Psalm 142…I cry out…

 Psalm 142…I cry out….

‘Tis the season to receive requests upon requests for funds from anything, anyone needing help…the baby elephants dying in Africa, the animals needing shelters and care…people shelters…

Myriads of needs the world around…

The most poignant to me is pictures of beggars in the streets, wanting help of any sort…food, shelter, clothing…or elderly picking up pieces of wood to make a fire to keep warm or cook their meager food in war torn countries….people’s hands held out in supplication, wanting, pleading…the sick and dying lying quietly waiting for the inevitable….

Reading Psalm 142 brought these pictures to mind…David crying out in distress as he hides in a cave, hidden in the hill, awaiting King Saul to find him…pleading to God his refuge….knowing His promises, but not quite seeing them at the time…

There are desperate times for many, captive by our fears , problems…we know the truth, but are not quite seeing it through our desperation…we plead..we hang on…

God in His time and way comes through…

Thank YOU….

 I cry out to God Most High,to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

Ps.57.2

 Hear my prayer, O Lord;let my cry come to you! 

Do not hide your face from mein the day of my distress!

Incline your ear to me;answer me speedily in the day when I call!

Ps.102.1-2

 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!     O Lord, hear my voice!Let your ears be attentiveto the voice of my pleas for mercy!

Ps.130.1-2

 With my voice I cry out to the Lord;with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. 

I pour out my complaint before him;I tell my trouble before him.

Ps.142.1-2

  With my voice I cry out to the Lord;with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. 

I pour out my complaint before him;I tell my trouble before him. When my spirit faints within me,you know my way!

In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 

Look to the right and see:there is none who takes notice of me;no refuge remains to me;no one cares for my soul. 

I cry to you, O Lord;I say, “You are my refuge,my portion in the land of the living.” 

Attend to my cry,for I am brought very low!

Deliver me from my persecutors,for they are too strong for me! Bring me out of prison,that I may give thanks to your name!

The righteous will surround me,for you will deal bountifully with me.

Ps.142.1-7

Psalm 141…please listen…refuge…

 Psalm 141….please listen…refuge…

One of the times I read through the Psalms was when my husband was dying…it wasn’t Job I turned to, but David’s psalms….

We were fighting an enemy, cancer….surrounded by helpful people, but the fight was still relentless… we fought the deep pit of despair, felt like our feet were stuck in the miry clay, words by the enemy, we had anger toward the situation, we cried, we wanted out, we wanted the enemy cast away from us…we felt like fainting ….many of the emotions brought out by David at his times of trials…in the psalms…

I would read them at night after all had left, my husband holding my hand until he couldn’t and then I held his…reading, crying, seeking the same refuge that David spoke of…seeking the same strength that a king sought so many years ago…

I am glad that God isn’t partial…helping a king and us with the same care and love…refuge…

My husband didn’t win the battle with cancer, but he went to  a better place, knowing a Savior…who gives eternal life to those who  seek and find Him….

Thank YOU….

 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! 

But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!

Ps.141.1,8

Hidden landmarks….

 Hidden landmarks…

Recently my cousin sent me a series of videos he took while visiting places near our grandparents’ ranch…

As children we would drive through a little valley, passing homes, corrals, gardens, landscaped yards, barns before  going through a big, white closed gate leading to winding road and another valley where our grandparents lived…

Over the years, the first valley was vacated, homes leveled to make way for a lake to help with irrigation further away, roads moved to higher ground …now that lake is receding due to lack of water ….foundations, hidden landmarks are once again visible of  times past…memories made…

My cousin had the privilege of taking former residents back to the valley to find their home spot, other landmarks  they knew well and we saw as children…they could name families who lived in that valley, tell some of their stories….what a treasure…

Even though water has covered those landmarks for years, some could still be found…

It made me ponder again, whatever happened to those ancient altars, landmarks that people of long ago made to worship the Lord…

After visiting Israel three years ago, seeing excavation after excavation, thousands of years of history built on top of one another…they have long disappeared into the sands of time…probably not to be uncovered by lack of water, as the ones my cousin found…

Although the landmarks were hidden from view for many years, the Word of God was not…it has maintained its prominence, it best selling spot, its integrity, its Truth for generation after generation…it cannot be burned, flooded, torn away as it stands eternal…it is still being translated into languages via the written or spoken word..,so that it is proclaimed  to the ends of the earth…

 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Luke.21.33

Thank YOU….

 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Gen.8.20

 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Gen.13.18

 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

Gen.35.1

 And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you. And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them; you shall build an altar to the Lord your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God, and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God. And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

 Deut.27.2-8

 “You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

 Deut.19.14

 Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.

Prov.22.28

 

Psalm 140…slander…

  Psalm 140…slander…

Slander…

“: the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation?

: a false and defamatory oral statement about a person,” Merriam Webster.. 

Psalm 140 may have been written during David’s time as he was fleeing from Saul…words falsely accusing David by Saul…

 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually. They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah 

Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;preserve me from violent men,who have planned to trip up my feet. 

The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,and with cords they have spread a net;beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah 

I say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord! O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,you have covered my head in the day of battle. 

Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah 

As for the head of those who surround me,let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! 

Let burning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,into miry pits, no more to rise! 

Let not the slanderer be established in the land;let evil hunt down the violent man speedily! 

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,and will execute justice for the needy. 

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;the upright shall dwell in your presence.Ps.140.1-13

This psalm could be written today…slanders have not ceased being around…evil still abounds…those who are good are still be accused…there are “mischief “, wicked, violent, those who make war, needy, afflicted….none of this has gone away over the centuries…we haven’t gotten any better…sin still abounds…

But Grace abounds all the more…

The same  Lord whom David called upon can still be called upon today… He still saves, still lifts up, still executes justice for the needy…

Thank YOU…Help me not to be among the slanderous…guard my tongue…

 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.Lev.19.15-16

Let not the slanderer be established in the land;let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!Ps.140.11

 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.Prov.11.13

 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Matt.15.18-19

 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.Col.3.8

 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,Titus.2.3

Psalm 139…permeate…

 

Psalm 139…Permeate 

One of my favorite psalms…no matter where I am, what I am doing, what I am thinking, about to say….

God is there/here…he knows everything there is to know about me from the beginning to the end…

I was lamenting the fact of a medication that I am currently taking is awful…it tastes awful, it permeates into all of your pores, your clothes smell like it, your bedding smells like it…your mouth tastes like it all the time..researchers have tried various ways to make it palatable, but haven’t come up with a way yet  in its thirty year history…conclusion is just take it and hope you have to only take one round of it…

God “permeates”, indwells us in a good way…he is palatable…he doesn’t go away…and as believers, we have Him all the time…

Thank YOU…..

 “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;you discern my thoughts from afar. 

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 

Even before a word is on my tongue,behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 

You hem me in, behind and before,and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;it is high; I cannot attain it. 

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence? 

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me. 

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is bright as the day,for darkness is as light with you. 

For you formed my inward parts;you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;my soul knows it very well. 

My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,the days that were formed for me,when as yet there was none of them. 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them! 

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.I awake, and I am still with you. 

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me! 

They speak against you with malicious intent;your enemies take your name in vain. 

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 

I hate them with complete hatred;I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts! 

And see if there be any grievous way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting!”

Ps.139.1-24

 And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matt.28.20b

Psalm 138…

 

Psalm 138…

It was a long/short night…pain and dog…it seems like I just got to sleep and my dog was crying….

“Ben woke me up at four this morning…had thrown up on carpet, diarrhea in kennel, diarrhea on the way to outside door, which I walked in because it was dark….yuck, yuck

Gave him a bath, kennel a bath, carpet a couple of baths…everything in washer to soak…had had a short night because of pain…so all in all an interesting wake up…”

His Love Endures Forever  singing in my head…what God endures from me…not so hot either..”

Am not looking for any sympathy…real life happening…we all get to experience this and worse at times…

 So my psalm today was…138…

“I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;before the gods I sing your praise; 

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 

On the day I called, you answered me;my strength of soul you increased. 

( I thank you that you have answered me-and have become my salvation.

Ps.118.21)

All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,for great is the glory of the Lord. 

For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,but the haughty he knows from afar. 

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,you preserve my life;

( Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,for you are with me;your rod and your staff,they comfort me.

Ps.23.4)

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,and your right hand delivers me. 

( You prepare a table before me in  the presence of my enemies;you anoint my head with oil;my cup overflows.

Ps.23.5)

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

( The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.     He makes me lie down in green pastures.He leads me beside still waters.     He restores my soul.He leads me in paths of righteousnessfor his name's sake.

Ps.23.1-3)

Do not forsake the work of your hands.

(Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. 

He will not leave you or forsake you.” 

It is the Lord who goes before you. 

He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. 

Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Deut.31.6,8)

Ps.138.1-8

Thank YOU….

Psalm 137…tormentors….

 Psalm 137….tormentors….

As I read this psalm, all I could see was pictures of the Holocaust, books I have read about those times…how the Nazis used and abused millions of people…of other countries who have done the same over the thousands of years up to present day…times really haven’t changed…there is evil and good all around us…the evil making fun of the good…

This is not a particularly uplighting psalm….but oh soooo raw…in the feelings of the writer…

But, it harkened back to Psalm 37 as well…the answer is there…”delight yourself in the Lord”…He is the defender…He knows the way…

Thank YOU….

 By the waters of Babylon,there we sat down and wept,when we remembered Zion. 

On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 

For there our captors required of us songs,and our tormentors, mirth, saying,“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? 

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,let my right hand forget its skill! 

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,if I do not remember you,if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! 

Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem,how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,down to its foundations!” 

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! 

Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

Ps.137.1-9

 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;be not envious of wrongdoers! 

For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. 

Trust in the Lord, and do good;dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 

Delight yourself in the Lord,and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord;trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,and your justice as the noonday. 

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,over the man who carries out evil devices! 

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 

For the evildoers shall be cut off,but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. 

but the Lord laughs at the wicked,for he sees that his day is coming.

Ps.37:1-10,13