Category Archives: Psalms

Remember Now!

Posted on February 22, 2023 | Leave a comment


Cited from the ESV
— Isaiah 49:8 Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages
— Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
— Psalm 32:6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
— Psalm 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.  At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Look at 2 Corinthians 6:2 and ask these valid questions. When is the “favorable time?”  Is it when God listens…or when you speak to Him?  Are you aware that God is saving you right now?  Can we expand the comfortable little box for that word “salvation” from one and done for eternity to a continuous stream of activity for life?  When we became a follower of Jesus Christ there was a spiritual sigh of relief because God saved us to Himself for all eternity. God has affirmed Himself in these scriptures with words like “I have” and “I will.” They have secured the past and the future but that “a” has become the big idea that God is continuously saving in the “present”  There was “a day of salvation” but that was then.  This is now.

Isn’t the reality of “seek the Lord while he may be found” necessary now?  “Now” is the day we need to be saved from drowning in the unexpected flood of circumstances of daily life.  The Lord reminds us of His past faithfulness in our past encounters with Him. I have listened to your prayers, I have answered, I have helped and saved you — remember how you found me then?  It was a favorable and acceptable time between us.  Don’t miss the reality that those memories of “found” time with me are the time you knew I was near.  Those times are past, the present is now.   Now I will keep you just as I did before — I remember, do you?  Now is the time I set for “everyone who is godly [to] offer prayer. “O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness…Behold, now is the favorable time — behold now is the day of salvation.”

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Posted in 2 Corinthians, Isaiah, Psalms

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The Bread of Life

Posted on December 7, 2022 | Leave a comment

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah.  Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past. Micah 5:2   

ethlehem means the “House of Bread” in both Hebrew and Aramaic and thanks be to God, because Mary and Joseph’s hearts were obedient in the less-desirable details of life, Jesus began His earthly life born in the House of Bread just as Micah had forecast in “the distant past.”  I hadn’t purposely planned to be baking bread today because of this post but as it turns out I’m sitting here at the table waiting for my batch of dough to rise.  I’m watching it climb up the side of the clear dough-mixing bucket and enjoying the yeast’s aroma as I write.  It’s satisfying, but it’s the bread I’m really waiting for.  This simple choice to make bread today seems too relevant to this Advent post to be anything other than a homemade picture of God’s recipe. His recipe had the right ingredients, the right place, the right timing and the right baby to reveal His own identity as the Bread of Life the world was really waiting for.  God’s own recipe would satisfy the “aroma” of the prophet’s word and Jesus, the Bread of Life, would rise up and save many souls.  ‘Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!”  Psalm 34:8 NLT  PS: Today’s bread turned out good too.

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Posted in Advent, Christmas Bread, Micah, Old Testament, Psalms, Wednesday

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Sunday with John + Escape

Posted on July 3, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 10:31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make ourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? [Psalm 82:6] 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. 40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there. ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
Jesus is threatened but once again he’s “escaped” the sure death they wish for Him.  “How did that happen?” was the first question I had. The second question was “is Psalms part of the “law?”  This passage seems like a perfect example of God making His point about about the power of Scripture.  Inspired old Words have the same power today, as they did then, to demand thoughtful pauses.  Jesus “escaped” by using His knowledge of the old Words of Psalm 82:6 to effectively push pause in the minds of those Pharisees long enough to get away from them.  He gives them their own law to point out they are accusing Him of the very thing God has declared about them [I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you].  Then…“He escaped…He went away again across the Jordan…there He remained…many came to Him…and many believed in Him…”

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
“I have shown you many good works from the Father…” Jesus is confident the basis of His works and His words are from His Father. 

What does it say about people?
From Spurgeon’s Treasury of David: When the dispensers of law have dispensed with justice, settlements are unsettled, society is unhinged, the whole fabric of the nation is shaken.

Is there truth here for me?
Sometimes I find my judgements fall so short of justice that I am unsettled by my own harshness. I realize how easy it is for me to use the Word of God to confirm my judgement instead of pausing to let the God of Mercy confirm His truth that has allowed me to escape sure death.

