Psalm 71…old age…enemies…

 Psalm 71….old age…enemies…

I was watching a news and business commentary program as I was treading on the treadmill early yesterday morning….they were interviewing an author who has published a book on societal changes in America from the 1870’s to present…

His comments were noteworthy….over these years we have changed from a people that rallied together for a good cause to present day in which now we when we focus on others, we are looking for enemies…rallying against one another…divisive, fearful…

It gave me pause as I was at a conference in which we came together to rally around one another, to support a ministry which has worldwide influence and care for others, based on the gospel…sharing Jesus with people beyond the roads, into faraway  places, helping supply anything from new translations of the Bible to tin for roofs…ferrying villagers to medical care and schools…

Working together and not against one another, relying on one another…loving one another…

One of the guest speakers at the conference also referenced one of the verses from Psalm 71… 

 So even to old age and gray hairs,O God, do not forsake me,until I proclaim your might to another generation,your power to all those to come.

Ps.71.18

I have witnessed some of the societal changes over the years of my life, but the power of God still reigns…his love is still for those who seek Him…He never changes throughout the ages…

Thank YOU…

 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;let me never be put to shame! In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;incline your ear to me, and save me! 

Be to me a rock of refuge,to which I may continually come;you have given the command to save me,for you are my rock and my fortress. 

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. 

For you, O Lord, are my hope,my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;you are he who took me from my mother's womb.

My praise is continually of you. 

I have been as a portent to many,but you are my strong refuge. 

My mouth is filled with your praise,and with your glory all the day. 

Do not cast me off in the time of old age;forsake me not when my strength is spent. 

For my enemies speak concerning me;those who watch for my life consult together and say, “God has forsaken him;pursue and seize him,for there is none to deliver him.” 

O God, be not far from me;O my God, make haste to help me! 

May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. 

But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. 

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,of your deeds of salvation all the day,for their number is past my knowledge. 

With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;

I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me,and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 

So even to old age and gray hairs,O God, do not forsake me,until I proclaim your might to another generation,your power to all those to come. 

Your righteousness, O God,reaches the high heavens.

You who have done great things,O God, who is like you? 

You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again;from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 

You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. 

I will also praise you with the harpfor your faithfulness, O my God;I will sing praises to you with the lyre,O Holy One of Israel. 

My lips will shout for joy,when I sing praises to you;my soul also, which you have redeemed. 

And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.

Ps.71.1-24

Pay attention…

 BIBLE….

One of the speakers for this conference make makes acronyms for everything…people names, locations, titles…

One that has probably been around a long time, but I had never heard before or had lost in the many files of my mind is…

BIBLE…Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth…

I thought of this as the following came as today’s verse of the day popped up…

 You shall walk after the Lord your God and you shall fear [and worship] Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], and you shall keep His commandments and you shall listen to His voice, and you shall serve Him, and cling to Him. 

Deut.13.4

This coupled with another speaker, Alistair Begg, whom our Womens’ Bible study has been following in Mark 4…spoke of “pay attention “…(here he is doing the devotional on the book of Philemon…encouraging Philemon to welcome back Onesimus, a former slave as a brother in Christ…)

Go back the “pay attention “…a phase found 20 plus times throughout the Word…

 

 A few…

A warning not heeded…

Exodus 9:21 (ESV)

but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

An admonition…

Exodus 23:13…Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

Exodus 23:21 (ESV) Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.

 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’

2Chr.6.16

 I set watchmen over you, saying,‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ Therefore hear, O nations,and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,the fruit of their devices,because they have not paid attention to my words;and as for my law, they have rejected it.

Jer.6.17-19

 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.

Zech.1.4

 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken Mark.4.24-25

 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Acts.20.28

 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 

how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

Heb.2.1,Heb.2.3

Admonishments and encouragements….Basis Instructions…Pay Attention…

Thank YOU…

Psalms 69… a desperate cry…

 

Psalm 69…a desperate cry…

As I read this Psalm, by David, this am, I couldn’t but wonder if Jesus’ prayer in the garden the night of his betrayal wasn’t something similar…I know they are not the same, but the heart and the pleas tear at your heart…in desperation…Jesus knew his call, his purpose, his destination…and yet it must have been a weight so unimaginable….

Thank YOU….

 I am weary with my crying out;my throat is parched.

My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. 

More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause;mighty are those who would destroy me,those who attack me with lies.

What I did not steal must I now restore? 

Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,O Lord God of hosts;let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,O God of Israel. 

For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,that dishonor has covered my face. 

For zeal for your house has consumed me,and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. 

I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,and the drunkards make songs about me. 

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.

At an acceptable time, O God,in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. 

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. 

Hide not your face from your servant,for I am in distress; make haste to answer me. 

Draw near to my soul, redeem me;ransom me because of my enemies! 

You know my reproach,and my shame and my dishonor;my foes are all known to you. 

Reproaches have broken my heart,so that I am in despair.I looked for pity, but there was none,and for comforters, but I found none. But I am afflicted and in pain;let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song;I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 

For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. 

Let heaven and earth praise him,the seas and everything that moves in them. 

For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah,and people shall dwell there and possess it;     

the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

Ps.69.3-4,Ps.69.6-7,Ps.69.9,Ps.69.12-13,Ps.69.16-20, Ps.69.29-30,Ps.69.33-36.

 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Matt.26.38,Matt.26.39,Matt.26.42

“Let” for this morning…

 “Let” for this morning…

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah 

that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. 

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! 

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, 

for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah 

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! 

The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. 

