time in the Comment Cafe rolling... talk to you soon! Cathie


Hi Cathie,

Once again I have fallen in love with a Psalm. To think that I am so protected, loved and guarded is overwhelming to me. I do not know if I can possibly do justice to this Psalm but I will try. I will continue to digest verses 1-13 but I am brought to my knees by verses 14,15 and 16. This is my Heavenly Father speaking and confirming the previous verses. It took me a while to "get it" but when I did, it took my breath away! In verse 14 it says "Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him". I was brought back to the book of John and all that it meant when we "Abide in Him". I am protected because I know His name. It made me think that sometimes his name is so abused and used in ways that grieve Him. To really know His name is a study in itself and I believe it pleases Him when we do. I could fill this page with all the names He is to me. Because I know "His Names" I can have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. He says that He honours me and that is more than my mind can comprehend. Am I right Cathie, that this honour means eternal life with Him? That is what I got from it because verse 16 then says, "with long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation". My interpretation was, eternal life with Him and all the joy that will bring. When He showed me His salvation, that meant to me."He gave me His Son". His Son is my Lord and Saviour, who died for me so that I might have all of the above. I have personalized this but the wonderful thing is that it is for EVERYONE who will receive this for themselves. There is so much to say about this Psalm and I am looking forward to learning so much more from you Cathie, as well as all my sisters who are in this "Summer in the Psalms" with me. Are we not having a great time!!!

Love, Angie

Hi Cathie,

Psalm 91, verse 1 reminds me that a shadow is right beside a person, so he who dwells near God will be covered by His shadow,like a bird that spreads its wings to cover & protect its young so God protects those who seek refuge in Him.
Verse 6-8 is a reference to the Angel of the Lord striking down the Assyrians who had come to capture Jerusalem 2: Kings 19:35
This chapter tells of God's wonderful deliverance - how God strikes the Assyrians down and later causes the king Sennacherib's demise.
Verse 11 Satan misquoted this verse to Jesus when He was in the wilderness, he left out "to guard you in all your ways"
Then in vs14-15 God is now speaking. v15 God promises many times in the Bible that those who call on Him He will answer, He will rescue & honor him. Jesus also says this in John 12:26 that if anyone serves Him, His Father will honor them
The Lord will do the work - we will stand and see His victory.

Margaret

Dear Cathie - I wish I had words to describe the blessings I have received from this Psalm. What can I say, except I have experienced the wonderful promises to be true! An encouraging promise to claim in each verse.
Our God is faithful. Blessings - Elizabeth

Hi Cathie, Great idea. Your last journal was such a great idea and so is this. I am sure there are many of us who would love to have it!I just loved this psalm and can hardly wait for tomorrow to see what you have for us. I was a bit puzzled in vs 9 with the word "even" could you explain why it is there? Thanks so much, Debbie

July Giveaway!

Hi Girls! I've finally taken the time to actually sit down and post your July Giveaway, you have all been so patient! I was thinking that because the Journal from last month seemed to be quite popular I might as well go ahead and make another one - the theme of this Journal is 'Life'...hope you like it, and remember, each time you leave a comment your name goes into the draw...

Summer in the Psalms - Week Seven Reading

Good Monday morning to you and welcome. As you begin this brand new week, it is my prayer that you will powerfully know the reality of the presence of God each and every moment, and that you will know His comfort and assurance and strength.

I would encourage each of you to continue in the practice of reading out loud and committing to memory one or two verses from our selected reading and to also journal your insights and the musings of your heart.

Then, e-mail me at puregrace@telus.net anytime before 6 a.m. Thursday morning, and share what impacted you the most from this particular reading and why - I will then take these thoughts and insights and they will make up the Gathering Place post for this week.

Girls, your Psalm this week is Psalm 91... may you be blessed as you meditate upon His Word.

Summer in the Psalms - Week Six Gathering Place

Hi Girls, and welcome to our Week Six Gathering! Although Psalm 67 may be considered a 'little' one, it has been my prayer that you were able to enjoy the sheer 'bounty' of it all. There is so much to share, however, for our purposes today I'll just keep to a few of my notes from this week's reading and then perhaps in the Comment Cafe we can take it even deeper.

One of the first things that I noticed in this Psalm, upon first reading, was that v.1 seemed quite familiar to me, that's because the words of v.1 have been taken from the words of the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26. This priestly blessing was given by God to Moses, who in turn, was then to give it to Aaron and to Aaron's sons, so that they would then speak these words of blessing over the sons of Israel; and there was a purpose in it all - God says in Numbers 6:27, "So they (the priests) shall invoke (put) My Name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them."

The word 'then' found in that verse is in italics in your Bible, because it was added during translation to give clarity to the meaning, the original Hebrew does not have it. Go ahead and read that verse again, leaving that word out - did you see that? When that priestly blessing was spoken over the sons of Israel - according to God - His Name was was being put upon them...and once that Name was put upon them, God promised, "I WILL bless them."

For those of us who are fresh from our year long study in the book of John, remember with me that in Chapter 17, Jesus, while praying to the Father, said, "I am no longer in the world; yet they themselves (to keep it brief...that's us!) are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your Name, the Name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your Name which you have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished..."

