Sunday- Guest Post By Mrs.Oz

Today's reading from One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Psalm 144-145; Psalm 88-89.

There are many great passages to remember from here. Some favorites of mine are:

"O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him? Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow. "

...because it reminds me of one of my Facebook flair buttons "God is big, I am small, that's the way I like it"

"Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace;"

....because these beautiful word pictures hit on my emotional longing for my children and remind me to pray this for my daughters and my son.

"The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works."

....because it reminds me that God is indeed GOOD TO ALL, and that what I agree with Him on as to what IS good does not matter, if He says it's good, it's good!

"The LORD sustains all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down."

....because it reminds me that I will fall and my first reaction should be humility which is exercised by turning to my God which involves repentance balanced with assurance of my identity secure in the heart of my King. (i'm pretty sure there is some grammar problem in the that sentence:)

"The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth."

....because it reminds me that He is near and knows my heart longs for Him.

"You have put me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in the depths. "

....because it reminds me that still, in God's goodness (which does not stop at any point) he puts me in dark hard places that I may find Him more. So when I am there, He is the first thing I should look to and cling to and be assured of.

"I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever. And build up your throne to all generations."

....because it reminds me of what an amazing inheritance I'm part of because of Christ, the seed of David!

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!"

....because it shows some awesome character qualities of God and how we immediately delight at the joyful sound of those qualities because our hearts were made to find complete enjoyment in them!

Furthermore, these Psalms remind us of the emotional battle we have in response to God's doings. David is honest with God in expressing both delight and despair. He's quite the emotional man. Many of these laments would seem that he has decided there is a contradiction in the character of His God don't you think? Yet, we know God does not contradict himself. So, what more can it tell us than the truth that our emotional perspective of God will indeed be bleak at times. We won't always like what He does, we won't always feel his goodness, and we won't always think He is near. None of that changes the truth of his goodness, faithfulness and provision. Sometimes God fills us and sometimes he puts us in a place of longing.
This following quote was shared by a friend of mine on Facebook and it's regarding Psalm 42 but I think it speaks to all the Psalms so I'm ending today with sharing it. Read it a few times or do what this friend of mine was going to do and memorize it for meditation on later. It's amazing.

Sometimes God teaches us effectually to know the worth of mercies by the want of them, and whets our appetite for the means of grace by cutting us short in those means. We are apt to loathe that manna, when we have plenty of it, which will be very precious to us if ever we come to know the scarcity of it. When he (psalmist) was deprived, in a great measure, of the inward comfort he used to have in God.* He now went mourning, but he went on panting. If God, by His grace, has wrought in us sincere and earnest desires towards Him, we may take comfort from these when we want those ravishing delights we have sometimes had in God, because lamenting after God is as sure an evidence that we love him as rejoicing in God. Before the psalmist records his doubts, and fears, and griefs, which had sorely shaken him, he premises this, That he looked upon the living God as his chief good, and had set his heart upon Him accordingly, and was resolved to live and die upon Him; and, casting anchor thus at first, he rides out the storm."
Matthew Henry

Tomorrow's reading is Psalm 50; Psalm 73-74