Month: July 2021

Psalm 146:1 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, my soul.

When I was first reading this verse, I was thinking of putting trust in others—my parents when I was younger, my husband once I married, etc. But when I reread these verses before writing my reflection, a different, startling slant occurred to me, and God is definitely speaking to my heart this morning.

Psalm 146:2 I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

When I put my trust in myself, that incredibly strong, often ridiculous need to be in control, I am exhibiting the same kind of misguided trust as discussed in verses 3 and 4. I am just as human as everyone else in my life, just as impermanent. If I want to have a lasting, eternal impact in this life, I cannot put my trust in myself. I must trust in God alone. Jesus, Help me.

Psalm 146:3 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for this reminder. I praise You for making me so fiercely independent, Lord, but I recognize that it makes me think I can handle situations on my own instead of entrusting them to You. I don’t want Your plans for my life to come to nothing. Help me, Lord. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 146:4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

Lord, Thank You for Your graciousness and compassion. Thank You for being rich in love. Thank You for the commandment to love one another as You have loved us: completely, fiercely, undeservedly. 

Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.

Lord, It is so easy to get caught up in the chaos of life, to lose sight of the things that are truly important: You, Your love, Your people. Help us, even through the chaos of the everyday, to keep our eyes, hearts, and minds focused on You.

Psalm 145:13b …The LORD is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture, for the vivid picture of who You are and how You love us. This world is hard, chaotic, materialistic, greedy, but You are the Creator of the Universe. Your light is in each of us if we will allow it to shine through. Help us to love one another, Lord, fiercely, unconditionally, beyond the hurt and the grief and the noise of this world. Draw us all closer to You. Amen.

Psalm 145:14 The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 144:1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock….

I want to focus on verses 3 and 4 because I find them so intriguing and baffling. I know why I cling to God, why He is my Rock, my stronghold, my deliverer, but why in the world does the Creator of the Universe care about me?

Psalm 144:2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge….

Some would say He doesn’t care because our lives are so fleeting, evaporating before they begin, but I don’t believe that. I’ve held my own newborns in my arms, so small, so fragile, so full of potential and possibility. I think God must in some way feel that parental bond when He looks at us. 

Psalm 144:3 LORD, what are human beings that You care for them, mere mortals that You think of them?

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. I don’t understand why You fiercely love a mere mortal like me, but I am eternally grateful for Your love, compassion, grace, and mercy. Help me to always feel awed by Your love and care for me. Help me mirror that for others. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 144:4 They are like a breath; their days are like fleeting shadows.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 143:8a Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You….

Verse 11 of this psalm reads: “For Your name’s sake, LORD, preserve my life….” All of the verses I have chosen here are adrift without the anchor provided in verse 11. 

Psalm 143:8b …Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.

All the verses here use the first person pronoun “me.” Bring ME word. Show ME the way. Rescue ME. Teach ME. But why? “For YOUR name’s sake.” The distinction is crucial. 

Psalm 143:9 Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in You.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the reminder that this life is not about me. It is about You, for Your name’s sake. Help me to draw closer to You, to shine Your light for all to see. Help me to never lose sight of the fact that all that I do is through You, in You, and for Your name’s sake. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 142:1 I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.

Today’s scripture reminds me of a scrap of a poem that’s rolling around in my brain. I can’t remember why I know it or who wrote it (not me), and I share it here with apologies that I can’t give you more info about it: I shared my burdens with a friend and turned and found them shifted. I shared my burdens with the Lord and turned and found them lifted.

Psalm 142:2 I pour out before Him my complaint; before Him I tell my trouble.

Sharing our burdens with people—spouses, family, friends—can be vitally important for our mental well-being. However, I have found that for me, the only way to relieve myself of my burdens is to take them to God and lay them at His feet. I am SO BAD at doing this—even after decades of practice—but I keep trying to get it right. At God’s feet is the only place we can find relief for the things weighing on our souls.

Psalm 142:3 When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who watch over my way….

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the reminder of this scrap of poetry from somewhere in my past. Thank You for the truth of the words: people can share the load of our burdens but only You can lift them from our shoulders. Help me to keep laying my burdens at Your feet, knowing that the more I practice, the easier it will be. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 142:5 I cry to You, LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 141:3a Set a guard over my mouth, LORD….

Sometimes it’s hard to stop words from coming out of my mouth, even when I *know* they should not be said, even when my mental filter screams, “Do. NOT. Say. That!!” Lord, please set a guard over my mouth. Let everything pass through Your filter. Help me not to say things unless they uplift others and point them to you.

