What is the sweetest thing in your life?

Psalm 19^[

^a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice^[b] goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
⁵     It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect,
    refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right,
    giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,
    than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
    than honey from the honeycomb.
¹¹ By them your servant is warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² But who can discern their own errors?
    Forgive my hidden faults.
¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
    may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
    innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

This is a beautiful and famous psalm.  This psalm is referred to in the New Testament in Romans, written about by C.S. Lewis, used in Jewish worship and Catholic alike.  It has been set to music by Bach, Beethoven and Hayden. 

This is a psalm to drink in, to pray in our lives and to praise Our God.

This shows our awe of the glory of God, His Word, and our desire to please and love Him.

Selah!   

But Thou Oh Lord Are A Sheild For Me

But thou oh, Lord, are a shield for me,
    my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
⁴ I call out to the Lord,
    and he answers me from his holy mountain.

^{This scripture was a sweet song we used to sing as teenagers at Bible Studies.  How I view it different today.  What kind of shield King David needed was different than I need in my daily life.  I am not hiding from King Saul in a cave.  My enemies as assaults on my emotions.  My anxiety about what is happening to my staff in our present economy holds me heavy.  Lord, I ask that you guard my heart, my emotions from the assaults of worry and axniety.  Help me to know that you care for each of them and help me to use this upsetting time to glorify You with them.}   

Revenge

Proverbs 24:29  Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done."

I have a guilty pleasure and it is the TV show Revenge.  The arch of the story is a young girl impersonating someone to weild her way into a rich family in the Hamptons. This family is responsible for framing her father and ultimately causing his death. 

As you watch the show, you see her revenge is consuming her life.  In the season finale she confronts the hired man who actually killed her father. She had planned on killing him, but in a flashback to her father she remembers something he said to her as a child. After the flashback she does not take the ultimate revenge.  

Fortunately for us, Jesus teaches us to forgive and follow his example. In our daily life, we do not have to worry about who killed someone, but it could be a slight at work or someone cutting us off on the highway.  For us, we turn the other cheek and forgive and pray for them.   This is not always easy, but it is obedience. The act of forgiveness frees our soul from spiritual death. 

I love this portion of the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5. 

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[i] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Lord Jesus, help me to love like you love us all.

Wine is a mocker

Proverbs 20: 1  Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.  

I enjoy a glass of wine, or I enjoy the idea of it.  I am not much of a drinker and thankfully never have been.  I have seen it in my growing up as my dad drank to excess.  I have seen it in relationships in my family where it has caused such pain and divorce.  The key in the verse above seems to be whoever is led astray by it is not wise.   There is the old latin phrase, "In vino veritas."  In wine there is truth. The phrase is sometimes also continued "in aqua sanistas"  In water there is health.  I would say sanitas sounds more like sanity. 

Speaking the truth when drinking is not always good. 

Other quotes:

Chinese:  After wine blurts truthful speech.
Babylonian:  In came wine, out went secret.
German:  Germanic people always drank wine while holding councils, as they believed nobody could lie effectively when drunk.

And Finally:

Homer Simpson: Ah, beer.  The cause of and the solution to all of life's problems. 

Doh!

Remaining Silent

Proverbs 11:12

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹² Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
    but a man of understanding remains silent.

My favorite topic, the mouth.  Ouch, confession, I spoke negative about someone yesterday at work.  I feel sick about it.  The negative subject started and instead of being silent, I added my two cents.  Wow.  This is how I need to be careful.  Keeping silent in any situation is challenging for me, I am a talker.  The slippery slope of "joining in" when the topic is brought up is where I need to be vigilent.  Dear Lord, help me and give me wisdom when a negative subject is brought up to REMAIN SILENT.      

Wisdom while Sleeping?

Proverbs 9:8-9

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise and they will love you.
⁹ Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

This week I have been reading alot about Wisdom.  I have routinely prayed for wisdom, but something incredible seems to be happening this week.  I have been waking up with ideas!  Ideas that seem to be coming from nowhere!  Ideas, I hadn't really been pondering, but as they come up I begin pondering.  Not only am I getting ideas, I feel like doing the ideas. I am continuing to pray for wisdom on the ideas.  I have to confess, I have had ideas before, that I didn't act upon.  I talked myself out of ideas, I had to put conditions around the ideas.  Right now I think I am just to start the ideas and see where it leads.  I will trust God that if the ideas are from God, He will accomplish the work if it is His Will.  Dear Lord, each day I pray "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done in my life as it is in Heaven."  Dear Lord, give me wisdom and guidance in these ideas that seem to be there when I wake up.           

Seek Wisdom

Proverbs 2:6-8

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

 

Our church is reading the book of proverbs through May.  It is my goal to pray each day for many people.  I prayed that they are blessed Spiritually, Physically, Emotionally and with Wisdom.  I call it my SPEW prayer.  How I desire His Wisdom, not mine, not the world's. 

 

Lord, help me to open my spiritual ears and spiritual eyes to Your Wisdom. Help me to take a step back from my ways and truly, wait, pray and seek You.  Thank you today for Your wisdom.