37 Days Left -- Psalms 37

Wow! Today's passage is AMAZING! I swear, I love the Bible so much. I have read through the entire Bible once & many of the passages hundreds of times and yet, I can discover parts as if I am reading it for the first time. 


On with it...


Psalms 37

 ¹ Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
   be not envious of wrongdoers!
² For they will soon fade like the grass
   and wither like the green herb.
 ³ Trust in the LORD, and do good;
   dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.^[b]
4 Delight yourself in the LORD,
   and he will give you the desires of your heart.
 ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;
   trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
   and your justice as the noonday.
 ⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
   fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
   over the man who carries out evil devices!
 ⁸ Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
   Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
⁹ For the evildoers shall be cut off,
   but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
 ¹⁰ In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
   though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the land
   and delight themselves in abundant peace.

There is so much here, I don't know where to start. 


It is so hard not to care what others think of us. You can hear 100 positive comments, affirmations, encouragements directed at you and one negative or cruel remark & that one will be what keeps you up at night.


As Christians, we must retrain our spirit, our emotion, our natural tendency, our mentality to not be driving by praise from the world but from serving the Lord God. That is what it means to "delight yourself in the Lord." I use to think that meant, to be happy with the thought of God. It was a little disturbing to me because, when I thought of God, I got more of an irritation/annoyance feeling rather that a feeling of joy. Like He was always trying to interrupt my plans, didn't really care about what I wanted, just wanted to rain on my plans. I just didn't understand that verse. I thought that I must not be getting what I want out of life because I don't go into this state of peaceful joy when contemplating the Lord. I just really didn't understand. 


What that verse means is once you get to the point in your relationship with Christ that you where serving the Lord, doing His will is a joyful duty (not necessarily a happy or easy task), He begins to "give you the pleasures of your heart." That "pleasures of your heart" bit has nothing to do with Him fulfilling your ever desire, want, or dream. What it does mean is that He starts to mould your desires to fit in His. He starts to change your plans, old dreams start to fade while new ones come to life. I use to HATE writing & public speaking was a nightmare for me. Now, I dream of writing Bible study/small group literature & speaking at women's/young ladies' conferences. I'm not sure if those will ever fully come to fruition, but I'm praying that if they are what God would have me to do that he open the doors for me.

Verse 6 reminds me of Matthew 5:14-16 where Jesus is describing how we are to be a shining city on a hill, a light that should not be hidden, where we get the song "This Little Light of Mine." We can only pray that we never do anything to dim the light of Jesus in our lives. We want to live as though it would be clear to everyone else that there is something extra special in our lives.


It seems so often that those who don't live upright lives, who don't do good always seem to be the ones that come out on top. There are reasons for those famous sayings, "Damned if you do, damned of you don't." or "No good deed goes unpunished." They sound so bitter & cynical but at times seem so true. But here, David tells us not to worry ourselves over this seeming injustice for their time is coming. This may be the closest some people will ever get to Heaven, why should I be envious of them. One day, Christ will return & those who did not choose to follow Christ will be sent to Hell (Rev 20:15) & those who do choose Christ will "inherit the land."

"Abundant peace." Doesn't that sound wonderful? There is a peace that comes over a person despite what they are experiencing at the moment, despite any persecution they may be receiving that "passes all understanding" (Philippians 4:7) and that comes from God when you are walking in His path.

¹² The wicked plots against the righteous
   and gnashes his teeth at him,
¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
   for he sees that his day is coming.
 ¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
   to bring down the poor and needy,
   to slay those whose way is upright;
¹⁵ their sword shall enter their own heart,
   and their bows shall be broken.
 ¹⁶ Better is the little that the righteous has
   than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
   but the LORD upholds the righteous.
 ¹⁸ The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
   and their heritage will remain forever;
¹⁹ they are not put to shame in evil times;
   in the days of famine they have abundance.
 ²⁰ But the wicked will perish;
   the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;
   they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
 ²¹ The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
   but the righteous is generous and gives;
²² for those blessed by the LORD^[c] shall inherit the land,
   but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

Psalms 14:1 says that "a fool says in his own heart 'There is no God.'" Many times when non-Christians oppose Christians so viciously, it has to do more with them dealing with their own guilt. God has written his law on the hearts of every man (Romans 2:14-15), we all know something is innately wrong within us. When an atheist or other non-believer sees us, it disturbs them & they must silence it, they must do something that will convince others that they are in the right & they can try to satisfy their guilt & silence God's call to their heart.