During the time of Moses, the priestly blessing could only put the Name of God upon God's chosen people, Israel; but, on this side of the cross, God's chosen people do not just have the Name of God put on them... we are now kept in His Name. What does this mean? Well, read v.21,23 - the Father in Jesus, Jesus in the Father (they are One!), and v.23, Jesus in us, the Father in Jesus. I hope that you are taking the time to really get this, you just need to know the reality of where you truly are! Read Colossians 3:3... our life has now been hidden with Christ in God. This just takes my breath away each and every time I think of it. In more ways than one girls, we are Covered... we are Covered!

Now, just one thing more - John 17 has long been known as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus, and with good reason - turn with me, if you will, to Hebrews 3:5-6 where we see that while "Moses was faithful in all (God's) house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; Christ was faithful as a Son over (God's) house - Whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." We are 'the house' girls! and Jesus, Who is our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) dwells within us. And our Great High Priest does not just invoke (put) God's Name on us... He is The Blessed Name! and we are with Him, in God!

One thing to keep in mind when reading through the Old Testament - particularly when it comes to the topic of 'blessing' - is that everything that was true of God's chosen people (Israel) physically is true of God's chosen people (believer's) today, spiritually. For instance, their promised land was physically realized - our promised land is spiritually realized. In Psalm 67 there is one reference to the word 'bless' in v.1 and two references to 'blesses' in v.6-7 and here is the thing... being 'blessed' is never an end in itself - the blessing of God upon His people is to have an 'effectual' result upon others.

The prayer of v.1 includes this realization in v.2, that God's blessing and favour is to have the result of His way being made known on the earth, His salvation among all the nations, and the acknowledgement of the reality of the answer to this prayer is found in v.6-7 - that because the earth had yielded its produce (the physical blessing), God had indeed blessed them and all the ends of the earth would see and know it and fear God.

Think about what this means for us today, spiritually. It is not our full bank accounts, and our full cupboards and stomachs and our luxurious homes that causes the world to take notice - many enjoy the same things, maybe more than us! What will make the ends of the earth fear God is what has been done in God's people spiritually - the out workings of which will show the ways of God, His salvation among the nations.

I don't know if you did this, but as I was going through and marking key words throughout Psalm 67, I marked the five references to the word 'Let', each one beginning a statement in v.3 -5. The Psalmist knew that ONLY GOD HIMSELF could cause people to praise Him, could cause the nations to be glad and sing for joy, and he explains why in v.4b - because it is God Who "judges the people with uprightness and the guides the nations on the earth."

Remember how the words at the beginning of this Psalm were actually words taken from Numbers 6:24-26? Well, there is something interesting to be found there, because the reference to God in Numbers is "Yahweh", which carries with it the meaning of God being the Self Existing One, He simply is and always has been. Yet, here in Psalm 67, the word "God" is "Elohim", meaning Judge, Creator. This Psalm is showing God as all sufficient in accomplishing His purposes. Doesn't it just astound you as it does me, that the Jews of Jesus' day did not understand what their forefathers knew - that the blessing of God upon them was for the salvation of the nations, the Gentiles? They were eager to recieve the Aaronic blessing, but had forgotten the Abrahamic blessing of Genesis 12:1-3, which reads in part, "...And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

So, for me, this Psalm is all about God's glory being made evident and seen in His people; God's grace being known and received among the Gentiles; God's blessing upon His people. By the way, did you look at v.6 and wonder how the earth (physical) yielding its produce could equate with us today - oops! that thought will have to wait, I just now lifted up my eyes, looked out the window and I'm tellin' ya - it looks like those fields are white for harvest! Gotta go!

Ok, there is so much more, but I am going to leave it at that for now! Looking forward to seeing you in the Comment Cafe!

Summer in the Psalms - Week Six Reading

Good Monday Morning Girls! You know, I just realized this morning, as we enter into our Week Six Reading, that we are now exactly at the half way point in our Summer in the Psalms Series! It has been wonderful so far, and I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks! This week, I would suggest once again, that you choose a verse to memorize from the Psalm and that you would again, read aloud! This little Psalm may be short, but it contains so much - so-o-o, your Psalm for this week is... Psalm 67... enjoy!

By the way, a certain little girl had a Pool Party during our warm weather spell...just couldn't resist sharing...

Summer in the Psalms - Week Five Gathering Place

Welcome, once again, to your Gathering Place girls - I can hardly believe that another week has gone by!

This week brought me, among other things, into a study about - Jacob! So, I thought that instead of going through Psalm 51 verse by verse, I would instead just share with you a few things that stood out to me and then allow the discussion in the Comment Cafe to guide our time of learning together.

Have you been enjoying memorizing your selected verse, or verses, from this Psalm? The verses that became more and more pronounced to me were v.6; v.10; v.12 and v.15. Each day these verses have found voice in me and they have deepened my time with God and have also become journaling prompts as I have gone through this Psalm this week.

Behold, You desire Truth in my innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
(Psalm 51:6,10,12,15)

Right away, on Monday morning, the superscription at the beginning of this Psalm led me to read 2 Samuel 11-12; this is where we read the account of David; Bathsheba; her husband Uriah; and also the account of the LORD sending the prophet Nathan to David - it is within these two chapters that we also see David's response to the words of God, spoken through Nathan and how God deals with David.

