Psalms 128-130

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
from 130

I didn't have a lot this morning.  But, this verse is a great reminder of how grateful we need to be.  I find myself wondering how different the look of forgiveness was to those that lived before Jesus.  It was obviously something God offered to them, but it was different.

Psalm 120-127

127:1 
Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.

These were all pretty short and nothing was striking me so I kept reading this morning.  

This verse just spoke to me because it spoke to my tendency to try to do things on my own.  Provide for myself, solve problems on my own until I get in a real pinch then I'm quickly speaking to him asking for help.  But really I need him with me in all I do, building my house and guiding me in where he wants me to construct a wall or put in a door.  Telling me each of my next steps of life should be and if I don't go to him for instruction all of my effort will be wasted.  

I've been approached with an opportunity to leave Deere.  Its not mine to take but a CFO job I would be in the running for and so of course I've spent time thinking and analyzing but what i really need to do is spend time seeking his guidance.  How and where can I be the most effective for him, not how and where can I make the most money or have the most power.  So right now I ask God to show me how and where he wants to use me and then I need to be willing to obey his direction.  Pray for me that I can discern his direction for me.  This is a good problem to have, I have a great job for a great company already and this new opportunity would provide a new challenge, a new opportunity to lead with a fellow christian.  It provides more autonomy but probably more risk vs. staying with the big mother ship where I am already well seated as a known quantity in a senior role.  Money would probably be slightly less to similar so its not about financials.  i just want to do what he wants me to do.

knut

Psalms 119

This one is set up a little bit differently.  I'm not positive what I'm looking at.  But, it appears to be prayers in the "round".  They all have a similar slant and position.  The thing that strikes me about all of them, is the humbleness at which they approach God.  There are several lines that make me think this.  There is a definite sense in these paragraphs, of the awesomeness of God.    And the idea that we need him, just to be able to follow him.
¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.

⁷³ Your hands made me and formed me;
give me understanding to learn your commands.

⁶⁶ Teach me knowledge and good judgment,
for I trust your commands.

²⁷ Cause me to understand the way of your precepts,
that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.

This isn't a concept I think of often.  I usually think of God as someone who I look to for guidance and love.  Someone who has my best interest at heart.  But, I think about following him as a choice that I make.  And sometimes don't.  I get a sense from these paragraphs, that having the desire to follow God........also comes from God.  He is the beginning and the end.  Without him, I don't even have the ability to follow/seek/worship/prasie/love him.  That's a mind bender to me.  But, a great reminder of how small I am compared to his greatness.  I need to remember to pray that he gives me the necessary "things" to follow him.

Psalms 116-118

118
⁸ It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.

Sooner or later, even the best of people will let you down.  Better to put my trust in the one that invented "trust".

tp

Psalms 113-115

This is from 115
⁹ All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
¹⁰ House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
¹¹ You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.

I would replace the words "you Israelites", with "the people." 
This should be how we live our life.  In the chapter he describes how the things we worship don't compare to the living God.  Our money doesn't have our best inteterst at heart.  Our success won't be there for us, when we need it.  Our possessions don't mean anything in the long run.  All these things fade when compared to God. 

That's it for today.  Short and sweet.

tp

Psalms 110-112

110  1“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”

²Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
³ Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
⁴ He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
⁵ He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.

I could be WAY off with this one.  But the more I read these chapters, and feel the pattern for how they are written; it seems to me to be a little bit of David psyching him self up.  First, he talks about God's great power to squash his enemies.  Like he is getting ready to go into battle.  Then directly behind that we get a chapter that talks about how Great God is.  I'm not trying to minimize those chapters, but it almost feels like David is praising God, and talking about how great his power is to reaffirm his faith to go into battle.  Almost like the speech he is giving his troops, to get them going and ready to fight.  Like William Wallace does in Braveheart.  I could see David sitting on his steed in front of the Israelite army......saying some of these chapters.  And all the soldiers roaring in an adrenalien induced excitement.
Man!  What did I have for breakfast this morning?

tp

Psalms 107-109

My God, whom I praise,
do not remain silent,
² for people who are wicked and deceitful
have opened their mouths against me;
they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
³ With words of hatred they surround me;
they attack me without cause.
⁴ In return for my friendship they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.
⁵ They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my friendship.

