Psalm 44 - God Deserves the Credit (He Did It)

The Israelites were good warriors. They conquered the Promised Land and drove out nations from the land.
King David killed Goliath and led his armies to battle and returned with great victories.

But in all of their victories they realized that it was God who gave them the victory. It's summed up in verse 3.

3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.

Jeremiah gave this instruction which says the same thing in a little different way.

Jeremiah 9: 23 Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

What are you good at? Do you recognize that it is God who gives you that ability and any good things that come from it?

What difficulties are you facing? Do you realize that you don't have to rely on your own strength or cleverness or abilities? I'm not saying you shouldn't be prepared in life. I'm not saying that you shouldn't work hard. You should give every situation your best. The Israelites fought hard for the Promised Land. But it is God who brought the victory. It is God who will bring the victory in your life.

And here's my favorite part! Do you know why? Because of His love!

Bottom line:

If you spend some time meditating on what it means to have the light of God's face working in your life - because of His love for you - it will change your life.

And...

Bonus Bottom line:

If you can boast that you understand and know God then you will delight in what He delights in - exercising lovingkindness, justice and righteousness. Then you will also delight in (and do) those things.

Psalm 43 - Send Light and Truth

Psalm 43 only has five verses. It has a familiar theme - asking God for deliverance.
I mentioned to my lovely wife how it was difficult to blog about so many psalms with the same theme. I know that there is a reason for the recurring theme. Life is hard. We're often surrounded by enemies. Bad things happen to good people. Life doesn't go the way we planned. We need help from God for thousands of reasons.

But I didn't want to blog the same thing again with just a little change in the wording. But then God showed me something a little different in this psalm. Or at least something I hadn't noticed before (if it was in another psalm.)

3 O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; 
Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. 

All scripture speaks of Jesus Christ. (This verse is more obvious than many.) When we ask God for light for our way, for truth in any situation, we're asking for Jesus!

"I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6 (Notice that this statement by Jesus even covers the second part of the verse above. He is the way to THE holy hill - God's dwelling place.)

"In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." John 1:4

Can I just leave it there? I think if I go on and on with some sort of explanation I'll just mess it all up. 
Facing troubles? Need deliverance? Guidance? Vindication? Whatever it is.... You need Jesus. Psalm 43:3 can be your "go to" verse for pretty much everything!
"Send out Your Light and Your Truth, let HIM lead me." 

Psalm 42 - Dealing with Depression (down in the dumps)

I don't mean to deal lightly with a serious condition. I know that some depressions are from a chemical imbalance or medical condition or very deep personal trauma. If that is what you or a loved one is dealing with then let me encourage you to get professional help.

Probably everyone has down times. Life didn't go the way we planned or wanted, or we feel like only bad things are happening to us, or - I don't know, there are many reasons.

Bonus material. Who were the sons of Korah who wrote this Psalm? The Sons of Korah

In two of the verses (5, 11) the psalmist asks, "Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me?" There are some reasons given, but rather than focus on those (since our reasons are probably different) let's look at his response. I would suggest this is the way out of depression.

1. Praise Him even if you don't feel like it. - Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God. vs. 5, 11
2. Long for God - As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God. vs.1-2
3. Remember the good times with God - I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts. v.4
4. Look day and night at how God reveals Himself to you - The Lord will send His faithful love by day; His song will be with me in the night- a prayer to the God of my life. v.8

Bottom line:
It can be easy to let the cares of the world get you where you are feeling depressed. Take your focus off of yourself and on to your Savior and God. Praise Him and look for Him - long for Him. I'm certain your feelings of depression will be replaced with songs in the night!

Psalm 41 - Be Kind to the Poor

Verse 1

NIV

1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.

NLT

1 Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.

HCS

1 Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity.

There are a lot of verses in the Bible that tell us to care for the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the widows and orphans....

Rather than list several verses with instructions on caring for these let me remind you of Jesus' words in Matthew 25

35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?' 40 "And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.'

Hmmmm.... maybe I"m being lazy, but it seems pretty self-explanatory to me. Each of us needs to find ways that we can live our lives caring for the weak. Find ministries in the community that you can be involved in. Start a ministry at church that meets the needs of others. That doesn't mean think of something for the pastors to do. If God gives you a great idea of how to minister to others YOU need to do it. Your pastor can give you guidance or direction or help you think through logistics or whatever, but YOU need to do it. Gather others around you to help you and go for it. Or find people in your neighborhood to minister to. Visit nursing homes. Feed the hungry. Visit the prisons. 

I hate to make a list because I don't want you to think it is an exhaustive list. You will think of things that I won't think of. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Make a difference in your part of the world.

Oh...and then you have a perfect audience to share the Gospel with.

Psalm 40 - Parchment Skies

Do you know this old hymn - "The Love of God" - by Frederick M. Lehman ? When I read verse 5

Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.

I thought of the third verse of "The Love of God."

Could we with ink the ocean fill

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trace,

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Tho' stretched from sky to sky.

 The Love of God  was written in 1917, but look at this! Mercy Me sang it.

Even though we could never list all of the wonderful things that God has done - in our own lives as well as the lives of everyone else in the whole world - we should spend some time each day making a list. How would your outlook on life, the way you look at and treat others, the things you ask for in prayer, the way you interact with your family and friends.... How would all of that change if you looked at life with an amazed, grateful heart?

Bottom line challenge:
I have a challenge for today's "bottom line." Depending on how dedicated you think you can be, pick a time frame, 2 days, 1 week, 3 weeks.... and begin each day of that time making a list of God's deeds. Then look that day for new things to add to your list the next morning. I would be interested in hearing from you at the end of the time. How your life different? How did you see things differently? In what ways did you grow closer to God?

Here's verse 5 again in the New Living Translation:
5 O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

Psalm 39 - Life Is Short - Make it Count

How do you want to be remembered? I'm often amused at funerals when the preacher is saying all kinds of nice things about the deceased and everyone's looking around wondering who he's talking about. That's not how I remember him!

Psalm 39 reminds us that life is short.

4 “Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.We see these same thoughts all through scripture. One example is James 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.Are you rushing around trying to heap up wealth? You don't even know who will end up with your wealth. You know - you can't take it with you.

The best way to make your life count isn't by piling up wealth. Invest your life in others, point them to Jesus, let your legacy live on through them as they follow Jesus. I'm not saying that wealth is wrong. I'm saying that when your life is over your wealth will end up with someone else and you have no control over who ends up with it. But a life invested in others will go on as others live their lives for Jesus because of your example and encouragement.
Bottom line:Do you want to be remembered as someone who was always chasing wealth? Or as someone whose hope was in the Lord? People are watching you. Live how you want to be remembered.

Psalm 38 - Confess or Waste Away?

Confess or waste away? That's kind of what this looks like to me. Look what bad shape David was in: there was no health in his body, his guilt was overwhelming him, his wounds fester and stink (Ugh!), he was bent over and racked with pain...fever...exhaustion.. the list keeps going.

Sin has consequences. Some are immediate, some are obvious - like you rob a bank then you go to jail - but the consequences we don't see so obviously, (or at least it seems that most people don't think about this), is a broken relationship with God.

1 O LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage! 

2 Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me. 

So what's the answer for this? How do you restore your relationship with God?

18 But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done. 

21 Do not abandon me, O LORD . Do not stand at a distance, my God. 

22 Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.

There you go.

Confess your sins. Be deeply sorry for what you have done. Ask God to not abandon you but instead to come quickly and help you. Confess that He is your Lord and Savior.