Psalm 32:1b "You get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean. .. God holds nothing against you and you're holding nothing back from him." How foolish of me to think that there is any good greater than the good of knowing God!
Psalm 33:16-17 "No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute strength.
Horsepower is not the answer; no one gets by on muscle alone."
Psalm 33:16-17 "No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute strength.
Horsepower is not the answer; no one gets by on muscle alone."
Psalm 34:6 "When I was desperate, I called out,
"The struggle with fear and pain will continue. Only in the storm will you know there is an anchor...I've not wanted an anchor in the storm. I've wanted a quick trip to shore." No spiritual aspirin available. No anesthetic for my storms. Just a revelation of what life is like for the person who lives in the storm with his eyes fixed on Me. 66 LL
Thank you, Deborah for the beautiful blessings, yesterday. What an encouragement you are to me!
ReplyDeleteThe verses you selected, Bev, are some of my favorite. A clean slate...He holds nothing back...when I'm desperate He gets me out of tight spots...
His Word holds keys to Life. His Word rescues. His Word is forever.
So thankful for the Psalms right now, to simply feel loved and loving.
Horsepower is not the answer, only GOD Power coming by prayer bible study and meditation - God carries me through the storm.
ReplyDeleteThank you LORD for knowing whatever is going on I can speak of it to you and you are always there listening and loving me through the situation.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Trusting Jesus is the Only Answer.
I cannot thank you enough for loving me and praying for me and with me yesterday. I have updated Sylvia's Song and thank you all for these answered prayers concerning yesterday.
Psalm 32
ReplyDelete7 God's my island hideaway, keeps danger far from the shore, throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.
Psalm 34
21 The wicked commit slow suicide; they waste their lives hating the good.
Psalm 35 - A Prayer For Justice
God is our island hideaway. Isn't that a perfect description? He is our hiding place, our Secret Place, our Sacred Place. We can come to Him for rest and restoration. For guidance and 911 trauma support. For resurrection. For praise and petition. For the all important time to lay back in the hammock of his love, listen to the ocean breaking on the shore of our lives, feel the warmth of his Spirit caressing our soul. We can getaway and be restored. And the garland we wear is a hosanna garland. I want to think about this all summer.
How true that the wicked commit suicide hating the good. Have you ever been hated just because you are good? I've spent many a night crying, trying to understand why someone close and dear to me hated me. This verse tells why.
Psalm 35. How do we pray these kind of psalms when we are the Grace-people? I can't match these imprecatory psalms up with Christ telling me to love my enemies and give vengence unto God.
Search for teachings about imprecatory psalms. I've found that people are not my enemy, satan is. And I've prayed these psalms before when I felt like I was dealing with someone under the influence of satan. My favorite prayer to pray against satan is the one asking Jesus to crush satan's head with His heel.
These psalms are a cry for justice against those who attack God and His Plan. We invite God to protect HIS Work. To save us from destruction as we do HIS Work. I see the age-old war between good and evil in these imprecatory psalms. The battle is the Lord's and we fight with the Word of God.
Did David fight for himself or for God? For himself, he caused the death of Bath Sheba's husband to cover his sin of adultery. And he lived to regret that murder.
For God, he valiantly killed giants attacking God's people, he overcame enemies who wanted the destruction of Israel, he even feared God's wrath against his own presumptuous sins.
Imprecatory psalms give God the chance to protect His own.
The New Testament does have prayers and teachings of "woe unto...". These came from the mouth of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 18:6 (NIV)
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
I believe that there is a time and a place to use imprecatory psalms but not to use them for personal gain. They are like dropping a nuclear bomb on someone and all other means should be attempted first.
My thoughts. I know I seek wisdom on this. Any others have thoughts about these psalms?
Annette and Sylvia,
ReplyDeleteYou are so very welcome for the thoughts I posted yesterday.
Please, ladies, read yesterday's comments for thoughts I posted about each of you.
Sometimes God just opens my eyes to a vision. I can see these as clear as I can see with my eyes. But they are seen only in my spirit. Each one of you, I pray that the words written will encourage you to stay and not give up. To remain faithful. Don't quit. You have the opportunity to make a difference in so many lives. I am so glad David didn't give up. He has encouraged us in the psalms not to give up. Don't quit.
Please pray for my dog, Abby. I dropped her off at a friend's house to stay and got a call 2 hours later that she escaped their yard, and is loose somewhere. She has her tags, but now after 3 more hours of looking, no call. We're scheduled to leave early tomorrow and I can't forget anything. I am very distracted. Please pray for her safe return.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who don't understand dogs, I'm sorry this sounds dramatic. For those of you who know how I feel about Abby you know I'm a mess.
Thank you for this place to reach out and ask anything. Thank you for your prayers.
Oh how I wish I could sit here and read all of these past couple of day's worth of comments!!!!! You are ALL amazing! WOW... I am speechless!! I'll be back!
ReplyDeleteI'm praying Abby has returned by now!!! PLEASE, Annette... Text me when you hear anything! I'm on my way out the door for the wedding!
I am grateful for the Psalms right now. At the moment we have a HUGE tree covering our house! It fell on it during the storm last night! It's covering our entire house from front to back. They can't get here until Monday to remove it. The ceiling of our bedroom has nails popping through. I'm hoping it doesn't collapse before they get it down! Also, our washer is broken, so that's a bummer... But, my kids were both home this weekend and life is still good when I keep Him in the center. I know there is the perfect verse for this tree sitting on my roof right now, but I can't find it at the moment. I know God is working in it! I'm very grateful for Plan A!
So much love to you all,
Ang xoxo
Oh Annette, I will pray. I do understand!
ReplyDeleteAngie, how frightening that must have been. So glad no one is hurt.
As my 5 year old God-child would say: "What in the world is going on?!"
Just prayers and more prayers for everyone!
Deborah, thank you for those sweet words. There have indeed been many tears these last couple of months.
Friends and family members are going through really hard times.
I'm going back to read everything again. We're trying to get out of town early in the morning and I keep thinking of 'one more thing to do.'
Blessings everyone!
FG
Deborah
ReplyDeleteYou are a poet! Beautiful words from a beautiful heart! Thank you!
Annette---oh no! I can't believe Abby wandered away. We went out-of-town this week on our church staff retreat. One of the couples had to go back home cause the dog they were dogsitting ran away or so they thought---he was hiding in a closet under clothes very scared. May Abby show up real
ReplyDeleteF A S T in a nearby spot. Come home Abby!!! Mom has to go to Lauren's wedding! Praying for you!!!
Ang - WOW...a tree sitting on top of your house. That's something else! And no washer on top of it. Here's a verse for you cause you are like that tree when it is alive: Proverbs 3:18 - You are a tree of life to all who embrace you. Whether it's your children, your friends, your siestas here, you are that tree of life to us all. You give life and nourishment and care! We love you! When the tree cutters cut it down, save that stump. Remember Beth talking about how in Daniel 4:14,15 God says to cut down the tree but save the stump and protect it with iron chains. God is saying that He prunes us, He cuts us back, then HE protects us with His chains and that tree will grow back. You may be cut down at times, but you will flourish because HE walks with you! 2Thes 3:16
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