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Posted in John, Matthew, New Testament, Old Testament, Psalms, Sunday

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A Sweet Lesson

Posted on September 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[your] joy complete. NIV

Forest Gump said “life is like a box of chocolates.”  I say life is like an Oreo cookie.  Life’s days and experiences are like the two pieces of cookie that surround the best part – that sweet center.  Have you noticed how carefully Oreos are packaged to protect them between production and consumption?  Have you noticed that even when the cookie has crumbled, the cream in the center can still hold the cookie together? 

Have you thought about how carefully protected your life has been because of God’s faith in all your days and experiences that you would finally taste His goodness?  Have you noticed in your life of faith that your brokenness doesn’t have to separate you from the sweetness of His faithfulness to you?  An Oreo cookie has become a sweet lesson about the center God has provided to protect us through all our days and experiences from His production to our consumption.  Jesus is that “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life .” 

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one
who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8 NIV

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Posted in 1 John, New Testament, Old Testament, Psalms, Sunday

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Betrayer

Posted on July 21, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 18:1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.  2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.  3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

It is not an enemy who taunts me —
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me —
then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
Psalm 55:12–13 RSV

What do you think about Judas?  This is one of the saddest passages of Scripture because of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus. 
Did Jesus mistakenly choose a betrayer to be one of His disciples?
Did He purposely set Judas up for this awful betrayal?
Was Judas’s mind lost in a battle with “the” enemy?
Did Jesus grieve these words of Psalm 55 over Judas?
What about Peter and his three denials?
Did Jesus grieve these same words of Psalm 55 over Peter?
……………………………WHAT ABOUT YOU?…………………………………

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Posted in John, New Testament, Psalms, Wednesday

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Glory

Posted on July 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

In John 17:6
Jesus said
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.“  NIV

Can you believe this?  Jesus saw past the limitations of time and the  human imperfections of those whom God gave him “out of the world.”  He could see the days yet to come of every person who “knew with certainty” that Jesus did come from God “and they believed.”  Long before your days even began, in ages past, Jesus recognized the glory that would come to Him through…

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 NIV

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Posted in John, New Testament, Old Testament, Psalms, Sunday

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Purification

Posted on June 27, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 11:54 As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.  55 It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” NLT 

The Jews carved out a convenient and workable system of government for themselves even though they were actually under Roman rule.  It’s a system dependent on being able to exercise their authority by maintaining a low profile.  People are coming into Jerusalem from “all over the country” to ceremonially purify themselves before Passover begins.  The stories of Jesus and his miracles are being repeated and many believe.  Jesus has become an inconvenient attention-getting detail that has too many people talking.  

They gather because this preparation is a necessary prerequisite to their eligibility to participate in the week of Passover.  There are ceremonial washings in small pools filled by “living waters” fed by a nearby spring or well.  In a land of dust and heat that baptismal-type of cleansing has become both a sign of their repentance from ceremonial pollution and an official pardon for their separation from God.  They have evidence from their own Scripture that God has acted on their behalf.  They have awareness of needing purity.  They have the desire for holiness. They have firsthand stories of miracles people have seen Jesus do with their own eyes.  They have the right question: “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?”  Only one right response is missing in all their devoted preparation …Come, Lord Jesus!

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24 NLT

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Shield, Fortress, Hiding Place

Posted on March 14, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 20:
8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

>§§§>

These verses reminded me of this screen shot I took last Easter from the live broadcast of Gracepoint Church in Sturgis, Michigan.  That empty tomb for those closest to Jesus resulted in fear, not hope.  Hindsight has proved God’s plan for the salvation of many, became a reality despite those frightened people caught in desperate circumstances.  Jesus’s body had disappeared from that fortress of stone.  How could that possibly be anything but bad?  “(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)” 

That parenthetic verse 9 has become a modern-day lesson for me.  As odd as it is to type this sentence; doubt and fear have always been a part of faith, even for those closest to Jesus.  Even the “other” disciple, the one Jesus loved, hesitated. “Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.”…and