This is the start of 109.  It reads like it could be referencing today.  It shows how hard it is for us people to get along.  Then and now.  We, as christians, need to be seen as love.

tp

Psalms 105-106

I don't have a strong take today.  These chapters read more like a historical synopsis of the Israelite people.

The one thing that seems to resonate in there, is how consistent God is.  The ebbs and flows of his people were really vast.  They were slaves, then properous........the were starving, then they were fat.  But, through all of it God had a plan.  No matter what the people did, it didn't effect his plan.  We need to take solice in the promise that he has "good things" intended for us, and realize the minor setbacks of life are merely that; minor setbacks.  They won't effect the overall outcome of his plan for us.
I find that comforting.

tp

Psalm 103-104

104:24 
How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.

I really love the imagery of this Psalm.  It just lays out all of God's creation and the perfect system he created.  It just reminds me how ridiculous it is to think of all of this just being some random occurrence bursting out of a single point of explosion into a perfectly designed system of life.

thank you God for your creation and provision!
knut

Psalm 101-102

102:25 
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.

No big take here but I just found it interesting that it says the earth will wear out like a a garment (it also says the heavens which I am taking to be the universe...not Heaven).

As a kid with the oil crisis I always remember thinking we are in serious trouble, its just going to dry up suddenly and we will be done.  Well turns out its hard to imagine just how much oil there really is cuz we are not even close to out.  But at the same time there is some limited amount.  He built and designed the earth with enough stuff to get through the entirety of his plan....but we are wearing it out its not meant to last forever.

knut

Psalms 98-100

I kept reading this morning until something grabbed me.

Psalm 100

¹ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
² Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his^[b];
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

 

This entire chapter caught me.  The first thing that grabbed me is the line that says "worship the Lord with gladness."  I have written many times over the past 3ish years about my frustration with how hard it is to follow God, and at times it can make me feel really isolated.  And then that verse swoops in.  I should be "GLAD" to worship God.  Why?  because, "It is he who made me, and I am his."  This one is a great reminder for me of how my attitude should be.

 

tp

Psalm 98-100

100:5 
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

These 3 chapters have a lot of praising of God. I think I typically blow by the words without thinking too much.  But it seems like a model for how we should be worshiping with our songs and full of energy.  I think I tend to be much more reserve, probably not cutting loose they way I could or maybe should.

the last verse i just like, his love endures forever is very comforting especially as I observe all the violence in the world today.  Its good to remember he is covering us with his love always.

knut

Psalm 96-97

So last night we had a guest come to our small group to discuss prayer and help lead us in a time of prayer.  To lead ourprayer time she picked a chapter out of the bible for us to pray from.  Out of all of the books in the bible she chose Psalm 97.  Random coincedence, no God showing me in a small way his greatness.

Our two chapters talk about his greatness.  I can't make nook copy 97:10 bit it talks about God guarding his faithful ones from evil.  It makes me wantto be more bold knowing he will protect meif I'm faithful

Knut

Psalm 94-95

95: ⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

 

 

I don't have much today, but I was just thinking about the vastness of the world, the solar system and the universer.  We search for lost planes in the depths of the ocean but find nothing because it is so huge.  A piece of the Malaysian jet from 2014 has apparently washed up somewhere but where is the rest of it?  God knows, and he knows everything in the depths of the sea that humans are intrigued to spend time investigating.  We send a spaceship for out to catch a couple glimpses of Pluto, what 10 years ago?  He already knows Pluto.  Kind of crazy that the one that knows all this stuff knows me too and the depths of my thoughts and I have the opportunity to talk to him--if I only take it.

 

knut