Book Review Friday: Psalms 22 – 28

I can’t believe it is already Friday!!!

It was another great 7 chapters this week. I am so glad we are doing this.

Psalm 22:

I’m seeing the same pattern of David in trouble, David humbling himself and crying out to God, God answering his prayer, David rejoicing. I love verse 24: ‘For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.‘ I have experienced a lot of ‘self-inflicted affliction’ (say that 10 times fast!) recently and I am just so thankful that when I cry out to God, He hears. Every single time. I deserve to be despised and abhorred and it is a mystery why God loves me so much, but I am so glad he does. After a much needed prayer this afternoon, it seemed like I could almost physically feel a weight lifted off of my shoulders and scales taken off of my eyes. The beauty of grace and undeserved answered prayer! Don’t worry, I’m not going charismatic on you or anything.

Psalm 23:

I memorized this Psalm as a very young child and it is one of those passages that I never really considered the meaning or application of. I had to read it a couple of times slowly before anything sunk in. Verse 1 is something I need to meditate on constantly: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ That is pretty much all I need to know. The Lord is my shepherd– He is in charge, leading me and taking care of me. I must follow Him. I shall not want– nothing else matters or is worth desiring on this earth.

Psalm 24:

I loved verse 15: ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.’ When I read this I immediately thought of Psalm 15 from last week. ‘LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?’ (15:1). I have found that the Psalms have a lot to say concerning who can dwell with the LORD. I cannot make my own heart pure; I need the Holy Spirit’s help. I also cannot ignore my part in the process- when I am faced with the opportunity to sin, I always have a choice.

Psalm 25:

There is a lot of talk about waiting on the Lord in these Psalms. Trusting and waiting. Sometimes I get frustrated that the answer is not immediately clear to me. I just want to know what is right and do it. I have learned that some situations are not so black and white as they seem, and there are some things in life that need to be a matter of serious prayer, studying the scriptures and patience, as well as willingness to do whatever God asks me to. There are several verses in this Psalm that talk about the kind of person God will guide and teach of His ways.
‘The meek will he guide in judgement: and the meek will he teach his way.’ (9)
‘All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.’ (10)
‘What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.’ (12)
‘The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.’ (14)
‘Let integrity and uprightness preserve me.’ (21)
I realized today that I don’t really know what meek means, so I looked it up. Meek: ‘submissive to the divine will; not proud, self-sufficient or refractory; not peevish and apt to complain of divine dispensations. Christ says, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.” Matt.11.’ So there you go.

Psalm 26:

This Psalm challenged me to hate evil. There are so many evil things that my flesh loves. I mean looooooves. Verse 5 says, ‘I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.‘ Verse 9 says, ‘LORD, I have loved the habitation of thine house, and the place where thine hand dwelleth.‘ I want to be able to say that I will not sit with the wicked. I will not stand for wickedness. I want to always be found where the Lord and his blessing are. Romans 12:9 says, ‘Abhor that which is evil; Cleave to that which is good.’ I am trying to make this statement true in every are of my life. Entertainment, clothing, friends, attitude, possessions… everything.

Psalm 27:

I love this Psalm. I have a lot more written down in my notes than what I will write here, but I’ll just say that I want to have the desire that David had to always be with the Lord. He had tasted of God’s goodness and was always seeking more of it. God must love it when His children seek Him like that and live so totally dependent upon Him. Verse 13 describes me perfectly: ‘I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.’ I love it! I have come very close to ‘fainting’ in the last few years but I believed to see that goodness of the Lord… just enough that I knew to keep seeking Him. It reminds me of the words to one of my favorite hymns: ‘Hallelujah! I have found Him Whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings, Through His blood I now am saved.;

Ok, the baby boy has a bad cold and is wailing in his bed so I’ll leave out Psalm 28. I didn’t have very much written down on it anyway. Hopefully there aren’t too many typos or spelling mistakes!!!