“Thomas felt a surge of shock and unbelief…Then he felt regret for having left. Then he felt isolated. He was the only one who hadn’t seen Jesus.  He had seen so many things that would have been unbelievable if he hadn’t seen them. Most haunting right now was Lazarus.  And then it happened. Thomas was staring at the floor, sinking again under the fear that maybe Jesus had rejected him because of his stubborn unbelief. If so, he knew he deserved it. Then someone gasped. He looked up and his heart leaped into his throat! Jesus was standing across the room looking at him. “Peace be with you”a

Faith is what gives us the courage to come out of our hiding place, confront our fears and doubts and to believe Jesus’s words are meant to shield us today, too –  “peace be with you.”  These two verses have become my reminder that recognizing the reality of an empty burial tomb is more than evidence of my faith…it’s evidence of God’s faith in me!  “Finally” I “saw and believed” and He turned that stone cave into a fortress of hope that “the LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”b

a When it’s Hard to Believe
b Psalm 18:2

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Posted in John, Lent, New Testament, Psalms, Sunday

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Psalm 119:169-176 Taw – Mark, Sign, Signal, Truth

Posted on February 14, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119 Taw
169 May my cry come before you, Lord; give me understanding according to your word.
170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise.
171 May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees.
172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous.
173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation,Lord, and your law gives me delight.
175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.
176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.
                                                          >§§§>
These twenty two sections of Psalm 119 and their relationship to the Hebrew letter the Psalmist chose to “mark” each of them have challenged my thinking from mid November through Advent, Christmas and into this new year, 2021.  Transposing sentences has been a way to pay homage to the Hebrew method of reading Right to Left.  These last eight “right to left” verses were organized with that in mind but with a twist; writing all the right phrases, one after another, and then stringing all the left phrases together after them.  My intent is for them to be read as a whole that gives these important old words a new expression and then consider why the Psalmist marked them with last letter of the Hebrew Aleph-bet, “Taw.” 

The image of the ancient letter, Taw, was used like a signature mark to verify the truth of what was said.  Taw is pictured by two sticks crossed but I don’t see two sticks.  I see a cross!   It’s amazing to consider the Psalmist purposefully chose a mark all those centuries ago to verify the truth of his words and become a recognizable sign of the cross, chosen by God, to verify our future.  Read on please…
                          – Psalm 119:169-176 All Right then All Left –
Give me understanding according to your word. Deliver me according to your promise, for you teach me your decrees.   All your commands are righteous for I have chosen your precepts. Your law gives me delight and may your laws sustain me.  Seek your servant for I have not forgotten your commands.  May my cry come before you, Lord; may my supplication come before you.  May my lips overflow with praise; may my tongue sing of your word.  May your hand be ready to help me.  I long for your salvation, Lord. Let me live that I may praise you.  I have strayed like a lost sheep.
                                                 –––∞ My Thoughts ∞–––
Jesus IS the  Word!  That’s the understanding of God we need.  God’s promise to us lives in Jesus Christ; the way, the truth and the life.  Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s precepts, laws and commands and He will remove the condemnation of those same laws from those who place their life in Him.  Jesus has completed everything God required to sustain us.  He is our reminder that the truth we now have can hold us firmly while our lips learn to overflow with praise and our tongues find words to sing the song of salvation for lost sheep; being crucified with Christ.  I long for your salvation, Lord. Let me live that I may praise You, glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

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Posted in Old Testament, Psalms, Sunday

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Psalm 119: 161-168 ש Shin – Tooth

Posted on February 10, 2021 | Leave a comment

Psalm 119
161 Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.
162 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.
163 I hate and detest falsehood but I love your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.
165 Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
166 I wait for your salvation, Lord, and I follow your commands.
167 I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.
168 I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you

>§§§> Reading Right to Left but using Columns today

My heart trembles at your word
Like one who finds great spoil
But I love your law
I praise you for your righteous laws
And nothing can make them stumble
I follow your commands
for I love them greatly
for all my ways are known to you

Rulers persecute me without cause but
I rejoice in your promise
I hate and detest falsehood
Seven times a day
Great peace have those who love your law 
And I wait for your salvation, Lord
I obey your statutes
I obey your precepts and your statutes

TAP ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO EXPAND IT FOR READING

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Posted in Old Testament, Psalms, Wednesday

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