2 Samuel 12:13 only tells us that David's response, when confronted with his sin is, "I have sinned against the LORD." - it's only in Psalm 51 that we get to see the depth of his confession. Because of our study of Psalm 19 in our Week Two Reading, we need to note, that the sin that David had committed in 2 Samuel 11 was not the 'hidden faults' that he had asked God to acquit him of in Psalm 19:12. Rather, the sin (iniquity) that David is now desiring God to 'wash him thoroughly' from, and the sin that he now wanted God to 'cleanse' him from (Psalm 51:.2) were 'presumptuous sins', those sins that he had prayed in Psalm 19 that God would keep him back from - that they (the presumptuous sins) would not rule over him.

This reminds me of when God was speaking with Cain in Genesis 4:7 saying, "...sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, BUT you must master it." Now, God would have never instructed Cain to 'master sin', unless Cain was able to do so - he just didn't particularly want to do so, and so he went with his flesh and sin ruled over him, the result being that he murdered his brother Able.

Same thing with David, he knew the Words (law) of God - sleeping with another man's wife and the murder of her husband was not exactly an 'oops', I made a mistake kind of thing (Exodus 20:13-14), it was completely premeditated and flew right in the face of God and His Word. By way of review, here is (in part) an excerpt from our Week Two Gathering...

David asked God in Psalm 19:13 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!.... 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.

David may have committed his sin in a dark corner (2 Samuel 12:12), yet his heart and his actions were all open and seen by God (Hebrews 4:13). According to the Word of God, sin is always first committed in the heart (mind) before it is ever committed in the flesh, yet we are told to remember that "God is greater than our hearts" (1 John 3:20) and that "If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. Yet, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness..." (1 John 1:8-9).

And here is a life lesson for us, - when confronted with his sin, David not only recognized his sin for what it was (Psalm 51:3), he also knew there was only One Who was able to cleanse him from that sin (Psalm 51:1-2), and he also knew that any sin that we ever commit, is ultimately against God and God alone, "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge." (Psalm 51: 3-4).

This Psalm is all about confession and seeking the cleansing work that only God can do; I believe that our primary lesson from this Psalm would simply be the importance of confession to God.

Think upon this Psalm and upon the forgiveness that was given to David in 2 Sam. 12:13b, in the light of 1 John 1:9-10... "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 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." 'What 'to do' is bookended on both sides by 'what not to do, these verses are huge, and they were not written to non-believers, but to born again believers, Christians! While sin cannot be the characteristic of a believers life, a habitual lifestyle - God knows that we are going to sin from time to time, and He Himself has made provision for us. We see it in Psalm 51, we see it in 1 John 1, we see it in the Person of Jesus Christ Himself!
Notice in Psalm 51:10 that David is asking for a 'clean heart' and a 'right spirit' - David knew that his sin had come from an issue within his own heart and spirit. He wanted the 'joy of (the LORD'S) salvation to be restored to him - he knew that it was his sin has caused the disruption in the absence of joy in his soul.

The word 'broken' is used four times throughout Psalm 51 - in verse 8 it is used in the context of a verb - DAKAH דָּכָה meaning 'to crush, to collapse down'. It is also used twice in verse 17 in the context of a verb, SHABAR שׁבר meaning 'to shatter, to break, to rend violently, to maim, to cripple'. So where is the fourth use of this word 'broken'? It is in the word 'contrite', which translates SHABAR meaning 'to shatter, to break, to rend violently, to maim, to cripple'. This just astounded me and took this study in a whole different direction, it took me to Jacob.

Without going into all the details, think about this... in Genesis 32, Jacob not only came face to face with God (v.30), but he also came face to face with himself (v.27).

We know from v. 30 that the 'man' that Jacob wrestled all night with was God. Because of v.29 I do not personally believe that Jacob knew Who he had been wrestling with (much like us, when our flesh wrestles against God and His ways and purposes -many people may not be aware that they are actually wrestling against God)- but as dawn is breaking, God finally touches Jacob's hip and puts it out of joint (you can see how this is with us as well!). Jacob is in no position to further wrestle with God (he never really was, but God allowed him the room for a time) but instead he clings to Him and tells the 'man' that he will not stop clinging to Him until the 'man' blesses him. God then asks Jacob his name and he confesses his true self, "Jacob" 'the schemer'. Jacob had spent a goodly portion of his life in manipulative scheming, a self governed man, and yet it was here in this feeble confessing of his true self, that God did indeed bless Jacob and changed his name from 'Jacob, the schemer' to 'Israel, God governed man'. God then (v.28) gives Jacob his new name, Israel, 'he who strives with God'. I believe it is at this point that Jacob, now Israel, begins to realize Who this is that he has been striving with all night and asks, "What is your name?" And then what happens next is so profound to me, because... God asked Israel, "Why is it that you asked my name?" In other words..."you know exactly Who I AM...and then God... blessed him!

You cannot imagine how I want to go further with you on this - but just know this, that the blessing of God was upon Jacob, just as surely as it was upon David and just as surely as it is upon us today!

And here is the thing - look at v.31, "Now the sun rose upon him (Israel) just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh."... Jacob, now Israel, had a new name, and a new way to walk - it was the dawning of a new day, a new beginning. A hip that had been SHABAR'ed by God Himself! The 'brokenness' that God is looking for in our spirit and in our heart (Psalm 51:17) is the 'collapsing down' of ourselves before Him, putting an end to ourselves so that we can be free to fully become all that God created us to be.

