Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 91

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 91 

This is one of the Psalms that are full of Promises.


Lets look at the promises we have from God if we simply abide in His presence.


He will:


V. 1
keep us under His shadow


V. 3
deliver us from the snare of the fowler
deliver us from deadly pestilence


V. 4
cover us with His wings of protection
cover us with His shield of faithfulness


V. 5-6
take away our fear by day or night

V. 7-10
not permit the wicked to come near us


V. 11-12
give His angels charge over us to guard us


V. 13
give us authority over satan


V. 14-16
directly give us the assurance of

• deliverance
• protection
• answered prayer
• companionship in hard times
• salvation
• satisfaction in life
• honour in Him
• long life

A Psalm of Promises.
Such a long list of promises and He is the one who can fully keep these promises.


A Psalm of Declaration.
The Psalmist declares these promises and so should we.
The more we read them and say them the more we will see the greatness of our God.


A Psalm of Praise.
The Psalmist is praising God in the way he is acknowledging all that God does for us.

A Psalm of Promise, Declaration & Praise.

Do we think enough about what God has promised to do for us?

Do we also think on the part we have to play in this relationship with God?

Remember God is faithful and will not forget His Promises.


Are we dwelling or abiding in His Presence?

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 50

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on  it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 50

I have picked out just a few of the verses to dwell on:


V. 5
When we became Christians we entered into a covenant with God through the sacrifice of Jesus and so we should be coming to Him remembering that He expects us to make sacrifices for Him.


V. 7
God wants His people to listen to Him because He is their God.


V. 14
The main sacrifice He desires of us is Thanksgiving.


V. 15
He wants to be glorified through us His people as others will see how He helps us.

V. 16-22
God speaks in a contrasting way to the wicked, He has not been blind to their ways.


V. 23
We are not honouring God when we do not come with thanksgiving in our hearts.
We must all put our life in order and then we will be able to glorify God, so we must come with praise & thanksgiving at all times.

There are two main aspects of our lives that are highlighted in this Psalm in verses 15 and 23.

Prayer   
God tells us to call on Him in our time of trouble so we shouldn't feel bad using this type of emergency prayer.
God will deliver us - it is a promise!   What if we hadn't called on Him?

We shall glorify Him by:

• Turning to Him
• The way He answers our cry of help
• The faith built up in our hearts through this experience.

Praise   
Obviously if we are complaining we have not got a heart of Praise and we are being disobedient to God and will not be able to bring Him glory.
Praise & Thanksgiving will also open us up being used more by God.

God wants more Prayer & Praise in our lives.

I am reminded here again of man's chief end 

or 

as we like to say these days "our purpose"

which is 

to Glorify God and Enjoy Him forever.

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 63

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on  it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 63 

This has long been one of my favourites and I remember learning a song based on verses 3 & 4 of this Psalm when I was a teenager.

While I was contemplating which Psalm I would put up for today's post I had a phone call from my son who is a Pastor in the Apostolic Church, UK.  He had rung to tell me that Pastor Hugh Mitchell had died this week.

During the past year we had all been very happy to hear that Pastor Mitchell had celebrated his 100th birthday and had been well enough to write a thank you letter to our church for the card we had sent him.


So why am I sharing this here?

Because it led me to choose Psalm 63 for today's post.

Pastor Hugh Mitchell was the writer of that song I mentioned above.

The song is entitled   "Thy Loving Kindness is Better than Life"

Looking at Psalm 63 v 1 - 8

This Psalm is about the Psalmist and his reaction to God:

V. 1-2
the Psalmist is seeking God earnestly
and he knows he has found God;
he has seen God's Power and Glory


V. 3-4
the Psalmist recognises the loving kindness of God
and how great it is;
his response is to praise, bless and adore God

V. 5-8
the Psalmist is joyful in his praise
which comes from fixing his attention on God;
recognizing God's help
and being secure in God's Hands.

There had to be a specific word used in this Psalm to express exactly what 

the Psalmist wanted to say


Lovingkindness

So great and special was the character of God that the Psalmist wanted to picture it for us.

Have you experienced God's Lovingkindness?

Do you think it is better than life?

Do you want to Bless God because of your relationship with Him?

Perhaps you know this simple but profound song

If you know this song or have heard of Hugh Mitchell then you might like to read this tribute to him.

UPDATE

Since writing this post my husband and I have recorded some videos of songs of bible Verses so I have included the one for Psalm 63 v 3 featured above.

It's God's Love #20

On Sundays I write a short post consisting of a Bible Verse around the topic of God's Love and I would be very pleased if you would come and join me each week.

We Praise God

We Worship God

We are in Awe of God

We Fall at His Feet

We cannot be Silent

The

Love

of

God

is

kind

towards us.

Praise and Old Friends - A Dose of Encouragement

Fred (my husband) and I along with 2 old friends from university days went to the Keith & Kristyn Getty concert in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast last week. 

We love going to Praise events but don't often have such an opportunity as this one.

 The Gettys were joined by Stuart Townend who co-wrote the modern hymn "In Christ Alone" with them and also some other pieces. 

I have to say that I enjoyed the pieces Stuart was involved in most but overall it was a good night out made better by going with friends. 

The four of us had dinner first in Benedicts restaurant which Fred & I had only been to once before on the graduation of our son Daniel from Queens University (a great university but then I'm biased because both Fred & I studied there).  

We had been living in Belgium for over 6 years and had not seen these friends all during that time and also for a few years before that but when it is true friends the time gap doesn't matter.  Yes there is more to catch up on but the familiarity and the ease of conversation and the knowledge of the care and understanding on each side is still there.

True friendship lasts throughout any space of time.

Let's Praise and Thank God for Old friends (and New friends).

This was the third night of concerts in the Waterfront for the Gettys and it is lovely to think of so many people singing God's praise there together.


Do you keep in touch with old friends?

I'm grateful for old friends, aren't you?


You are very welcome to read my other  Doses of Encouragement