Psalm 141:3b …keep watch over the door of my lips.

But You know me, Lord. I over analyze everything. What if someone is doing something wrong (like not following directions, breaking the law, or being cruel to others)? Help me know when and how to speak up to protect Your people (ALL Your people) from harm. Help me know how to be uplifting and encouraging, pointing others to You even then.

Psalm 141:4a Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers….

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for these ideas that I ponder in the quiet of my heart. Help me to draw closer to You in every thought, word, and action and to point others to You as well. Amen.

Psalm 141:4b …do not let me eat their delicacies.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 140:9 Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them.

Commentary taught me a new word today: imprecatory prayer, prayer that calls down a curse. And while part of me chuckles a bit at the imagery and righteousness of calling down a curse of burning coals upon my enemies (which says a lot about me, I’m sure), the other part marvels at the work God has done in my heart over the years.

Psalm 140:10a May burning coals fall on them….

Here’s the truth. I don’t care for mean, rude, self-seeking, aggrandizing people. They annoy me. They make me angry and often indignant. But to see them with burning coals heaped upon them would hurt my heart because I know it would hurt theirs. At this point, what I want for them more than I want revenge is for them to have a change of heart, to change their ways. That is what would lead them to God, not their embarrassment or destruction.

Psalm 140:10b …may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for this change in me that wants the humility of those who persecute me to bring them closer to You instead of bringing them humiliation in the eyes of the world. Help this desire to become my strong default. Root out the part of the world in me that finds delight in the downfall of others. Help me to fiercely love, just as You do. Draw me closer.

Psalm 140:11 May slanderers not be established in the land: May disaster hunt down the violent.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 139:1 You have searched me, LORD, and You know me.

I am a hot mess, a bundle of contradictions and awkwardness. Aren’t we all? And when I share myself with others, when I am my authentic, awkward self, there is always trepidation that who I am will be rejected, that I will be seen as not worthy of someone’s time, attention, acceptance. 

Psalm 139:13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

God knows me. Intimately. He created me EXACTLY as I am—all my quirks, imperfections, idiosyncrasies—for a purpose. My two overarching goals in life are to draw closer to Him and to shine His light for all to see. I am a hot mess, a bundle of contradictions and awkwardness. Somehow, that equips me to better draw near to Him, to shine brighter for Him. I mess it up every. Single. Day. But God knows my heart. 

Psalm 139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for creating me uniquely in Your image and for Your glory. Help me to accept myself and others with the same fierce love, grace, and compassion with which you accept me—awkwardness, imperfections, quirks and all. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 139:24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 138:1 I will praise You, LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing Your praise.

Several days ago I talked about the fact that anything I place in the center of my life, a place where only God should be, then I make if that thing an idol, a god, and doing so is incredibly dangerous. Verse 1 reminds me of the need to keep God as my center, to sing His praises before the “gods” that clamor for my attention.

Psalm 138:2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your name for Your unfailing love and Your faithfulness….

One sentence in the commentary on this chapter really gave me pause: “It is important to praise God for who He is more than for what He’s done.” I feel like this is an area I need to work on. I feel like I praise Him more for the things than I do for His presence, His steadfast love, His fierce mercy. 

Psalm 138:7a Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve my life…

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the reminder to place You before anyone and anything else in my life. Thank You for the reminder to praise YOU and not just Your abundant blessings in my life. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 138:7b …You stretch out Your hand against the anger of my foes; with Your right hand You save me.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 137:4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?

When I get grumpy and petulant because of my circumstances, I feel like I am forgetting Jerusalem, forgetting all that God has done for me and does for me every single day. For me it is a precarious balance.

Psalm 137:5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, May my right hand forget its skill. 

How do I remain mindful of His abundant blessings (air in my lungs, a roof over my head, people who love me) and still react to the daily annoyances (chores that aren’t done, meds that weren’t taken, attitudes that shouldn’t have been given). To blithely smile and ignore it seems inauthentic. To get totally bent out of shape over it seems inappropriate. Jesus, Help me.

Psalm 137:6a May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you….

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the reminder that balance is crucial in life. It’s also something I’m terrible at doing. I am so thankful for You. Help me to balance that thankfulness against all the annoyances of life and respond appropriately. Draw me closer. Amen. 

Psalm 137:6b …if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

Have a blessed day.