I know that you can see the parallels here with Psalm 51:17! When we are confronted with God through His Word of Truth, just like David was confronted through the prophet Nathan, our sins are readily seen in the Light of Him for what they are ...a direct sin against God Himself. No manipulating of circumstances, no gathering of people to tell you contrary, will ever be able to wash away the stain of sin that becomes clearly evident when God Himself asks you, "what is your name."

Jacob didn't do it perfect, the very next chapter begins using his old name Jacob, and not his new name Israel. We see him once again walking by sight and not by faith. We are no different, yet Psalm 51 and 1 John 1:4-10 should give us great comfort. Same thing with David, no sooner has he committed the sin of adultery and murder than we see him going ahead, moved by Satan to number his fighting men! Putting his trust, not in the Lord, but in the size of his army, if the lust of his flesh wasn't going to trip him up then the pride of life would. Listen girls, it is always going to be something! No wonder Psalm 51 has been such a haven for believers throughout the generations - God has given it to us to bless us in our walk with Him, and to free us up through confession and repentence!

Which leads me to ask you - this week, were you saying Psalm 51 out loud like I suggested? This is a practice that I began in the early days of my Christian walk; and I highly recommend it!

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that "...the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Many of you will remember from Joshua 1:8, that before Joshua ever set foot in the Promised Land, God spoke to him saying, "This book of the law (God's Word) shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate upon it day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success wherever you go." Basically what God was saying was, "Get my Word in your mouth and think about it all the time!" In Jeremiah 1:12 God says, "...I am watching over My Word to perform it."

I don't know about you, but when I become actively involved in reading God's living and active Word out loud, it penetrates deeper and does a deeper work in me than when I just sit and passively read it. Remember when I told you not to just think of this Psalm as 'David's', but that this is 'your' Psalm as well ? This, your Psalm, originated with God!, this is His Word and He is watching over it to perform it.

As you read out loud, you are getting His Word familiar on your tongue, you are literally declaring the Word of God which is doing an active work in you. For instance, many times, when we take the simple reading of His Word, into the declaring phase, you may be confronted with unbelief in a certain area. This would be a place that you would stop and begin to confess to God your unbelief and allow Him to begin to heal you of that. For instance, you may have come to v. 5 in Psalm 51, spoke it out loud, and realized just exactly what it was saying - perhaps this is something that deep down inside you really never truly believed to be true. You need to talk to God about this...remember, His Word is sharper than a double edged sword and it will penetrate those places within us that have remained hidden...we can talk more about this in the Comment Cafe if you would like.

Well, I don't have time to proof read today, so if I have made a mistake that could be lethal...let me know!

And the Winner is...

Congratulations Marnie! I hope that you enjoy your new journal, as much as I enjoyed making it, and that it will be a sweet reminder to you of your Summer in the Psalms!

And girls, just know that each and every time we share our thoughts and insights with our sisters, we are helping to strengthen one another's faith...thank you to everyone who has been participating in the Comment Cafe - the blessing is definitely being spread around!

And don't forget that there is also a July Giveaway as well! This Friday I will be letting you know what that will be, but in the meantime, beginning today, July 1st until midnight July 31st, with every comment you leave, your name goes into the teacup for the draw!

Have a wonder-full week and we will see each other here on Thursday for our Summer in the Psalms Gathering!

***EDIT UPDATE!!! Oh for heaven's sake! I got so excited about this drawing that I'm one day ahead of myself! Marnie, you still won sweetheart... but here is what I am going to do - every comment left at the Comment Cafe today will now go into the July Giveaway.

Listen, why don't you all just comment on how ditzy I am and get a good start to next month!

With love,

Summer in the Psalms - Week Five Reading

What a beautiful Monday morning in which to start out our week! I am sitting here looking out at a clear, blue sky with not a cloud to be seen - it is my prayer for you this week that as you look into the Word of God that He would make clear to you all that you are to know at this particular time and that you will be blessed in the revelation of it all.

Once again, I would suggest that you take one verse and commit it to memory, remember, the Word of God is our only offensive weapon, the more we memorize Scripture the better we are at withstanding the slings and arrows of the enemy. Also keep in mind that this is not just 'David's Psalm' - this is your Psalm, given to you by your loving Father as a means to express to Him all that is in your heart and soul; I would suggest that you read it through a few times to understand the thrust of it and then throughout the week, open your mouth and read it out loud! I cannot fully express to you the power that is in the doing of this - when we get together this Thursday at the Gathering, I will expound further on the benefits of this particular practice.
Your Psalm for this week girls is... Psalm 51, and once again - enjoy!

On Christ The Solid Rock She Stands

I am hoping that you had a chance to somehow, and in some way, enjoy God's beautiful creation today... after all, every beautiful wonder of it points to Him!

Yesterday, I had mentioned what an encouragement your comments and e-mails have been, and are to me, and so I thought that I would share with you just exactly what I was talking about. I have asked permission from my dear friend and sister Elizabeth to post her words and pictures - may they bless your heart as much as they have blessed mine today! Thank you Elizabeth!

