Psalm 66 - Remembering and Praising

We forget.....

We forget the great things that God does.
We forget promises that we make to God.
We forget to praise Him.
We forget to tell others what God has done for us.

Psalm 66 calls on everyone to praise God and to remember His awesome deeds. It recounts some of the things God did for Israel and the psalmist.

The psalmist also says that he will remember his vows and offerings to God.

And he remembered to confess his sins and to thank God for forgiveness.

Let me encourage you to try to remember these things too.
1. Remember great things that God has done for you.
2. Remember to follow through on things you promised God. Remember to give God your tithes and offerings.
3. Remember to confess your sins. and then thank God for His forgiveness.
4. Remember to tell others so they will praise God with you.

Psalm 65 - Praise Awaits

Praise awaits you, our God....

Psalm 65 beautifully lists lots of reasons for praising God.

1. Answered prayers v.2
2. Forgiveness of sin v.3
3. 
   

Well.... there's no point in rewriting the entire psalm line by line. Just look over it. It talks about God's power and how He takes care of the earth and more. I think it would be a good model for each of us. Take some time and praise God for answered prayers, but list them. Praise Him for forgiveness of sin - (maybe confess them first). And then - and this is easy in the Spring - just look around at the beauty all around us and praise God for all of it. He crowns the year with His bounty.

Psalm 64 - Evil Plans Brought Down

Psalm 64 only has ten verses. The first six describe how the wicked and evil conspire and plot. They say that they have devised the perfect plan. David explains "Surely the human mind and heart are cunning."

But no matter how clever and how cruel man is, and how they fearlessly ambush others, they are no match for God.

God will shoot them with his arrows and they will suddenly be brought down. god will use the wicked's own words against them and bring them to ruin.

The end result is that people will see what happened to the wicked and what God did to bring them down. People will fear God and will proclaim His works and ponder what He has done. The righteous will rejoice in the LORD, take refuge in Him and glory in Him.

So what does this mean to us in 2017?

It doesn't take much looking around to see a lot of evil wicked men devising all kinds of evil things against others. It's easy for righteous people to get discouraged seeing how clever and skillful they are at attacking the innocent.

So if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the wickedness of the world, take courage. With just a few shots of His arrows God will bring them down to ruin. He will even use their own words against them.

Don't be in despair looking at all of the evil in the world, the wicked plotting, etc.
Instead:
Take notice of what God is doing.
Ponder, think about, what He has done.
Rejoice in the LORD.
Take refuge in Him.
Glory in Him.

Psalm 63 - Wanting More

David doesn't say it in exactly those word "wanting more" but I read it there between the lines. David said this about God.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. v.2
Your love is better than life. v.3
I will praise you as long as I live. v.4
and more....

But he begins the psalm with these words.

1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

So here's what I see in this.

David was longing for God with his whole being because he had already seen how wonderful God is! 

Have you ever been in a service where people are sharing testimonies? Some can tell you things God did last week. Others are still talking about something that happened back in 1974. David wasn't satisfied with what he had seen in the past. He had seen God's power and glory. He wanted more! He knew that God's love is better than life. How could he be satisfied with love from last year or last decade? He thirsted for God with his whole being. The land around him was dry and parched with no water. Only God could satisfy his thirst.

Bottom line: Self examination time.

So.... where are you? Are you satisfied with what God did for you in 1998 or do you want more? If you've never seen his power and glory you should probably start there. If you have, are you thirsting for more of Him?

Psalm: 62 - Power and Love

God has spoken plainly,
and I have heard it many times:
Power, O God, belongs to You;
unfailing love, O Lord, is Yours.

It's the perfect combination; omnipotent power and unfailing love. Power without love is tyranny. Love without power is helpless. Knowing that power belongs to God and that His love is unfailing should give you confidence and peace, rest and hope, to face anything in life. It is easy to understand that He is your rock and salvation, fortress and refuge.... all the things listed at the beginning of the psalm.

I think there is a lot more to this than I've started here. I think if each of us will spend some time meditating on the thought of power belonging to God and that unfailing love is His then it will make a diference in how we live our lives.

I'm not meaning to wimp out on my blogging about this psalm. I just know that I need to spend more time thinking about what this means.

What do you think?

Psalm 61 - rocks and wings when overwhelmed

1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.

2 From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3 For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.

4 I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Other translations use these words.

"When my heart is overwhelmed...." what do you do when your heart is overwhelmed? See what comes next.

Then there are two beautiful pictures.

A high rock that is a strong tower against the foe.

Refuge in the shelter of His wings.

They are very contrasting images.

One is strong, hard, powerful, unbreakable, high, something you go to...

One is soft, gentle, caring, something that comes to you...

Both are a shelter, a refuge, a place to hide...

David used both images because it takes both of these and a whole lot more to describe the LORD. Sometimes you need Him to be your mighty strong tower the enemy can't begin to defeat. Sometimes you need Him to hold you gently and protect you as a momma bird protects her young.

The cool thing to know is that He is both and more and will meet your every need. When your heart is overwhelmed He is all you need.

Psalm 60 - Lord of the Nations

Psalm 60 doesn't come right out and use the title "Lord of the nations" as some psalms and other places in scripture do when describing God, but it's in there.

“In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.

7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah is my scepter.

8 Moab is my washbasin, on Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

Basically, God is saying that He'll do whatever He wants with whatever country He wants.

The psalmist also realizes that the only help that will do him (or us) any good is help that comes from the LORD.

11 Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless.

12 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

When you consider that God does whatever He wants with all of the nations then it is easy to see that compared to that, human help is worthless.

Bottom line:

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your circumstances, by enemies, by health issues, by your future, your past, by ...well...anything? Let me encourage you to enlarge your vision, your understanding, your faith in who God is. With God you will gain the victory.