Book Review Friday on Tuesday: Psalms 15-21

Sorry so late! We had a big birthday weekend here with lots of visiting family and I have just now had a moment to sit down and write a review. Since I have another review to write in a few days, I’ll try to make this short and sweet! I’ll just highlight a few of the chapters.

Psalm 15:

‘LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?’ (verse 1). This Psalm describes the godly person who abides in the LORD. As I looked at the list of the characteristics of one abiding in the LORD, the ones that stood out to me were, ‘He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.’ (verse 3) It is so tempting for me to mask gossip as ‘unloading’, ‘venting’ or ‘warning others’ when it is just plain backbiting. I have found it helpful lately to have a little pow-wow with my hubby before we visit with friends and agree to not let each other get into discussions where we talk about other people in a backbiting way. When we see the conversation heading that way, we steer it in another direction to avoid the temptation. It’s a habit we have by no means conquered but it’s getting better, little by little.

Psalm 16:

My favorite verse in this passage is verse 8: ‘I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.’ I love the promise and safety in this verse– when I set the LORD before me above anything else in my life, I shall not be moved. This study in the Psalms seems to always bring me back to what is eternal and important in life. I am constantly reading reminders to be joyful. ‘Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. ‘ (verse 9) I trusted in the Lord and He saved me! I will spend eternity in heaven with Him! Rejoice!

Psalm 20:

I love this Psalm. When I was in the church choir a couple of years ago, we sang a song based on this chapter and it is one of my all time favorite songs. My favorite part is verse 7: ‘Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.’ That verse is so powerful and an incredible ‘motto’ for our lives– come what may, WE WILL TRUST IN THE LORD.

Psalm 21:

This Psalm talks about a King who trusts in the Lord. The King and his kingdom are blessed and protected by God. It is a reminder to me to pray for the Prime Minister and other politicians and leaders of our country. A corrupt leader who does not fear God leads a nation to destruction. Our pastor made an interesting point at Bible study a couple of weeks ago; the leader elected is merely a reflection of the people. We can whine and blat (he didn’t say that) all we want about how evil and ungodly our leaders may be, but we are the people that elected them and allowed the moral standards of our country to fall to a point where evil is condoned. It reminds me of when Psalm 15:4 describes a godly person: ‘In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord.’ We need to honour those that fear God. I need to make it a point to pray for my country, its people and its leaders to repent and put their trust in God.

So, I guess that wasn’t so short after all. Sorry! See you in a few days…

Book Review Friday: Psalms 8-14

I have to be honest with you all– the only Psalm I actually read on the correct day was Psalm 8. I didn’t read any more until this afternoon and I obviously read them all at once. I did try to read each one a few times and jot down some notes because I really, really wanted to write a review so that we can encourage each other to keep it up. I managed to keep up with my other Bible reading plan but this one just kept getting put aside.

When I read Psalm 8 I immediately thought of about 5 different songs I know that are based on this portion of scripture. I know you all probably did the same thing! I love verse 4: ‘What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?’. It is so easy to think that ‘it’s all about me’ and that is a prideful way of thinking. When we look at the world around us and how vast His creation is, we will stand in awe and be humbled that He has even given us a single thought. I think I need to constantly remind myself that apart from God, I am nothing, have nothing, and do nothing right. I need to completely trust in him and rely on the Holy Spirit to help me.

I mentioned in last weeks review that I saw a pattern of humility in David’s prayers to God. He seems to begin by praising God for his righteousness, justice and mercy followed by a sort of humility that acknowledges his helplessness without God. God then answers his cry and rescues him. I saw the same thing happening in some of the Psalms this week, as well. Psalm 9:12 says, ‘…he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.’ I have been learning how to pray to God from what I am reading in the Psalms so far and it is an exciting thing.

I love Psalm 9:10: ‘And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.’ I am so thankful that God has not forsaken me. I have messed up so many times, many more than most people, and treated the salvation God has given me like a burden or a piece of trash. Praise the Lord that when I come back and seek Him, He does not forsake me. This is mercy and grace that my little mind cannot comprehend.