Dear Cathie - as I read your comments today on Christ the Solid Rock, I have to share with you this picture I took with the single purpose of reminding me of standing on the Solid Rock. This little tree stands firm (I have watched it over the years going to McKenzie Beach) against fierce winter storms and calm days alike. Note the area around it is green - fresh green grass on this wind and weather bashed rock. The rock is only accessible at very low tide, which happened when we were last there. What a pleasure to get up close and personal to this little tree I have watched for years! I wonder, is there a lesson here in the growth at the base of the tree - as we take our stand on the Rock Christ Jesus do we shed some of our blessing to those around? Just a thought and I am sure you will probably give me some insight into this thought. I do so love to see this tree and every time I go to McKenzie Beach it is the first thing I look for.
There, I have done with my wandering thoughts, and must go to bed.
I so... enjoy your blog! God has gifted you and what a blessing to see you use that gift.
Love you, Elizabeth

This was at the base of the rock!!! Low tide reveals so much beauty!

Summer in the Psalms - Week Four Gathering Place, PART TWO

Hi, and welcome back! I just have to tell you that I am really surprised at how encouraged I have been by all of your comments and e-mails, you know, this kind of teaching format is so different for me, as I am sure it is for most of you! Being social by nature, I really enjoy the fellowship of seeing each one of you in 'person' each week, yet, I am really starting to appreciate this kind of Gathering as well. Plus, it just plain widens the scope of our sisterhood - just this morning alone we have had a visit from Tel Aviv, Israel; Sacramento, California; Pennsylvania, Idaho and Switzerland - so a warm welcome to all of you and also to our Burnaby, Victoria, Surrey and Penticton sisters as well! And listen, if you are just dropping by for a visit, remember to say hello!

Oh, I almost forgot! I would really appreciate your input on this one - it is just a meandering thought at this point, but what would you think about non-techy me trying to put together a video segment posting? Like I said, it is just a thought, but I think it would be fun! I can almost hear Joan saying that I am digressing again, so on to Psalm 40!

As soon as I began to study Psalm 40, I understood why God had given us Psalm 34 before it. These two Psalms go together in the sense that Psalm 34 gave us a wide lens overview of David and his relationship with God. We learned that David had sought the Lord and cried out to Him; that God answered and delivered David from all his fears; that God heard him and saved him (Psalm 34:4-7).

As we move into Psalm 40 we now get a more intimate closeup view of David's relationship with God, it is a closer look at the life of one who did "taste and see that the Lord is good" and just how "blessed that man is who takes refuge in Him!" (Psalm 34:8)

While my approach to this Psalm will be mostly verse by verse, it's always good at the outset of our study to get an overview and see how this Psalm progresses from praise and thanksgiving in verses 1-10, to petition in verses 11-17. As I was reading through I thought of Philippians 4:6 which says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

As we go through the Psalms this Summer, the one thing that we have to keep in mind is that throughout the Psalms, God is inviting us to enter into communication with Him through prayer! In just the last four weeks alone, we have learned so much - grown deeper in our faith, in our love for God and for one another, yet we can't allow the daily things of life to crowd out the most important teaching that the Psalms can bring us - that the MOST important of relationships we can ever have is with God and that this is only strengthened and deepened through prayer. One thing that we don't want to do is get all hung up on the definition of 'supplicate' and 'petition' and 'request' and 'ask'; if you want to know what they all mean, the bottom line is this - they are all just simply talking with God! Just plain talk to Him and you'll be supplicatin' and 'petitioning' all over the place in no time! And the result will be that God's peace, (which by the way 'surpasses all comprehension'), will be guarding your precious heart and mind in Christ Jesus!

In verse 40:1 David declares that he 'waited' patiently for the LORD; we tend to put the emphasis on 'patient', yet, in the original Hebrew the focus is not placed upon patience, but upon the 'waiting' itself. This word 'wait' is קָוָה (qāwâ), it simply means 'to look for, to hope' and it carries with it the extended meaning of looking for or hoping for 'with eager expectation and steadfast endurance'. This gave me such insight into the waiting period that David had experienced, because waiting with steadfast endurance is a great expression of faith. It means enduring patiently in confident hope for the salvation of God (Gen 49:18).

In Psalm 130 we see that this kind of waiting involves the very essence of a person’s being, his soul. When the soul is involved in 'waiting in true faith', as David's was, that soul, that person, is renewed in strength so that they can continue to serve and give glory to God while looking for his saving work (Isa 40:31). As I was thinking about this, Psalm 27 was brought to my mind, and I thought about when we wait as David did, our faith is not only strengthened, but our character is also developed. Do you remember when we spent a year studying the book of Romans, and how in Chapter 5:3-4 we saw that tribulation for the believer brings about perseverance; and that perseverance brings about proven character; and that proven character brings about hope? Well, in David's time, v.5 of Romans 5 had not yet occurred (the coming of the Holy Spirit), but his soul was certainly postured in hope, and praise God that hope does not disappoint!

This deep 'soul waiting' was what David had experienced, and the LORD inclined to David and heard his cry, and saved him from the pit of destruction (say with me 'the pit of destruction'). You know, this may seem like Old Testament language here, but just think about the news last night and this morning that seems to have gripped the majority of telecasts and websites - there is surely a 'pit of destruction' today every bit as wide and deep as in David's time, perhaps even wider and deeper and more full that it has ever been, and the ONLY ARM that is able to reach down that far and pull precious people out to salvation is The Mighty Arm of our God!