God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭67:1-7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Dry and thirsty land…Psalm 63…Abundance…Psalm 65…

 Dry and thirsty land….Psalm 63…

Abundance…Psalm 65…

All of my children were born In Nevada, “a dry and thirsty land”, average rainfall 8 inches…compared to national average of 38 inches…

We planned to plant our gardens Memorial Day weekend, with crops that could be harvested before Labor Day weekend…that was the timing because you could have major snow and frost at either end…and we did…

We learned how to utilize drip systems, rather than overall sprinklers to conserve precious water. ( traveling through Israel, observing their amazing use of drip watering, they have turned deserts into an oasis)

The harvest was usually plentiful, but every year was different…

Fruit trees, on the other hand, were a different matter, because of the usual short growing season…you may get a crop or you may not…provided good shade, if nothing else…and we gathered chokecherries and elderberries from the mountain canyons as well..

I still see pictures of friends with their gardens every year since I have moved away. Some have increased their gardens with greenhouses, which is amazing…

As I read psalms 63, 65 I thought of those times in Nevada compared to my present home…I have fruit trees which produce every year, raised boxes in which to grow whatever I sow, still using the drip systems for watering…

David wrote Psalm 63 while he was in the desert…

He wrote of the care and steadfast love of God…

“ O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;my soul thirsts for you;my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you. 

So I will bless you as long as I live;in your name I will lift up my hands. 

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed,and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 

for you have been my help,and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you;your right hand upholds me.”

Ps.63.1-8

Psalm 65 is such a praise song as well, but David speaks of the care of the land too…

 “You visit the earth and water it;you greatly enrich it;the river of God is full of water;you provide their grain,for so you have prepared it. 

You water its furrows abundantly,settling its ridges,softening it with showers,and blessing its growth. 

You crown the year with your bounty;your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. 

The pastures of the wilderness overflow,the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,the valleys deck themselves with grain,they shout and sing together for joy.”

Ps.65.9-13

God is with us in the desert times and the abundance…providing either way…both physically and spiritually…thank YOU….

A view from my back patio…fruit trees …this years peaches, the big and the small…

Yesterday’s conversation…communicate…

 Yesterday’s conversation….communicate…

Yesterday we had no exercise facilitator….just signs around the edge of the pool to follow..

So another exerciser and I worked together as we did them, with a constant conversation…which we don’t usually have time for…

Our conversation centered around being prepared…she knows nothing of their finances, checking, bills, paperwork, insurances, etc…the husband does it all…which is okay, but what if something happened and she had to take it over…

So her question was, “what do I do?”…

I had the same question, for my parents and my husband eons of time back , which seems like yesterday…

My mom had had a stroke, and I went to help my dad take care of her….and him….two months until she could get around on her own and eventually she drove again and taught her beloved painting classes…

But another goal of mine was to find out about all of their estate stuff, paperwork, accounts, etc…both for my peace of mind and my mother’s…my dad took care of everything as well…

So I explained what I needed from my dad and he graciously conceded…he began dragging out shoe boxes, small wooden boxes, files folders…etc…from under his bed, various closets.

We ended putting together a binder…

All account numbers..

Insurance info..

Contacts…lawyers, accountants, etc…

Phone numbers and addresses of people they knew…

House deed, car title…

Any ancestry info…

Military records…

Safe combinations…

A copy of will/trusts, POA, etc..

List of advisers…

Any funeral wishes, burial site/deed info…

Etc, etc,etc, …

I ended up purchasing him a file cabinet so at least all those little boxes could be in one place…

But, leaving my parents after that visit and caretaking  time…we all felt better physically and emotionally…we had many long talks…opening up many subjects…

But, upon returning home, my children wanted the same info about my husband and I…so another journey…making sure that it is kept pretty well up to date…now you have to add websites, passwords…

Later, as my mom, husband and dad passed away in quick succession, I was so glad that we had all taken time to put that info together…not just for the info, but for the times together, working through the process…the inheritance of values, love, care…

We are stewards…of all that God bestows upon us, whether rich or poor…whatever path He leads us on…we are still stewards…of His Word, His resources, His wisdom, His gifts…

I thought of this as I read Psalm 62 this am…it’s repetition…where our ultimate trust lies…

 For God alone my soul waits in silence;from him comes my salvation. 

He alone is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken…

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be shaken…

On God rests my salvation and my glory;my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 

Trust in him at all times, O people;pour out your heart before him;God is a refuge for us. Selah 

Once God has spoken;twice have I heard this:that power belongs to God,     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

For you will render to a man according to his work.

Ps.62.1-2, Ps.62.5-8, Ps.62.11-12

Thank YOU…

https://www.crosswalk.com/family/parenting/what-adult-children-wish-their-parents-would-say-to-them.html?utm_source=Daily%20Bible%20Living&utm_campaign=Daily%20Bible%20Living%20-%20BibleStudyTools.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=7105215&recip=488704412&aps=d491a43856e21b587867b447453a930de9780b237aec2d5b87b5802fcc4d8c3d

Measure…

 Measure…

“definition of measure

: an adequate or due portion

: a fixed or suitable limit : BOUNDS

rich beyond measure

: the dimensions, capacity, or amount of something ascertained by measuring

: a measured quantity

: a standard or unit of measurement

: the act or process of measuring

: a basis or standard of comparison

: to allot or apportion in measured amounts”Merriam-Webster 

I started with the word, “measure” in Mark 4:24…and found these verses going back to Genesis with Joseph…in his obedience to do what God had showed him through the Pharaoh’s dream…

Each verse so encouraging…provision, good, without end, abundance, allotment…gift…

Thank YOU….for your measure…help me to pay attention as in Mark…to the Word…

 And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

 Gen.41.49

Exodus 16:18 (ESV) But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

Job 38

 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,or what man shows him his counsel?

Isa.40.13

 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

Jer.33.22

 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

 Mark.4.24-25

 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Luke.6.37-38

 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

John.3.34

 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Rom.12.3

 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Eph.4.1-7