continuing my journey of reading through the psalms at a leisurely pace, making some observations as i go along, inviting you to jump in to the comments section with a verse or idea or question or wrestle that possibly jumped out at you as you were reading this particular psalm:

for me it was verse 4 which immediately jumped out at me: ‘The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.’

i remember reading an article in reader’s digest by kirk douglas of all people titled ‘You know how to make God laugh?’ and the answer was ‘Tell Him your plans!’

and it’s true. and reminds me as well of the story Jesus tells in Luke 12 of the rich fool who gets a good crop and responds by saying, ‘”What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘

But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God.’ [Luke 12.16]

Another passage that comes to mind in terms of trusting own plans vs God’s is Proverbs 3.5-6 which says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.’ Which is good to view alongside the whole second half of Matthew 6, but specifically verse 33 which goes, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well.’

We are invited to live life in relationship with God and hold our plans loosely before Him. This psalm gives a glimpse of those who try otherwise…

And then the second verse that stood out to me was verse 8 which says, “Ask of Me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

Which speaks to me of a God crying out for us to use our imagination and consider for a moment the resources available to us. Ephesians 3.20 reminds us that the God we serve is able to do “immeasurably more than all we hope or imagine” – Am i hoping and imagining big enough? God’s hoping and imagining for my life extends to nations and the ends of the earth. He is calling us to greater things [as defined by His kingdom, which is key]

so much more oozing out of such a short psalm, but those are two things i take from it today… what did you get?

[To continue on to Psalm 3, click here]

[To return to the start of this series on Psalms or some other Bible things, click here]