I just couldn't help myself and fell flat out into a topical study on Psalm 40:2b-3, it was sheer exhilaration! For our purposes today I will try and keep it brief, but I am hoping that you enjoy it nonetheless!

After the Mighty Arm of God reaches down into that pit of destruction and lifts us up and out of it, He then sets our feet down upon a rock. Turn with me, if you will to Deuteronomy 32:31 - this is the Song of Moses that he was commanded to write; it was his final exhortation to Israel before he died...and it is beautiful! It starts out by calling all to hear and take hold of the doctrine to be taught in the song.

The first part of the song (32:4–14) emphasizes the Person of God in all his perfection and justice toward Israel. He had purchased them, set their boundaries, protected them, and provided for them. You really should read the entire song, but listen to verse 3, "For I proclaim the Name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! THE ROCK!" Ok, I admit that I am the queen of the exclamation mark, I use it way too much, but frankly it is as necessary to me as breathing. Why Scripture itself is not just 'exclamation marked' all over the blessed place is beyond me - but here, in this verse, YES!, we find that Moses himself could not resist that powerful little digit - he exclaimed the Name of God..."THE ROCK!"

In 2 Samuel 22:2-3 we see David also writing a song (Psalm 18) to the Lord, saying, "The LORD is my ROCK and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my ROCK, in Whom I take refuge." I love verse 32 and verse 47, "For who is God, besides the LORD? And who is a rock, besides our God?..... The LORD lives, and blessed be my ROCK; and exalted be God, the ROCK of my salvation."! (exclamation mark, mine).

Just as we learned in our study of Psalm 16 that God is our Cup - here we can clearly see that when His Mighty Arm pulls us up and out of the pit of destruction and he sets our feet upon a rock, girls, He's THE ROCK!

Remember that glorious hymn, "On Christ The Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking sand."? Oh, go ahead...sing it loud and sing it proud! It is because of THE SOLID ROCK that our footsteps are firm - He truly is solid ground and everything else is sinking sand. But there's more - God then goes and puts a new song in our mouth, a song of praise to our God! (Psalm 40:3) and just like we learned in Psalm 34, once that song starts warbling through us, many will see and fear and trust in the Lord! And girls, the circle just gets bigger and bigger!

David tells of the blessing that is upon those that do put their trust in God, and praises God with the new song that has been placed within his mouth in verse 5. Ok, now Debbie, this is in answer to your question sweetheart...in verse 6 David says that God has not desired 'sacrifice and meal offering, nor has God required burnt offering and sin offering. Debbie was wondering how this could be when, during the time of David and right up through until the day of the crucifixion of Jesus, these offerings were indeed required and adhered to by the nation of Israel. Good question to bring up! I believe that the key to this answer is found in verse 6a and in verses 7-8.

The reference to David's ears being 'opened' or 'dug out' has a two-fold meaning, as it can be translated from the Hebrew to read 'pierced'. Firstly, God Himself had done the opening, the digging out, and now David had the ability to hear and obey the Word of God, he now had the ability to understand that ultimately it was not the sacrifice or offering that God was after it was truly David himself. But there is something else here that we need to see in reference to David's ear being 'pierced' - I am going to give you an excerpt from a study that I wrote a few years ago that will help explain this -

"...after seven years of service (Exodus 21:2-6), in the year of Jubilee, God's law cancelled the contract (between servant and master) and the servant was set free. At his appointed time of release, the master was under obligation to render unto the servant, grain, livestock and wine to establish a new life for himself. Not all masters, however, were equal. Many Israelites who contracted themselves out in slavery knew that seven years could be long and arduous under a hard taskmaster that was abusive and cruel. However, a servant who had come to love his master could, upon the seventh year, request to become a 'bond-servant', a servant for life, until death. His master, upon agreement, would take the servant to the marketplace, where the servants' ear lobe would be placed upon a block and with one blow of a mallet, an "awl" would be driven into the earlobe. Whenever people would see that bond servant, they would know immediately what that "awl" meant, .... "He must have some master!"

This is what has happened to David when he declares that God Himself has opened (pierced) his ears, He has now become a willing 'bond servant for life' to the LORD! In verse 7 David further states that his response is "Behold, I come". David further understands that God's desire for him has been written of in the "scroll of the book", that God had intentions upon David from even before he was born (Psalm 139:16) and that now the very laws of God are written on David's heart and he delights to do the will of God.

There is so much more to all this, but think on verses 6-8 as pointing towards your own salvation. We can talk about this further in the Comment Cafe! I'm having to practice restraint here from taking you all over your Bible on a couple of topical studies! Sheer indulgence!

Verse 9-10 are some of my favorite verses in Scripture and my memory verses from this chapter, along with verses 1-3. Let us determine together to be women who "proclaim glad tidings of righteousness" in the great congregation; let's not "restrain our lips" or "hide His righteousness in our hearts"; let's join together and speak of God's "faithfulness and His salvation", not concealing His lovingkindness or His truth from our brothers and sister in the faith.

I am looking forward to hearing what your time in this Psalm has done in your own heart. You know, it is in the sharing that our mutual faith is built and strengthen!

By the way, did you notice that the superscription to this Psalm was "For the choir director"? go ahead and sing this song, I tried it and for some reason it had a country/western twang to it! Go figure, I'm just glad I was singin' unto the Lord, I get the sense He was pleased if not amused by my attempt!

