How To Devote Serious Energy

Psalm 45-50

God!  God is the theme!   God in all! God above all! God is all!

Humans are made to strive and devote serious energy and effort.   Do we not feel it?  The need to do, to take a stab at it or give it a shot...this is often the way we approach God.  We’re going to make a sacrifice, build a reputation or go on a mission trip.  These Psalms clear that all up.

“Cease striving and know that I am God;…Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,…Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.”

46:10-48:1-50:14

If you want to strive after God, to devote serious energy and effort toward Him, the best method is PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING!!!

Let's try together.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above ye heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.”

Now that’s a striving Psalm of the morning.

Talking Waterfalls, Forests and Sapphire Lakes

Psalm 38-44

Humans in despair is the theme of today’s Psalms.  In the middle of all this misery we read this verse:

“Deep calls to deep at the

                  sound of Thy waterfalls.”

                           Psalm 42:7a

There are times in life when nature gives us a glimpse of what I call “the Realm of the Almighty.”  The “deep” calls to our “deep” and suddenly we are aware of The Great I AM.  In this Psalm a waterfall brings it to David.  With us it might be sitting on a parched porch and hearing a summer rain come marching through the forest or maybe a snow filled mountain valley with a small sapphire lake set there.  It is there and gone in an instant and leaves us with a deep scar of joy.  It is a physical weight of painful ecstasy that we know speaks of Eden, of a manger, of a Hill called Calvary and of a Homecoming.   The deep color green of my forest shrouded in mist let me peek this morning.  

Small mountain lake Betty, Sarah and I stopped by on way to
Mt. Rainier 2 years ago

Diet of Death

Psalm 34-37

Man’s wickedness and the loving kindness and security in the Lord are the themes of today’s reading, but there’s a question there we must ask ourselves: “What are the desires of your heart?”  Stop a moment and ask yourself that question.  In today’s age of 24-hour techno/media our eyes are filled with visual candy that feed our heart a constant diet of desire.  I hate this affluence addiction. 

Who can rescue me from this diet of death?

“Delight yourself in the Lord;

And He will give you the

         desires of your heart.”

                  37:4

Just In Case You’re Not Feeling Great

Psalm 27-33

Everything in life and death is tied to God.  That is why the Psalms are so comforting to us.  David continually talks to God about every detail of his life.  David is so committed that it never crosses his mind that God may not be that interested.  When we read the Psalms we get the idea that David believes that he is God’s ultimate concern.  What a wonderful way to live.  To live believing that you are the most relevant thing on God’s heart at every moment of every day.

“You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

         as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.

         Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

         before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

         They cannot be numbered!

I can’t even count them;

They outnumber the grains of sand!”

                  Psalm 139:15-18

Clean Your Bedroom

Joshua 1:1-18

Psalms 26

I'm teaching Sunday school again.  It’s about obedience and so is this Psalm.  I once heard Francis Chan comment on obedience and the American Christian.  He said the American church was like him asking his child to clean her bedroom.  He comes back in several hours and asked the child, “Did you clean your bedroom?”  The child cheerfully and with great pride responds.  “I asked several of my friends over and we talked about cleaning.  We discussed all the neat and good ways to clean.  We even bought a “Clean Your Bedroom” manual and read it and even memorized a lot of the best passages.  We’ve promised to be the best at cleaning our bedrooms and are going to meet twice a week to encourage one another.”

Love

Psalm 19-25

There is a love born away in Eden’s garden…everlasting, the love for thy spouse.  There is a love ground deep in thy loins…sweet fruit of oak, the love for thy children.  And then there is the love for God, often dormant, but on occasion wakened in thee in absolute clarity which causes all other loves to fade away.   Such love is awakened this morning.

“The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul;

He leadeth me in the paths

Of righteousness for his name’s sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the

Shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For thou art with me;

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence

Of mine enemies;

Thou anointest my head with oil;

My cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

23^rd Psalm

Thomas Cole's "The Good Shepherd"

                           

Nothing I Can Add

Psalm 14-18

The fool has said in his heart,

“There is no God.”

Psalms 14:1a

Pieter The Elder Bruegel's
"The Blind Leading the Blind"