 ²³ The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
   when he delights in his way;
²⁴ though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
   for the LORD upholds his hand.

 Again, here is another reference of when we are walking with the Lord, we will be happier & when we do fall...& we will, we are only human...He is there to prevent us from falling too far & to help us back up again.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old,
   yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
   or his children begging for bread.
²⁶ He is ever lending generously,
   and his children become a blessing.
 ²⁷ Turn away from evil and do good;
   so shall you dwell forever.
²⁸ For the LORD loves justice;
   he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
   but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹ The righteous shall inherit the land
   and dwell upon it forever.
 ³⁰ The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
   and his tongue speaks justice.
³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
   his steps do not slip.
 ³² The wicked watches for the righteous
   and seeks to put him to death.
³³ The LORD will not abandon him to his power
   or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
 ³⁴ Wait for the LORD and keep his way,
   and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
   you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
 ³⁵ I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
   spreading himself like a green laurel tree.^[d]
36 But he passed away,^[e] and behold, he was no more;
   though I sought him, he could not be found.
 ³⁷ Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
   for there is a future for the man of peace.
³⁸ But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
   the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

 Verse 31 reminds me of Epehsians 6:13-17 where Paul is speaking of the "Armor of God" and also Psalm 119:11 that says, "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

 ³⁹ The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
   he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
⁴⁰ The LORD helps them and delivers them;
   he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
   because they take refuge in him.

Once again the psalmist ends on such an encouraging tone, with verse 40 reminding me of Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Psalms 38 (Yesterday)

So, like I said yesterday, I'm a couple of days behind so I'm going to try to catch up today. I'm going to read both yesterday's (Ps. 38) & today's (Ps. 37) passages but I'm not sure if I'll post on both of them. I'm ready now to talk about Ps. 38 but I haven't ready Ps. 37...so we'll see how it goes.

By the way, Psalms 38 is written by David and some speculate that this may have been one of his prayers regarding his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. 

 ¹ O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
   nor discipline me in your wrath!
² For your arrows have sunk into me,
   and your hand has come down on me.
 ³ There is no soundness in my flesh
   because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
   because of my sin.
⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head;
   like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
 ⁵ My wounds stink and fester
   because of my foolishness,
⁶ I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
   all the day I go about mourning.
⁷ For my sides are filled with burning,
   and there is no soundness in my flesh.
⁸ I am feeble and crushed;
   I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
 ⁹ O Lord, all my longing is before you;
   my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
   and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
¹¹ My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
   and my nearest kin stand far off.
 ¹² Those who seek my life lay their snares;
   those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
   and meditate treachery all day long.
 ¹³ But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
   like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴ I have become like a man who does not hear,
   and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

Once you come to the realization of the seriousness of what it means to sin, the weight of it is unbearable. The psalmist paints a very vivid & accurate picture of what the burden of sin is like. In verses 1 & 2, it almost sounds like he is blaming God, however, if you read on, in verse 5 you see that he is quite clear that this is his own doing, a result of his own "foolishness." However, God is convicting the author. God has been quite clear what He expects out of us, yet we are so arrogant & prideful that we think we know better than the Lord & we take things into our own hands, we do things our way. That is sin. God has also been quite clear as to what the penalties of sin are (Romans 6:23). 


The whole purpose of "the Law" is to convict man of his sin. To make him aware of what a wretched soul he is & to make him realize his need for a Savior. Once he accepts Christ as his savior, his remorse of his sin aids him in repentance. It drives him to leave the life he lived prior to his conversion & reminds him when faced with temptations again.


What the psalmist writes here is what we should all feel when we consider how we have blatantly offended our Creator and the one who gave his life so that we may be free from the eternal punishment of our blatant hatred of the One who loves us more than anyone on Earth could ever even consider loving us. 

 ¹⁵ But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
   it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
¹⁶ For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
   who boast against me when my foot slips!”

 ¹⁷ For I am ready to fall,
   and my pain is ever before me.
¹⁸ I confess my iniquity;
   I am sorry for my sin.
¹⁹ But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
   and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
²⁰ Those who render me evil for good
   accuse me because I follow after good.

 ²¹ Do not forsake me, O LORD!
   O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me,
   O Lord, my salvation!

There is so much in these last few verses of Ps. 38. First, he is waiting on the Lord & knows God will answer him despite the crushing reality of his sins. God is just waiting on us to cry out to Him. And, then he does. He confesses his iniquity & repents.


