Psalm 74

Verses 20-21...
    Have regard for the covenant,
        for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
    Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
        let the poor and needy praise Your name.

The Lord will never forsake His covenant promises, though we seem to be going through such dark days of violence and evil. Those who are downtrodden, poor, and needy will one day be lifted up in joy and exultation because of His goodness.

Psalm 75

Verses 4-7...
    I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
        and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
    do not lift up your horn on high,
        or speak with haughty neck.’
    For not from the east or from the west
        and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
    but it is God who executes judgment,
        putting down one and lifting up another.

O Lord,
You can take away a position of leadership or power as quickly as You give it. I look tremblingly at the role You have given me to play, and pray that You would give me a prevailing spirit of humility and holiness as I seek to bring You all the glory through it.

If I could tell you...

If I could tell you
The thoughts I cherish
And all the ways you are dear to me;
A tender feeling
Of love revealing
When e're your smiling face I see;
If I could capture
The blue of heaven,
That wondrous rapture
Within your eyes;
If I could tell you
Of my devotion,
If I could pledge all my love so true--
Then my confession
Would find expression
In all the music my heart sings to you!

Madeleine Marshall

Psalm 76

Verse 11...
    Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them;
        let all around Him bring gifts
        to Him who is to be feared.

The Old Testament ceremonial practices may not exist today, but we still make vows to God (i.e., marriage) and bring our gifts to Him (i.e., tithes and offerings). Even in our day-to-day dealings with others this verse has application. May my promises to others be as sacred as my vows to God, for they are all made in His sight. And may my possessions and talents be used for His glory and with holy reverence for Him, for they all belong to Him!

Psalm 77

Verse 9...
    Has God forgotten to be gracious?
        Has He in anger shut up his compassion?

Sometimes this is my cry of discouragement. But looking to Christ quiets those cries.This might be a far stretch, but I often quote Shakespeare's 29th Sonnet as I remember the riches I have in Christ...

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least.
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Psalm 78

Verses 52-53a...
    Then he led out his people like sheep
        and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
    He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid...

I don't know what I would do without the picture of God's people in the wilderness, for it speaks so clearly to my heart as I witness the guiding staff of the Good Shepherd in my own journey of life. These last three years specifically have been a wilderness wandering for me, and I praise God today for leading me safely through that time. I emerge with some wounds, but self-inflicted. Slightly malnourished, but only because I did not make full use of the daily manna. Weak against the enemy, for I neither trusted God for the battle nor strengthened my hand against the foe. He is leading me now into a land of rest, but there are still battles to wage. O Lord, continue to lead me in safety, and may I ever be a faithful member of Your flock.

Psalm 79

Verse 13...
    But we your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
        will give thanks to You forever;
        from generation to generation we will recount Your praise.

I am so thankful for the generations that have lived before me to recount God's praise. The Good Shepherd has been so faithfully leading this small family flock. It is my heart's desire to pass along the record of God's glorious salvation to a new generation.

Psalm 80

Verse 17...
    But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
        the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

Typologically this points to the Messiah, the Son of Man, our Saviour who is now seated at the right hand of the Most High.

But can we not pray this for any godly man? For he must have the strength of a warrior as he fights for personal holiness, raises up a godly heritage, and shines as a bright light for Christ in this dark world.

O God, may Your hand be on my dear one today.

When Stars Are in the Quiet Skies

Edward Bulwer-Lytton:

When stars are in the quiet skies,
Then most I pine for thee;
Bend on me then thy tender eyes,
As stars look on the sea!
For thoughts, like waves that glide by night,
Are stillest when they shine;
Mine earthly love lies hush’d in light
Beneath the heaven of thine.
There is an hour when angels keep
Familiar watch o’er men,
When coarser souls are wrapp’d in sleep—
Sweet spirit, meet me then!
There is an hour when holy dreams
Through slumber fairest glide;
And in that mystic hour it seems
Thou shouldst be by my side.
My thoughts of thee too sacred are
For daylight’s common beam:
I can but know thee as my star,
My angel and my dream;
When stars are in the quiet skies,
Then most I pine for thee;
Bend on me then thy tender eyes,
As stars look on the sea!

Psalm 81

Verse 10...
    I am the LORD your God,
        who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
        Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Lord, teach me boldness in prayer. You promise to fill the mouth that is looking to You for nourishment, so I ask that You would give me this day my daily bread. Fill me with goodness -- physical, spiritual, and emotional wellbeaing! 

You know my heart's desire. Give me faith always to ASK You!