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

Welcome to your Week Four Gathering Place girls! Pull up an Adirondack and 'settle you in some' alongside your sisters!

I'm hoping that throughout this past week you have been anticipating this time as one of fellowship and encouragement - it is no small matter that God has instructed us to encourage one another in our common faith, and I am honoured to be counted among your number!

I just have to let you know that there was an element of frustration for me this week! I mean, right out of the gate was the realization that there were two Psalms that the Lord would have us study and meditate upon, two! - I immediately bent my knees on that one because God knows what He is about and there is surely a blessing that comes through obedience.

Then, there was the selecting of two passages of Scripture, one from each Psalm, to commit to memory. It wasn't the memorizing that got to me... it was the selecting - it was just all so good! So in all honesty, the first verse I claimed and declared was, "Make haste O LORD, to help me."! (Psalm 40:13)

Something else was frustrating me though as well and that was the desire to do an indepth topical study on some of the things that God was revealing to me through these Psalms. My inductive study roots have served me well, and as much as I love studying and teaching book by book, topical study seems to be where God has been leading me lately. Now, among other things, all study requires discipline and time, and herein lay my frustration, how could I possibly go as deep as I was desiring to go with these two Psalms in just one week and be able to meet here to share it all with you today? The answer was simple - I couldn't. Like I said, an element of frustration! But let me assure you, that no amount of frustration was able to keep me from the blessing of being in His Word this week - as a matter of fact, that frustration that initially came over me, ended up becoming a stepping stone to joy, just knowing the depth of the riches that lay within both these Psalms!

I found Psalm 34:1-3 to be simply exhilarating, I know that David is speaking of his own personal response before God, yet, because he is inviting us (v.3) to join in with him I began to imagine this - all of God's people, His church, blessing the LORD at all times; His praise being continually in our mouths; our very souls making their boast in the LORD, I mean, this is the abundant life right there! This is the place where there is no want, no lack, no complaining or grumbling or dissatisfation... this is living smack dab in the middle of the abundant life of God! For heaven's sake, our "cup runneth over" (Psalm 23:5) and He Himself is the Blessed Cup! (Psalm 16:5)

And... something extraordinary happens as a result of simply living the abundance - the humble will hear and rejoice! Did you notice that I did not say 'living in the abundance'? There is a difference between living in the abundance and living the abundance. Just because you are swimming in water and are outwardly wet, does not mean that your thirst has been quenched through the drinking of the water - that is the difference!

Not to say too much on the subject, but I am of the notion that all too frequently our evangelical tendencies within the church tend to be geared towards the 'idea' rather than the 'reality'. Kind of like a bald person trying to sell a guaranteed hair restoring lotion, saying that they themselves have been using it for over thirty years and it has done wonders for them.

It is wonderful to hear David speak as he does, through this Psalm, however, we need to personalize what we read by asking questions of ourselves before God. Lord, is the result of the reality of being Your child causing me to bless You at all times and praise You continually? Does the very deepest place within myself, my very soul, boast in You God and You alone as David's soul did? And if not - why not? Psalm 23 begins with, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Have we perhaps become dissatisfied, perceiving in our lives only lack and want, which causes us to grumble and complain, because we have taken our eyes off of our LORD, our Shepherd, and put them on the things of this world? This world (and it's advertisers!) never seems to run out of 'things' - Psalm 34:10 tells us that "they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing."

As we look at the first verses of Psalm 34, it would seem that David understood that true evangelism comes out of the reality of the abundance of God lived out in the everyday lives of His children - the humble will see it and rejoice! And then I love verse 3, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!" The result of true evangelism is that there is now the added joy of magnifying and exalting His name with others, together, in true, genuine, authentic, fellowship!

I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this Psalm so much, is that David begins with praising God for His continual goodness to him, then he calls on whoever is listening to come themselves and 'taste and see that the Lord is good', and then he takes on the role of a teacher urging them on in the way of the Lord, yet also warning them of the consequences of those who reject Him. I see in David the attitude of heart that shows the beautiful progression of a heart that is fully His.

The superscription of Psalm 34 places the writing of it in the time of 1 Samuel 21:10-14. Basically, David had been running to escape from Saul and had ended up seeking refuge with a Philistine king. This 'safe refuge' soon turned to 'captivity' when the king realized that he could have a good thing going here by having this 'valuable hostage' (now there is a good topical study right there!); after a period of time, David actually escaped when he pretended to be completely insane. And here is what I was thinking, if it wasn't for Psalm 34, many would read this account in 1 Samuel and lift David up as being clever or astute; but David himself is very clear - he had sought the Lord (v.4) and looked to Him (v.5) and cried out to Him (v.6). Well aware of his own impotence, David declares of himself 'this poor (afflicted) man' (v. 6), knowing that it was God alone Who had answered (v.4) had delivered (v.4) and Who made David to be radiant and unashamed before God (v.5) and that it was God Who saved him out of all his troubles (v.4,6). David goes even further, to declare that the angel of the LORD not only encamps around those who fear Him, but also rescues them as well. (v.7)

By the way, in v. 7 the word 'fear' should be looked at a little closer; we can see, just within this Psalm, that there are 'fears' (v.4) and then there is the 'fear of the LORD' (v.7,9,11), believe me when I say, that I have known both and I much prefer to be 'delivered from all my fears' through 'the fear of the LORD'!