I’m still looking for attributes of God as I read and I am still seeing a whole lot of righteousness and justice! Over and over again I’m reading of God judging the wicked and the righteous, and his wrath toward sinful men. I knew before starting this study that I serve a holy God who hates sin, but I think the Psalms are revealing Him in a way that is helping me to have a right fear of God.

I was also encouraged by Psalm 13, where David is obviously in some type of a ‘spiritual desert’. He is asking why it seems God has forgotten him, yet he ends the Psalm with, ‘But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in they salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.‘ It is a reminder to me to be joyful. God has saved my soul and I will spend eternity with Him. If that is all He ever does for me, (and he has already done so much more than that), I have nothing to do but rejoice!

Well, I guess that’s it for this week! I’m really going to make a point of reading a Psalm each day in the upcoming week so I can make the most of this study.

Until next week!

Book Review Friday: Psalms 1-7

I’m back! Wow, I can’t believe it has been almost 6 months since I wrote a review! Too long…

A lot of changes have happened around here since I last posted and I’m excited about it! I have been learning a lot and the Holy Spirit has been working in my life like nobody’s business.

This week for BRF, we were instructed to meditate on a Psalm each day, starting with Psalm 1. I love this! I am currently working on a reading plan to read through the Bible in one year but that doesn’t allow for very much ‘expounding’ of Scripture. I’m going to use my BRF time to really study and pick apart God’s Word, one verse at a time.

At the beginning of the week I wasn’t really following any sort of structure or pattern in my study, but about half way through I started looking for attributes of God in each Psalm. I know that I have a real ignorance of God and who He really is and I think the whole point of doing this study of the Psalms is to learn more about Him. I want to have a fear of God that can only come and grow from truly knowing who He is.

Psalm 1:

My delight can either be found in the worldly things of man or in the law of the Lord. I have a promise of God’s blessing if I meditate on His word. ‘And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.‘ (vs. 3) I wrote a list of the things that I often choose to delight in rather than God’s Word, and it wasn’t pretty. I have made the kids nap time my Bible time and I have discovered that as soon as they are asleep in the afternoon, the last thing my flesh wants to do is sit down and read my Bible. A billion other things to do pop into my head and I really struggle with making the right choice. I prayed for God’s help for me to withstand the temptation to spend my Bible reading time doing something else, and do you know what? He did!

I think that the major thing that God has spoken to me about this week is to fear Him, obey Him and trust Him. When I read of God’s anger and wrath at the sin of man I see his power and how small and unworthy I really am. This is helping me to fear Him as my holy and righteous Judge– not just a reverent fear, but a scared fear, too! God hates sin and I want to be shaking in my boots at the thought of it. ‘Stand in awe, and sin not.’ (4:4) David often cries out to God for mercy and humbles himself, acknowledging his own helplessness. He places his trust in God, not himself or the things of this world. God always answers his prayer. David then faces whatever the trial may be with new strength and joy that comes from the Lord. ‘But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.‘ (3:3-4)

I have learned a lot about humility in the last little while, and being humbled isn’t so fun. But I have seen in my own life that it is only when I realize that I am unable to help myself and cry out to God that He begins to work in my heart and change me to be more like Him. I think it all comes down to doing what I know from the Bible is right, and trusting that God will take care of the rest. ‘Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.‘ (4:5)

I have so much more written down in my notes from this week but I can’t seem to type it out in an orderly, easy to read fashion and the sick baby boy just started coughing up a lung in his crib so I’ll leave it at that.

Book Review Friday: Matthew 15-18

Again, sorry so late.

One neat little thing: I didn’t know the ‘blind leading the blind’ saying came from Scripture (15:14). There you go.

This will also be short and sweet.

There seems to be a whole lot of death going on. Maybe it is because I’m getting older but it just seems that people die a lot more than they used to. It is heartbreaking to lose someone you love or for someone you love to lose someone but it is also a wake-up call and reminder of the frailty of life. Every breath we take is evidence of God’s grace. We have no say in when or how we die. We just need to trust that God is in control.

