The First Day of Summer

June 21st - the first day of summer, the longest day of the year (and 24 hours of sunlight on the North Pole), always a happy, fun day (it's my birthday!)

Rather than blog about getting old or giving you a list of things I want for my birthday, I thought I'd share my favorite Psalm. I've probably mentioned it here before. It is in several sections that each could be the basis for a wonderful sermon. The cool thing about that is you can figure out the sermon yourself! You won't need me or Bro. Larry to explain it or give you a nice personal application. (Not to say the he or I either one wouldn't do a great job.) Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and show you something new and wonderful from the Word and you'll see all kinds of really awesome stuff in here. I'd love to know what God said to you. Click on "comments" and let us all know what God put on your heart. Pictures here are of my family because of vs. 4 "One generation shall praise Thy name to another." And because God's goodness and faithfulness and power and all of the incredible things listed in this Psalm are so evident in our lives.

Psalm 145

Study This Chapter

1 I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. 6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. 7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. 10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; 12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion {endures} throughout all generations.

14 The LORD sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. 18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 20 The LORD keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

Happy New Year

Here's wishing everyone a very happy New Year! One of the really nice things about modern day life is that you can celebrate the New Year in several time zones via the wonders of live television. I happen to really enjoy the Eastern time zone on New Year's Eve, so I have already hollered "Happy New Year" and kissed my lovely wife, my son and daughter and son-in-law and daughter-in-law and all five grandbabies and now I can go to bed knowing I have celebrated the arrival of 2008.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll share some New Year resolutions... basically for two reasons. 1. I'm way past ready for bed and 2. I haven't spent too much time thinking about it. With four extra adults and 5 little people under the age of 5 in the house (3 of them under the age of 2!) there haven't been very many quiet moments in the last two days that would lend themselves to being contemplative.

I would like to share with you some verses from my favorite Psalm. I think they are perfect for putting myself in the right focus for the new year.

Psalm 145 (NASB)

Psalm 145 written in the circles (in Hebrew) Hallelujah is written five times around the outside circle.

1 I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. 6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. 7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. 8 The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. (Read the rest of this great Psalm here Psalm 145 )