one of my best friends, Rob Lloyd, wrote today's guest psalm for us - he is going for another round of cancer treatment today as he heads towards his 30th birthday celebrations so take a minute to say a prayer for him, for healing and protection from the nausea that has accompanied that, and then read his musings on psalm 33 and be challenged and encouraged: One of the most incredible things about God is [...]
i recently asked a bunch of my friends if they would consider guest posting a 'psalmthing to chew on' and some of them have taken up the challenge/offer and the first of them is my buddy Liam who really got into the psalm... [good thing we kept him away from 119] - so read his thoughts and feel free to add some of your own: Choice thoughts/musings: Verse 1: How scary is it that we [...]
verse 23 jumped out at me: 'Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full.' my translation says, 'The Lord preserves the faithful...' and i found it an interesting contrast - faithful vs proud - because i don't think we would naturally see them as opposites... yet when i think of being faithful the immediate connection is the idea of [...]
i have two parts underlined in this psalm so i'll stick with those: 'Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.' [vs. 4-5] this is a very light and hopeful psalm [and well you hope it should be as it was used for the [...]
what struck me immediately about this psalm is where it begins, with a loud chorus of praise to God, acknowledging Who He is: 'Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness.' [vs.1-2] that even the heavenly beings must sing praises to God. that is great - often i rush into prayer [...]
ooh, i'm not sure i like this psalm, or maybe more importantly where my reading of it took me... cos it's david again, being a self-righteous plonker: 'Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts. Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them [...]
this is a great psalm... so rich... but i am just going to pull out one or two things as usual and once again would love to hear what stood out for you... 'The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?' [vs.1] such a strong, powerful start and the reminder to us that this is [...]
and i move on to psalm 26, and another psalm of david clearly set before the little bathsheba incident [2 samuel 11] where he starts by proclaiming how good and righteous he has been and inviting God to 'examine my heart and my mind' [vs. 2] which is a great practice to take from this psalm [altho maybe without the assumption of being clean and pure and righteous, unless it's been a good week for [...]
me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, Israel... that is how psalm 25 reads to me - starts off really good and positive and kind of like the sunday picture of a christian - look at me God, everything is together, You are good, i can sing all the words in all the worship songs and even believe that i believe them and You're great and thanks for all You've done and You're control [...]
hm, after the richness of 23 which i could have explored a lot more and in greater depth, i found 24 a bit more of a dig. nice poetic vibe and all, but not a lot jumping out at me and so maybe this is one where a bunch of you can chime in with your suggestions... i guess the one thing that stood out is the beginning which reads - 'The earth is the [...]