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