David then goes on to talk about how he following God but there are those out there that want to trap him, to get rid of him, to do harm to him just because of his loyalty to the Lord. 


This whole passage is almost a mirror of many true Christian's lives. First, you realize the weight of your sin, then you confess it to the Lord, next you start following Christ & living the Christian life, what follows are people (many times friends & family) who begin to hassle, harass, & attack you for doing what is right. In some countries & religions, this conversion can cost you your family, your job, your freedom, & even your life. The life of a Christian is not easy, it is not for the weak. 


But David ends the whole passage with a cry out to the Father. Despite realizing his wretchedness, being abandoned by his friends & family, & being actively pursued by people who want to do him harm; David knows he can rely on his King, his Salvation.

Psalms 40

I'm a couple of days behind...already...I know... Anyway, for 40 days left, which would have been Sunday, we were to read Psalms 40. I must say, this has to be one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. I could write on this chapter for weeks...& maybe I will one day. I really want to memorize this passage one of these days. I want this to be my anthem. 

 ¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he inclined to me and heard my cry. 

Anthony & I have both waited patiently on the Lord regarding our mate. Neither of us has ever had any deep emotional or physical bond with another person in a romantic way. We are both past the age that we had assumed we would have been married as children.


For me, I expected to be married by 23 & having babies by 25. Oh boy, the Lord's wisdom astounds me at times. He knew I was not ready for all that responsibility back then. I have changed SO much since my early-mid twenties.


There have been times that maybe we did act a little more like a 3 year old wanting a toy before Christmas, thawing a temper-tantrum or two before our Father; but, all-in-all we knew that giving into temptation would just lessen the value of what God had for us. Now, please let me define "blessing." This does not mean that if you do all God asks of you, you will receive what you dream of. Blessing from God may not come in the package you think it should. You could be blessed with poverty. I know that sounds crazy but poverty may be what puts you into the place for God to use you. Ok...I'm taking a tangent onto one of my soap boxes...I'll save some of those rants for another day & maybe for my other blog. ;)


Back to topic, I guess the main thing about this verse is that we have waited on the Lord. We may not have felt as willing to wait some days but we continued. And He has heard our hearts cry.

² He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
   out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
   a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
   and put their trust in the LORD.
 ⁴ Blessed is the man who makes
   the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
   to those who go astray after a lie!
⁵ You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
   none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
   yet they are more than can be told.
 ⁶ In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
   but you have given me an open ear.^[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
   you have not required.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
   in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
⁸ I delight to do your will, O my God;
   your law is within my heart.”

Christ has given us a new life. Beyond, putting a "new song" in our mouth for each other, He has rescued us from our own sin, from the pit of Hell. He has secured us in his saving grace & mercy and we are assured of our salvation so strongly we will not "go astray after a lie."

I have several times in my growing relationship with Christ came close to following a lie...many in the guise of performing a work to grow deeper with Christ such as very nearly taking up the practice of contemplative prayer or lecto divina (again, two practices I plan on writing about on my other blog). However, God has been sharpening my discernment & has protected me from chasing after lies. He has a lot of work still to do with me, with both of us. But, from where I began to where I am today,  how he has done such a miraculous thing in my soul, I cannot begin to explain or put into words, I can't even begin to understand. "They are more than can be told."

⁹ I have told the glad news of deliverance^[b] 
   in the great congregation; 
behold, I have not restrained my lips, 
   as you know, O LORD. 
¹⁰ I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; 
   I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; 
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness 
   from the great congregation.

This is what I really need to read. I use to almost be ashamed of being a Christian. I didn't like to talk about Christ & what He had done for me. I don't think I really felt as though He was real. I guess I almost thought more of Him as a distant being, just watching me from afar, not thrilled with me but also not too worried about me cause I really wasn't "that bad." My theology was so bad. I knew nothing of the Bible. It just wasn't real for me. When I finally started reading the Bible & taking it for what it said & not trying to mould it into what I thought & believed, Christ started becoming real to me. I started openly talking about it. I was...am excited about what He was/has been doing in my life. I was becoming a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). I want to continue to be a witness for Christ. I'm not great at it & I have a LOT of work to do. I'm not really sure you ever feel learned enough...in fact, I think the more I learn, the more ignorant I realize I am. However, the more I learn about the Trinity, the more I want to share & the less apprehensive I become. I would love for the Lord to one day use me in a full time capacity...but I'll wait patiently. ;)

  ¹¹ As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain 

   your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
   ever preserve me!
¹² For evils have encompassed me
   beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
   and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
   my heart fails me.

 ¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!
   O LORD, make haste to help me! 

As my relationship with Christ deepens, the reality & wretchedness of my sins becomes even clearer. How & why Jesus would chose to die a horrible death for such an unclean mess of a human, I'll never clearly understand. It is His greatest miracle of all (Romans 5:6-11).

¹⁴ Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
   who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
   who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame
   who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

There are people you encounter when speaking about Christ's saving grace that do not agree with you. They adamantly oppose your views & beliefs, however, still remain respectful & kind & love you. Then, there are ones who oppose your views so fiercely that they are cruel, mean-spirited, down right evil to the point they want to injure or kill you. We do not see much persecution to that point here in America yet but there are places in the world that sharing the Gospel is a death sentence. And, don't think we are all so sophisticated & tolerant here in the old USA; hostility to Christians is on the rise in America. In many universities today, if you hold to Biblical Christianity you are called ignorant, intolerant, & hateful. In the last 10 years or so, there has been an increase in Christian's loosing their jobs because they refused to conform to the world. Recently, a Macy's employee was fired because she told a man (who claimed to be a transvestite) he could not use the women's dressing room. (Ugh, there I go on another soap box.)

¹⁶ But may all who seek you 
   rejoice and be glad in you; 
may those who love your salvation 
   say continually, “Great is the LORD!” 
¹⁷ As for me, I am poor and needy, 
   but the Lord takes thought for me. 
You are my help and my deliverer; 
   do not delay, O my God!

What a wonderful way to end. I don't think that last bit needs any comment whatsoever.

This whole passage reminds me of the hymn "Blessed Assurance," which is actually based on Hebrews 10:22 but still applies here, in my opinion. I use to do quality assurance tests on our CT scanner when I worked nights. Everytime I would pull out that binder, I would go along with my task singing that old hymn.

vs.1Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain:This is my story, this is my song,praising my Savior all the day long;this is my story, this is my song,praising my Savior all the day long.vs.2Perfect submission, perfect delight!
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain)vs.3Perfect submission, all is at rest!
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with his goodness, lost in His love.
(Refrain)

 Even though I'm not really a fan of Third Day, I do like their rendition of this song.

T - 43 Days; Psalms 43

I was reading either someone's blog post or forum post the other day & they had a great idea. Her & her fiancé were reading Psalms in reverse, counting down the days until their wedding. I liked that idea & shared it with Anthony. So, since there are 43 days left until our wedding, we are reading Psalms 43. 

 ¹ Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause 
   against an ungodly people, 
from the deceitful and unjust man 
   deliver me! 
² For you are the God in whom I take refuge; 
   why have you rejected me? 
Why do I go about mourning 
   because of the oppression of the enemy?
 ³ Send out your light and your truth; 
   let them lead me; 
let them bring me to your holy hill 
   and to your dwelling! 
⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God, 
   to God my exceeding joy, 
and I will praise you with the lyre, 
   O God, my God.
 ⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul, 
   and why are you in turmoil within me? 
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, 
   my salvation and my God.

There is so much that could be said about this psalm. A decent preacher could spend weeks on it. I won't dig too much into it tonight but...wow...there is so much going on here. 


I can relate so much to what the psalmist is saying here...maybe not to the extreme he is feeling at the moment but I have experienced times where I needed God to defend me. Times when I felt like even God was so far away. Read God's Word and it speak so clearly that I had to make the decision to trust what it said and follow or call God a liar & part from Him. There was a time where I had pulled away so much from God that I was on the verge of leaving the church all together. But, one day, an uncontrollable urge to read the Bible came over me. His Truth lead me back to Him & into a deeper relationship than I could have ever imagined. His Word put an unexplainable, insatiable hunger within me to learn more & more about Him & his only son, Jesus. I love my God so much & so eagerly want to praise Him but my songs & praise alway seem so lacking. I long for the day when I see Him face-to-face & I am able to praise Him like I was created to do. 


This psalm reminds me so much of the song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow." I'll list the lyrics below.

1. Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
   Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
   When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
   • Refrain:
     I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
     For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
2. “Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
   And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
   Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
3. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
   When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
   I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.