Psalm 18 Ramblings

 

"I love You, O Lord, my strength." 

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, 

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, 

And I am saved from my enemies.

I'd been reading Psalm 18 and at verse 3, I stopped to write down what I considered to be a few of my own recent personal "enemies." They weren't physical things of course - certainly nothing like what David describes in verses 4-6 - but they were definitely some tough emotional "enemies," and they definitely felt threatening to my heart and peace of mind. However as I was recording them, I started thinking that I really needed to change my perspective a bit. The things I was dealing with weren't just special and exclusive to me but are faced by all humans at one time or another in life, and maybe I needed to look at the damage Satan was trying to do to my heart through them as the real enemy, not the emotions themselves.

No one wants to take difficult emotional situations by the horns and commit to walking through them with intentionality -- at least, I sure don't. And I don't think I'm very good at it at all. But I know God can use those things for good in my life if I commit to walking through them in faith. Honestly though, that's a way more scary proposition than just trying to stuff everything down and avoid and ignore, because it's gonna hurt all the more deeply if those situations don't go the way you hoped, and you've invested fully in walking through them rather than avoiding them. But the scriptures are FULL of reminders of the waste that is when we don't! A waste of opportunity to endure to spiritual completeness (James 1:4); to be approved for the eternal crown of life through this expression of love for our Lord (James 1:12); to share in His holiness through His discipline (Heb. 12:3-10); to gain the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 10:11); to share in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13); and to really rest in and EXPERIENCE the care of God, whose mighty hand promises to lift us up if we only trust Him in humility and love. (1 Peter 5:6-7) I listed these thinking um WOW, those are a lot of amazing blessings God has promised to those who purpose to endure in faith. And I want those things!!

The thing is, the blessed assurance we receive from Psalm 18 is that when we decide on seeing the hard things through in faith, God rises up to help us. We may not see it or feel it in the moments of pain, but David describes a God in Psalm 18 who fights for His children in a very powerful and real way. We don't live in the age David did and the ways God fights for us are different now in certain ways, but the same God Who delivered David promises to deliver us. He may refine us through our circumstances. He may still let us experience heartache and some incredibly painful situations. But whatever He allows we can trust will not only be for our good, but will NEVER be a waste - and that is such an amazing, compassionate, and beautiful promise. And whatever He makes us walk through we can know that, if we humble ourselves to Him, He will fight for us -- our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer. Blessed be the name of the Lord!!  

The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock;

And exalted be the God of my salvation,

The God who executes vengeance for me, 

And subdues peoples under me.

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♥ 

 

Winter Happenings

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O taste and see that the Lord is good;

How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

O fear the Lord, you His saints;

For to those who fear Him there is no want.

Psalm 34:8-9

We've been enjoying lots of winter time teas since we've been dealing with a lot of sickness (like the rest of the US it seems!!).

And enjoying some wintery holiday baking :)

Working with dough is one of my faaaavorite things :) :)

And so is making cinnamon rolls, hah ;)

We tried our hand at making homemade vaseline and lotion bars! This was so much fun and the lotion bars work SO well, I never want to go back to store-bought chapstick!! ;) We used Melissa K. Norris's lotion bar formula HERE, and Homestead Corner's 2-ingredient vaseline recipe HERE. Highly recommended!! :o)

The deer have been out foraging ...

... and the winter sunsets have been breathtakingly lovely. :)

I hope you are having a blessed beginning to your year my friends! :)

♥

Do the Next Thing

 

From an old English parsonage down by the sea

There came in the twilight a message for me;

Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,

Hath, as it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.

And on through the hours the quiet words ring,

Like a low inspiration: DO THE NEXT THING.

Many a questioning, many a fear,

Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment let down from Heaven,

Time, opportunity, guidance, are given.

Fear not tomorrows, Child of the King,

Trust them with Jesus. DO THE NEXT THING.

Do it immediately; do it with prayer;

Do it reliantly, casting all care;

Do it with reverence, tracing His hand

Who placed it before thee with earnest command,

Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,

Leave all resultings. DO THE NEXT THING.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,

(Working or suffering) be thy demeanor.

In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,

The light of His countenance be thy psalm.

Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing!

Then, as He beckons thee, DO THE NEXT THING.

(Anonymous)

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♥

Perfect Peace

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The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,

Because he trusts in You.

Trust in the Lord forever,

For in God the LORD we have an everlasting Rock ...

The way of the righteous is smooth;

O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O LORD,

We have waited for You eagerly;

Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.

 Isaiah 26:3-4, 7-8

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C.S. Lewis and a Homespun Tree

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 I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do enter your room, you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.

Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis

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♥

On Unconditional Reverence

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  'In Ecclesiastes, we are confronted with our powerlessness. Neither the human race collectively nor any of us individually can ever be sure that performing actions "A" and "B" will lead to "C" in this life. It might, but it might not ... 

'The key to human conduct, therefore, lies not in figuring out what will produce this or that result tomorrow -- it lies in the fear of God and obedience to what He has commanded. By frustrating our ability to create the future we want in this world, even by the means of religious activity, God is calling us back to the main thing that was lost in Eden; simple, unconditional reverence. We must adjust our minds to the doing of what is right because it is right, and not because it will turn earthly events in our direction. The sooner we give up our "comprehend and control" approach to life, the sooner we'll be ready to hear the gospel.'

