Friday Psalm

  More pictures of Ireland as I end the week and begin the weekend with my weekly Psalm post.

Psalm 40

1. I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord;

and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

2. He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction],

out of the miry clay (froth and slime),

and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.

3. And He has put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many shall see and fear (revere and worship)

and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.

4. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied)

is the man who makes the Lord his refuge and trust,

and turns not to the proud or to followers of false gods.

5. Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done,

and Your thoughts toward us;

no one can compare with You!

If I should declare and speak of them,

they are too many to be numbered.

6. Sacrifice and offering You do not desire,

nor

have you delight in them;

You have given me the capacity to hear (and obey);

Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. . .

9. I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly.

Behold, I have not restrained my lips,

as You know, O Lord.

10. I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart;

I have proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation.

I have not hid away Your steadfast love

and Your truth from the great assembly. . .

16. Let all those that seek and require You rejoice and be glad in You;

let such as love Your salvation say continually,

The Lord be magnified!

17. But I am poor and needy,

yet the Lord takes thought and plans for me.

You are my Help and my Deliverer, O my God, do not tarry!

Two aspects were pointed out in my

The Everyday Life Bible-- featuring notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer

 First: Joyce Meyers says, "When the Bible speaks of 'the pit,' as it does in Psalm 40: 2,

 I  always think of the depths of depression.   The psalmist David often spoke of feeling as though he was going down into a pit and calling out to the Lord to rescue him and set his feet on solid, level ground.

Like David, nobody wants to be in the pit of depression.  It is a terrible place."

J.M goes on to say how the devil uses that time to bring up every negative thought imaginable.

I have been there in that pit too many times and I second what she says.

 She ends this notation with telling us to learn to resist descending into the pit and "be like David;
cry out to God and allow Him to set your feet upon a rock and bring stability to your life."

Since I have spent a lot of time this summer seeking God out and spending time being still and listening,

I am finding it easier to cry out to Him

 and easier to allow Him to set my feet on solid rock.

I hit a rough spot this past week. 

 As soon as possible I went off by myself and sought time in the Word and thus with God. 

I calmed down. 

I later had to talk some things out when the person sought me for this purpose. 

Yet even though initially I was wary, I ended up being able to really listen

and hear what the other person was saying.

I was also able to understand much better where that person was coming from.

I stumbled at first in telling my side of it, but got better at it as the talking progressed.

I owe that to God.  I cried out to Him and He heard me and helped set my foot on solid  rock.

I praise Him.

Second:

 J. M. says "According to Psalm 40:6, God has given us the capacity to hear and obey Him.

God delights in the atmosphere of our obedience. 
Naturally, it does not do God any good to talk to us if we are not going to listen and obey!"

J.M. goes on to tell a story about a highly successful minister who was asked at a pastors' conference

to tell what he did to build his church.

Some of them did not like his answer.

It was simply: "I pray, and I obey.  I pray, and I obey."

J.M. states that God doesn't want things from us like the burnt offerings in the Old Testament.
He wants us to listen to Him and obey Him.

Simple but profound, isn't it?  I 've been working  on praying and obeying.

Part of it is when I'm called into praying for someone--

I  know to DO it right then!
I don't need to know the whys and what fors--
I just need to pray.

 

Verse 10 spoke to me all on its own with no prompting from Joyce Meyer!

I interpret it to mean that I need to show God's righteousness, faithfulness, and salvation
 in all that I do.

I'm not to hide His steadfast love and truth.

That is especially so for me at school.

Those students who provoke me the most are the ones who need God's love the most.

So if I'm the instrument of God that I want to be, I show that love to them

Folks, that is HARD.

Much for me to ponder.

Much for me to praise Him for.

                Blessings to you all as you end your 'work week' and begin your weekend!