Psalm 6

    LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
    Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
    My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, LORD, how long?
    Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
    Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?
    I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
    My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
    Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.
    The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
    All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

Hear Me

Psalm 5

    Listen to my words, LORD, consider my lament.

    Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.

  In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

   For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome.

   The arrogant cannot stand in your presence.

You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, LORD, detest.

    But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple.

    Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me.

    Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies.

    Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

    But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

    Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

     "Listen to my words"  I love that phrase.  I have said this to my children to get there attention for years.  I eventually said that to my bosses.  David said that to God.  Wow! To think that we can address our God that way.  God! Listen to my words!  Hear me! I need You! Listen to me God!

    We all cry for help when we feel overwhelmed, we pray for God to answer us. Do we wait expectantly for God to answer?  WAIT, Wait, wait.... wait.  I hate to wait for answers.  I hate to wait for anything.  I want it now while I feel the uncertainty and unknown and overwhelmed.

  I love to say when someone asks me what I am doing "Waiting on the Lord."  It is more of a saying than a doing for me.  How, Lord do I change that to a doing not just a saying?

Looking for Answers

Psalm 4

    Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

    How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?  How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?  - Selah (pause)
    Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him.

    In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. - Selah (pause)
    Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD.

  Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

    You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. 

    I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

    Lord continue to show me that you listen to my prayers, continue to be my strength, continue to be my peace.  Praying through these Psalms has been a eye opener for me.  The very idea that Gods words is so living.  I continue to be amazed at how I can read a verse and the first time get nothing from it and the second time it speaks so loudly to me. 

    When I was in Costa Rica in July of 2011 the missionary there David lead the devotional one night.  He shared a simple verse with us and then he said to us, "If you don't understand the verse read it over and over making the emphasis on one word at a time".  I have done that so many times and it has helped me to get so much more meaning out of the verse.

Refuge In The Lord

Psalm 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

    O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!  Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”  - Selah (pause)

    But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.  To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.  - Selah (pause)    I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.  I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.  Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

    From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.  -Selah (pause)

 This is the very way that I handle any situation where I feel attacked or wronged. Just as David does in this Psalm.  I first spend a considerable amount of time complaining.  I let my brain re-run the scenario over and over and adding in parts that may or may not be true.  I allow the person or situation that has wronged me echo in my brain that I am not worthy of winning or being victorious.  I allow my brain to consume me and I feel empty, hurt, overwhelmed.

    I finally get around to looking to God for my grace and redemption.  As I begin to trust God to handle it I begin to lift the situation or person to the Lord in prayer. Then I begin to demand God to take care of the situation not for the glory of Him but for me.  It takes me a while to come back to pray and here God's word speak to me again.

    I reflect back at how God has worked in my life and I can see His power in so many situations.  I begin to give the glory to Him and through His grace and His power I feel a belonging and the warm arms of His love wrapped around me again.

    This Psalm is really a lesson in forgiving, trust where my focus should be for me.

Heaven and Earth

Psalm 2

    Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain?

    The kings of the earth rise up

and the rulers band together

against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,

    “Let us break their chains

and throw off their shackles.”

   The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord scoffs at them.

    He rebukes them in his anger

and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

   “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

    I will proclaim the LORD’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;

today I have become your father.

    Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,

the ends of the earth your possession.

    You will break them with a rod of iron;

you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

   Therefore, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

    Serve the LORD with fear

and celebrate his rule with trembling.
    Kiss his son, or he will be angry

and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

This is the world we live in.  In it we face hard situations.  God has sent His son to come alongside us and lead us.  Celebrating the glory of Him giving us grace.  I will adore him
I will serve my Lord.

Just Like a Grain of Wheat

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.


He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.


Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.


    Lord as I prayed this Psalm to you this morning you so revealed so much to me.  Thank you for showing me this morning that I am not to stand in the way of sinners.
     In my unrestful situation this week, I have tried to stop the sinner before me from making my life difficult.  I have had so many thoughts of how to change the situation and show others of this sinner.  I again, have tried to take control of the situation.  You again, have shown me that you are in control.  Just like the chaff of the wheat that sits and lingers among the wheat in your time you will blow it away.
    Just like the song I sang to you last night Lord, I will adore you.

P.S. The peace that I experienced all day from this verse was amazing.  My attitude changed and I was vocal and kind all day even to those that are wronging me.