Obeying the Gospel, Gary Henry 

Excerpt from October 30

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♥

Southern Fall Beauty | Psalm 139

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I had a fantastic and incredibly encouraging trip to Kentucky and Tennessee at the beginning of October! It was so wonderful to connect with brethren, renew old acquaintances, and form new ones -- I'm so grateful to be a part of the body of Christ, and to have family wherever I go. Pretty amazing. ♥

Below are a few pictures of the autumn loveliness from where I stayed, and also of Franklin, KY where my friend Sarah (who just moved there) and I did some exploring one morning! Psalm 139 was on my mind -- because it was humbling to see God's provision in every. single. situation as I traveled around  (there were a few bumps in the road, hah 😅) and it just reminded me that "even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will take hold of me." ♥ AMAZING GRACE!!

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"O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

"Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.

"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

"If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,' even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.

"My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You ....

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."

♥

Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24

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September 11, 2021

Today we remember the lives lost 20 years ago in the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil; 

and we say thank you -

to you who served that day and after,

to you whose sacrifice saved others that day and after,

to you who have continued to preserve our liberty by God's grace.

Your service and sacrifice were not in vain.

We will never forget.

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Prayer: Our Emotions + God's Truth || Psalm 42

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Below are some thoughts I took away from Psalm 42 regarding prayer, begun a couple months ago in my journal and fleshed out here! :)

It's so insightful how the psalmist goes back and forth with himself in this prayer. He starts out "panting" for God, "thirsting" for Him, crying out in anguish day and night – for one, apparently distressed because unbelievers around him are questioning God's very existence, as circumstances seem to indicate (in their minds) He's not showing up to help; and second, because the situation he is in is apparently a really difficult one, hence his desire for God's help. So he "pours out his soul within him” (v.4), remembering a time when he was surrounded by the faithful and grieving his current situation.

He begins v.5 by rather upbraiding his own soul, reminding himself that he needs to hope in God – praise God – "for the help (or saving acts) of His presence." God has, in other words, already proven Himself trustworthy, so “why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me?” He’s grounding his emotions in truth here. No matter how dire circumstances are, the truth is that God is absolutely always present and faithful and leading His children. But even though the Psalmist knows this, he is also honest in his pain, and acknowledges to the Lord that still, "O my God, my soul is in despair within me." That is really powerful. Even though he knows what is objectively true – that the all-powerful God is present and cares and is fulfilling His will – he still frankly acknowledges to God exactly how he is feeling. What a reassuring and beautiful lesson concerning our prayers to our Father! It's okay to come to the Lord with our deep heartache, fear, longing, and uncertainty – and we can do this while still believing in His omniscient nature. Trust in Him does not prohibit us from pouring out our hearts to Him in our uncertainty, and what’s more, He actually wants that from you and me! He doesn’t grow impatient of our finite understanding, nor does He view our pain over things we don’t understand as a lack of faith in His care of our lives. It's astounding, that level of compassion.

The thing is, the Psalmist never just stays in this place of distressed outpouring. In fact, because of the despair he feels, he immediately refers again to God’s power: "therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan, and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar."(v. 6) God, he says, has come through before and He has not suddenly lost His power now. And as he speaks of his pain, saying "all Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me,"(v. 7) he yet grounds himself with the TRUTH that "the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life."(v. 8) God will not forsake him –providing His lovingkindness in the daytime – and His song (a prayer, an avenue of communication) at night. Wow. So not only do we have assurance of the Lord's constant help and presence, but on the one hand, we see His compassionate patience and desire for our honest communication with Him – and on the other, we see complete faith and trust in the one praying. It’s a great example of the type of prayer mentioned in James 1:6, in which there are two parts to the equation of a prayer that WORKS: first, a God who is generous, compassionate, and gives without reproach, and second, a child of God who, full of faith in his Father, meets Him without doubt.

After all of this internal turmoil, expressing his emotional pain and yet always coming back to God's faithfulness, the psalmist cries out one more time, "why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, while they say to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" It’s interesting – he seems to remind the Lord (again) that his adversaries are mocking the fact that God (in their minds) is not coming to the rescue. He actually seems to be as distressed about this as he is about his own affliction. Which leads me to ask myself – am I that earnest in defending the honor of my God, of Jesus Christ who DIED for me and without whom I would have nothing? Am I that distressed when I hear untrue statements about Him, mocking disrespect of Him, or flippant irreverence toward Him among friends or co-workers? Do the people around me know that I don’t go along with that kind of talk? Christians ... be clear!!

I love that he ends with the simple truth. He has poured out his anguish to God, and at the conclusion of his prayer he comes back to what will never fail. "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him – the help of my countenance and my God." Amen! Our Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever -- and may He give me the faith and trust to be able to bring this kind of prayer before Him. Y’all have a wonderful week!

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He Giveth More Grace

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I've come across this hymn before when I've listened to singing recordings, but I never really heard the words until a version of it came up in my YouTube feed last week. When I actually read and listened to the message, I felt like I'd been hit upside the head with the incredible and incomprehensible love and care of God. So kind. SO full of care for His children. The idea that His provision multiplies the greater the cross - the harder His child's life, the bigger and more awesome His compassion grows - is so beautiful I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. The great Creator is also (to quote another hymn) our Savior and Friend, and nothing escapes His care. What incredible, merciful love.

He Giveth More Grace

 

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Annie J. Flint

'And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.'

2 Corinthians 12:9

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❤