Death is also a reminder of what is most important in our lives on earth. It isn’t our possessions, our good times, our fond memories or even our family. Those may all be wonderful things that God has given us, but they are not what should matter most to us.

I love (and hate) Matthew 16:24-26: ‘Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’ I love it because it gives me a good slap when I need it. I also hate it because it gives me a good slap when I need it.

What would I exchange for my soul? My immediate response would be ‘nothing!’. Digging a little deeper, I see how many times I have already exchanged my soul for the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. But our souls are the only eternal things on this earth.

The most important thing is to just follow Jesus. I guess I’ve learned that following Jesus isn’t just a one-time decision. Accepting God’s gift of salvation is a one-time decision, but following Jesus is millions of decisions that need to be made every day, hour, minute, and even second.

Until next week…

Book Review Friday: Matthew 12-14

Sorry so late.

It’s funny how I was just thinking that it’s too bad I don’t have time to put those long-overdue reviews up. All this as I watched Supernanny on Youtube. Just a slight imbalance of priorities. The truth is, I was too tired to think about it. It’s been a long few weeks with a fussy, non-sleeping baby. Turns out he has a nasty ear infection and the medicine he started taking last night has already transformed him back into the content, cooing, drooling little boy he used to be. Thank you, Lord!!!!!

So this won’t be long or incredible interesting since it is almost two weeks late and nobody but Shannon will even know it is here anyway.

I’m just going to mention one little part of these chapters that spoke to me. In chapter 13, Jesus is back in his hometown of Nazareth teaching in the synagogue. Everybody got offended by what he was saying and didn’t want to hear it. They didn’t believe him.

Jesus’ response was, ‘A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many works there because of their unbelief.’ (Matthew 13:57-58)

Jesus could have done some incredible things in Nazareth. There could have been a full blown revival! He loved all of those people but because of their unbelief they missed out.

How many times do we hear pastors preach on revival? Reaching the lost? Being a soul winner? We all nod and agree with them. We say God is powerful and can transform lives. But, do we really believe it?

I met a girl on Sunday morning as she came in the door. She looked a little rough on the outside and she came with her little three-year-old daughter. She wasn’t too interested in chatting with me and made it clear she was only there with her mother. I watched her a bit during the hymns and she was obviously unfamiliar with most of the proceedings.

And then a very handsome man got up to speak. (I’m obviously talking about my husband) He spoke on the parable of the wedding feast and gave a very clear presentation of the gospel. As we left the church later on that day, that rough young woman was speaking with the pastor. She wanted to know how to be saved.

I thought back on when I first met her at the door. Never did I ever think that she would be getting saved that morning. I didn’t even pray for the Lord to speak to her heart. I just figured she would be in and out and I’d never see her again. Thankfully, there were a lot of people there that morning who believed. They prayed in faith, believing that Jesus could and would save someone’s soul that morning. And he did.

What are we missing out on because of our unbelief? How much better could our children, marriages, churches, towns, and countries be? Jesus can do many works in our lives. We just need to believe it.

Book Review Friday: Matthew 8-11

Better late than never! This won’t be much of a review, as I must prepare for another one in a few days! I’m sorry I left it this long!

When my husband was on a missions trip to Liberia last year, he had many thrilling stories of the Lord working there. One thing he said that I thought was most exciting was how the Lord spoke through him. He and our pastor would stand on street corners, witnessing to all who would listen. They were often swarmed with African men, women and children who were very willing to listen with hearts that were searching for truth. My husband said there were several times that he would not know where the words were coming from out of his mouth. He would quote scripture he could not remember memorizing and boldly answer questions he had never heard before. It gave me shivers to hear him talk about it. A verse in chapter 10 brought all of this to mind. Jesus was sending out the 12 apostles with warnings, instructions and promises. He said in verse 19 and 20, ‘But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.‘ That is so cool!