Psalm 82

Verses 3-4...
    Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
        maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
    Rescue the weak and the needy;
        deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

May these words ever be my prayer of compassion. I'm reading Tim Keller's book Ministries of Mercy right now -- how convicting it is to me personally. "Mercy to the full range of human needs is such an essential mark of being a Christian that it can be used as a test of true faith."

Psalm 83

Verses 16-18...
Fill their faces with shame,
        that they may seek your name, O LORD.
Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
        let them perish in disgrace,
    that they may know that you alone,
        whose name is the LORD,
        are the Most High over all the earth.

If I'm understanding this psalm correctly, it intimates that all those in the torments of hell know that God is the one true and sovereign ruler. Even those who on earth do their best to deny Him and suppress the knowledge of the truth written on their hearts will for eternity know that God is Most High!

...So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)

Even in judgment of His enemies, God will receive glory.

Psalm 84

Verse 11...
    For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
        the LORD bestows favor and honor.
    No good thing does he withhold
        from those who walk uprightly.

Because I am in Christ, I have the promise of God's favor -- "no good thing does He withhold."

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)

Psalm 85

Verse 10...
    Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
        righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

(William Rees and William Williams, trans. William Edwards)

Psalm 86

Verse 11...
    Teach me your way, O LORD,
        that I may walk in your truth;
        unite my heart to fear your name.

"Unite my heart" is such an interesting expression, and it accurately portrays what occurs in my heart -- so often my heart is divided between following after God and following after anything (and everything) else.

Though I yearn for the day when my heart is knit together forever with my husband, even more important is that my heart would be united as a whole in its holy fear and reverence of my God.

Psalm 87

Verse 7...
    Singers and dancers alike say,
        “All my springs are in You.”

A sermon given by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1910, begins with this...

The Psalmist was grateful for the blessings that were conferred upon him. He did no receive them with selfish inattention but, considering them well, he found that every good gift and every perfect gift came from his God. He had learned that not only everything good around him, but everything that was within him that was good came from the same source! And discovering within himself a living power, a living well of water within his own nature, he traced that, also, to the Grace of God—and said, "All my springs are in You."

Random thoughts on a summer evening

My dear one,

I am listening to Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3 tonight, and it fits my mood perfectly...

Movement 1: Italiana

Movement 3: Siciliana

My dad posted some wonderful Tennyson lines tonight on Facebook:

        ...More things are wrought by pray­er
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life with­in the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of pray­er
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
(From Morte D'Arthur)

I spent a lovely afternoon exploring the state capitol grounds with a friend. After a yummy pizza supper, we chatted for a good long while on her porch, the summer breeze cooling us just enough as we sipped our chai tea. The more this friend tells me about her family members and relationships, the more burdened I become for her spiritual condition. In her false sense of religiosity she cannot see how Christ is the only possible answer to man's pride and selfishness. She says she prays for them that they would just see themselves honestly, and I tell her that only a true knowledge of God can enable anyone to see himself truly.

That's certainly what John Calvin explained in his Institutes (though much more wordily than I converse with my friend):

Man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity. Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and not to the Lord also—He being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree less defiled delights us as if it were most pure… So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seem most perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity.

Psalm 88

Verse 14...
    O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
        Why do You hide your face from me?

Lord, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry to Thee;
Let my prayer now find acceptance, in Thy mercy answer me.
Full of troubles and affliction, nigh to death my soul is brought,
Helpless, like one cast forever from Thy care and from Thy thought.

Thou hast brought me down to darkness, ’neath Thy wrath I am oppressed;
All the billows of affliction overwhelm my soul distressed.
Thou hast made my friends despise me, and companionless I go,
Bound, and helpless in my bondage, pining in my bitter woe.

Unto Thee, with hands uplifted, daily I direct my cry;
Hear, O Lord, my supplication, hear and save me ere I die.
Wilt Thou wait to show Thy wonders and Thy mercy to the dead?
Let me live to tell Thy praises, by Thy lovingkindness led.

Still, O Lord, renewed each morning unto Thee my prayer shall be;
Cast me not away forever, let me now Thy favor see.
All my life is spent in sorrow, grief and terror always nigh,
Waves of wrath have surged about me; show Thy mercy ere I die.

Friend and lover are departed, dark and lonely is my way;
Lord, be Thou my Friend and Helper, still to Thee, O Lord, I pray.
Lord, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry to Thee;
Let my prayer now find acceptance; in Thy mercy answer me.

(William Allen)