Tag Archives: psalms

I’m a Tree

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Psalm 1-8

It wasn’t until I was about halfway through my life that I developed an appreciation for the Psalms, even though for 30 plus years I had heard people say how meaningful they were to them, and how blessed they were by them. I used to think I couldn’t relate to the psalms because, unlike David and some of the other writers, I didn’t have an enemy with an army trying to kill me. I didn’t want to see anyone pulverized because they hurt me. Plus, I’m just not into poetry.

That is until a pastor of mine reminded me I do have an enemy with armies that are continually attacking, continually attempting to kill my soul. “Read those psalms with Satan in mind,” he said.

Oh right. Now I get it. And over the years I have grown to love the psalms, to be blessed and challenged by them. I’ve seen my enemy, and rejoice with the psalmists over my Lord’s defeat over Satan on my behalf.

These are God’s words. What’s not to love?

That’s why I love about the Bible and why I look forward to reading it every day. I relate to what the writer of Psalm 1 says. The Word of God plants my soul by the water that refreshes me, nourishes me, strengthens me to produce fruit for His pleasure. It’s my lifeline between me and God.

I agree with David’s words in 4:6 because I can look at our fallen world and see only violence, hatred, lies, immorality, war, and an uncertain future and say:

Who can show us anything good?

And, honestly if I look at the news, I don’t think there is anything good to see.

Then I look up. I open my Bible and see God in all His glory. I see the God who is love, who died to take on the punishment for all the evil I see in our world, and in me. The revelation of the seriousness of sin, and also its cure, is found in these precious pages. David goes on in verse 6 and prays:

Let the light of your face shine on us, LORD.

That light is revealed in the words God inspired to be written in the book we call the Bible.

I’m looking forward to the next month or so as I dig into the psalms, meditating on them, praying them back to God, singing them, and allowing God to speak to me through them. I want to be that tree in Psalm 1, drinking in the flowing stream of comfort and Truth, and God Himself!

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the world.

LORD, my Lord, how majestic is your name in my heart.

Pursuing God’s Heart

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2 Samuel

Does it ever make you wonder how David, the adulterous murderer, could be considered a man after God’s own heart? What’s up with that? Seems to me those are opposite character traits.

In her study book entitled, “Seamless” (Lifeway; 2018; p. 99), Angie Smith said something that hit home for me today. She writes:

“David wasn’t a man after God’s own heart because David didn’t sin. He was a man after God’s own heart because he kept coming back to God.”

David kept pursuing God’s heart even after falling repeatedly. I can’t think of anything that’s more encouraging to me in my walk with the Lord right now.

I sin. Sometimes I fall into a familiar sin I’ve confessed before. Then I get down on myself. “How can I go to God and ask Him to forgive the same sin for the umpteenth time? Why would He want to?”

Well, because that’s WHO He is!

If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) That’s a picture of unlimited grace for a repentant sinner.

Paul said that he pressed on toward the goal of knowing Christ and becoming more like Jesus. (see Philippians 3:14). He’s not describing a peaceful jog. It’s a grueling marathon, sometimes falling, sometimes weary, sometimes tripped up by obstacles. But at the same time continuing to keep the goal in view, standing up again, allowing God to brush him off and clean him up, then pressing on.

David pursued God’s heart. That’s why, even though he committed some doozie sins, we know him as a man after God’s own heart.

Most of us are not adulterers or murderers. But we are all sinners. The question is, can we be described as men and women after God’s own heart? I pray that is so.

I would encourage all of us to start our day by sincerely praying:

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. (Psalm 51:10-12)

Then press on, forgetting what is behind. Today is a new day. Pursue God’s heart.