I’ve been so discouraged lately with so many things. My family and I were sitting in the living room on Sunday night and I just felt spiritually sick to my stomach. I couldn’t even put a finger on exactly what it was, I just knew things weren’t right. I’m just so tired of being let down by other professing Christians. I’m so tired of sin. I’m so tired of being tempted to just give in and take the easy path. I looked at my husband and said, ‘I think we need to put the kids to bed so I can just sit and read my Bible.’ After tucking them in bed, I read these four chapters of Matthew and I already felt so much better. It was a wakeup call and a reminder of what we are here for. A reminder that we follow Christ, not Christians.

‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ Matthew 11:28-30

Book Review Friday: Matthew 5-7

I still only managed to read the BRF chapters 3 days this week. Not good! We had company again and then, as usual, a busy week! I had started doing my reading in the morning after the kids were up but it looks like I might have to go back to getting up terrifyingly early and be silent as the dead so the kidlets don’t hear me and wake up! Right now, the baby boy is sleeping and the little girl is happily planting a mega-block flower garden so I should be good for a little while.

Where do I even begin? The sermon on the mount is so jam-packed full of stuff that I don’t even know where to go with it. One bonus is that I forgot my Bible at church this week, so I’ve been using my hubby’s personal study Bible. He has notes and color-coded underlining and cross references galore, which has helped with a few confusing passages.

One passage that stood out to me was Matthew 7:21-23. ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in they name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in they name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.’ This passage terrified me before I knew that I was saved. How absolutely horrifying would it be to stand before Christ and hear those words: I never knew you…depart from me. There are so many with a profession of salvation but no true faith. Just empty words and actions. I used to be one of them, claiming to be saved at the age of 4 but never truly trusting in Christ as my Saviour until very late in my teens. What if I had died before then? I would be in hell. That is terrifying. I am so thankful for God’s grace and that I will not get what I deserve, because Jesus already paid that price.

I think we need to be more than careful with our children. Watch them closely. My parents never gave me any assurance of my salvation. There was a lot of things I wanted to do that they didn’t allow because they were unsure of my faith in Christ. I wanted to be baptized, council camp, teach Sunday School… all sorts of things that should only happen in the life of a person who’s life shows evidence of truly trusting in Christ.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say, ‘I don’t remember exactly when I was saved, but my Mom told me I did it when I was 4.’ Maybe they were saved when they were four, but they had better not be leaning on the testimony of their mother for the assurance of their salvation. Salvation happens when we make a personal decision to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible, trusting that we are saved only by his grace and nothing else. Our lives should be completely changed and show evidence of that decision. When we fall into sin, the Lord will chasten us and put us back on the right path.

I love Matthew 7:13-14. ‘Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.’ All of us who have grown up in a Bible-believing church know that there is a narrow gate to salvation. We can only be saved by grace through faith in Christ, and nothing else. We know there is only one way to Heaven. But do we forget about verse 14? Not only is the gate strait, but narrow is the way. Once we have been saved, the rest of our life must be lived in that narrow way. We must no longer live like the world on the broad path, but like Christ. Just listen to this.

Ok, that’s all I got.

Speaking of lust…

I really really really want to win this quilt.

Book Review Friday: Matthew 1-4

First of all, I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS! There’s just something about, ‘When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy,‘ (2:10) that makes me giddy with anticipation. Bring on the Christmas music!

I must admit that it has been a crazy week with lots of traveling and I only actually read the chapters twice. I really need to work out some sort of system to make sure I have devotion time when we’re away or when we have over-night guests.

This will be another quick review as I can already hear the baby boy squawking upstairs and the little girl wants some breaky!

Nothing earth shattering to report this week, just a reminder of some important things I have already learned about these well-known passages. Maybe if I had actually read it every day I would have gleaned something new and exciting.

When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in chapter 4, his response to temptation was ‘It is written…’ followed by the Word of God.

‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ (4:4)
‘It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ (4:7)
‘Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord they God, and him only shalt thou serve.’ (4:10)

Our answer to temptation must always be God’s Word. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, ‘There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ God will always make a way of escape.

We need to know His Word, not only to resist temptation, but also to identify whether or not our desires are God’s will for our lives or sin.

That’s all I got this week, girls!