In it's very basic expression, to have fear of the LORD is to show respect for Him and for His Word, it is an attitude of humility, a bending of the knee to His will and His ways. The best way I know how to explain this would be to have you read Matthew 14:27-30...Peter knew that if it was Jesus telling him to walk on that water, then he would indeed be walkin' on that water! Jesus commanded Peter to do just that, and Peter did just that - but then Peter took his eyes off Jesus, put them on the water (he saw the wind because the of the waves on the water) an he became frightened. That 'fear' that caused Peter to 'become frightened' was caused by taking his eyes off Jesus and putting them on the water, yet Peter's faith in Jesus, what he knew to be true about Jesus, caused him to cry out in his (literally) 'sinking fear', "Lord, save me!" I would suggest that you read the whole account, it is wonderful!

So, fear of the Lord is having such a respect for Him and for His Word that amid the waters of life, we trust in Him and in His Word more than we trust in the circumstances - it is when we are more afraid of taking our eyes off of Him, our Deliverer, our Savior, our Life, than we are afraid of the circumstance itself. When we know the ways of the world, more than we know the ways of God, our eyes are fixed upon the water; but when we know The Word of God, our eyes are fixed upon Him! (John 1:1-2,14)

In v. 11, David goes on to give the invitation to listen to the lesson of how to fear the LORD. I believe that it is profound in that it speaks to the longing of every human heart - the desire for abundant life and tangible goodness. As I was reading through, my first thought was this, that it's only on this side of the cross that these attributes in man are truly possible - only in Christ are we truly able to 'depart from evil and do good'.

Then in v. 15-22 we see the contrast between the people of God (the righteous) and those that are not His people (the wicked, evil). Before we look at this contrast I just want to say this, that throughout the years that I have taught Bible Studies I have come across many people that, when reading Scripture, will pick and choose those verses that they "like" and will completely jump over those verses that they "don't like". This is dangerous, to say the least! We will never truly know God if we continually insist on denying His revelation of Himself through His Word. God Himself clearly defines the righteous as those that belong to Him and the wicked or the evil as those that do not belong to Him. Another observation that I have made are those people that will indeed read those verses that they don't happen to particularly "like" and then proceed to explain how they don't really mean what they say. Such as the statement, "we (mankind) are all God's children," when John 8:41-44 clearly states that God is the Creator of all, but He is not the Father of all. We must worship God in spirit and in truth, if we make for ourselves a God to our liking and specifications, then we have become an idolatrous people - but that is a whole other post right there!

There are four statements that really stand out when it comes to those who do not belong to God - the face of the LORD is against them and He will cut the memory of them off the face of the earth (v.16); those who hate the righteous will be condemned (v.21) and evil shall slay the wicked (v.21). I did not have the time to study this last statement as much as I would have liked but it is something to deeply consider...it is evil that will slay the wicked, dying so to speak by their own sword.

Then there are the statements that stand out when it comes to contrasting the people of God - it is breathtaking! Instead of the face of the Lord being against them, the Lord's eyes are towards them (v.15), His very ears are open to their cry (v.15), girls, this should have your mind just reeling back to what we learned this past year in our study of the book of John; I am thinking specifically of John 9:31 which says, "We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him." So, we know that when a sinner bends his knee in repentence, God hears that prayer.

When God's people cry, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles (v.17), the LORD is near to the brokenhearted, He saves those who are crushed in spirit(v.18). And then comes this truth in the midst of this breathtaking treasure of abundance - "many are the afflictions of the righteous". All I can tell you is this, being a Christian does not guarantee an easy ride through this world. Find an earthly affliction and some Christian has walked through it. A relation of ours once said to me, "Look, if God (and this person did the little italics in the air with their fingers) would guarantee that my bank account would be overflowing and I'd never get sick, yeah, I'd be a Bible thumpin', card carrying believer too, sign me up!" (sigh)

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers them out of them all. Are you like me and want to take this as far as you can go? - well, take that affliction as far as death and know that death does not claim the Life of a believer, for "absent from the body and (immediately) present with the Lord...", this is our sure hope and our full deliverance. This Psalm goes on to tell us that God redeems the souls of those that are His own and that there is no condemnation to those who take refuge in Him (v.22), a direct contrast to v. 21. There is deliverance 'in the midst of' for God's people, remember, it is "his rod and staff that comforts us". If you have time, read through Psalm 23; this Psalm is not just for those on their death beds, this is assurance for us today! The "valley of the shadow of death" is this world that we live in, yet goodness and mercy shall follow the children of God "all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever!

There is a deep truth hidden in v. 20. David may be remembering his own unbroken bones at this point, yet this verse actually points to Christ (John 19:31-37 and Exodus 12:43-46) as the Lamb of God, yet, it also points to those of us who are now hidden in Christ. We are not rendered 'immobile' by any affliction that we may face while upon this earth, because it is in Him that we now live and move and have our being.

My memory verse from Psalm 34 is one that I had given to one of our sisters a few months ago and which I had just recently sent to another sister of mine. God has now given it to me and here it is, personalized!

I, Cathie, sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
I looked to Him and was radiant,
And my face will never be ashamed!