Psalm 27

Verse 14...

Wait for the LORD; 

     be strong, 

     and let your heart take courage; 

     wait for the LORD!

Though I've primarily been using ESV for the verse quotes I insert here, in this case I love the KJV even better:

Wait on the LORD: 

     be of good courage, 

     and He shall strengthen thine heart: 

     wait, I say, on the LORD.

Elisabeth Elliot: "Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts."

While You wait in gracious wisdom and my doubts begin to rise,

I recall Your loving kindness, and lift my hopeful eyes.

While Your hand withholds the answer, I will not withhold my heart.

I will love you in Your silence, I will trust You in the dark.

(Eileen Berry)

...and can I be dismayed?

My dear one, 

This weekend was one of many escaping tears. Sometimes it truly becomes impossible to hold them back. From hearing a particularly convicting devotional at a ladies' event at my church, to realizing that I've been incredibly foolish in imagining the possibility of someone, to reading a blog article that addressed perfectly a constant struggle ... all conspire to wring tears from these tired eyes of mine.

But one hymn has been encouraging me through these past few days:

In heavenly love abiding, 

No change my heart shall fear; 

And safe is such confiding, 

For nothing changes here. 

The storm may roar around me, 

My heart may low be laid; 

But God is round about me, 

And can I be dismayed?

Wherever He may guide me, 

No want shall turn me back; 

My Shepherd is beside me 

And nothing can I lack. 

His wisdom ever waketh, 

His sight is never dim; 

He knows the way He taketh, 

And I will walk with Him. 

Green pastures are before me, 

Which yet I have not seen; 

Bright skies will soon be o'er me, 

Where the dark clouds have been. 

My hope I cannot measure, 

My path to life is free; 

My Saviour has my treasure, 

And He will walk with me. 

(Anna L. Waring)

Keep going on that path the Lord has set forth for you, my dear one, long and lonely though it may be. Someday you'll perhaps find yourself walking beside me on this journey heavenward.

-- Your Evenstar

Psalm 28

Verse 7...

The LORD is my strength and my shield; 

     in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; 

my heart exults, 

     and with my song I give thanks to Him.

This verse, one of my very favorites in the whole Book of Psalms, is a song of praise, a confession of faith, and a statement of purpose all in one. Here are some observations I gleaned from Spurgeon's The Treasury of David…

The heart's possessions: "The Lord is my strength and my shield." 

• Strength: God is not only gives the believer strength, He also increases and perfects that strength (I Peter 5:10; I John 2:14). God's strength is made perfect in my weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
• Shield: "You have given me the shield of Your salvation" (Ps. 18:35). God's gracious work of salvation is a shield that we are to take unto ourselves in faith, enabling us to ward off—yea, even quench—the fiery darts of temptation and doubt launched against us by the evil one.

The heart's confidence: "In Him my heart trusts."

• What futility there is in trusting anything else! May we not trust in the abundance of our riches (Ps. 52:7), or in our fleshly wisdom and false knowledge (Is. 47:10)! Psalm 2 closes with the affirmation, "Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." Surely, the more I trust, the more fully shall I know this blessedness.

The heart's experience: "I am helped."

• I should encourage myself for the future by remembering God's deliverances in the past. One of the simplest ways I can remind myself of God's past deliverances is by going back through old entries in my Bible study journal. There I can read some of the struggles I have brought before the Lord, followed by God's answers in which He did exceeding abundantly above all that I could ask or think (Eph. 3:20).

The heart's joy: "My heart exults."

• Joy in the Lord is both a duty and a privilege. I am commanded to rejoice at all times (Phil. 4:4; I Thess. 5:16), yet what a natural reflex it becomes when my hearts consciously remembers God's greatness, goodness, and grace!

The heart's music: "With my song I give thanks to Him."

• God would be worthy of our praise even if He had never done anything for us. He deserves our reverent praise and adoration because of Who He is. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is God to the glory of God the Father. Yet we the children of God have an additional motivation for worship. We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and justified because of His righteousness! Our grateful hearts cannot help but sing with Paul, "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen." (Rom. 11:33, 36).

Psalm 29

Verses 1-2...
Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

The object of our worship is the one true God, YHWH. We offer praise to the Lord, as do the angels, because of His glory and strength, because of who He is, and because of the beauty of His holiness.

I found a hymntext based on these verses that also happens to fit with the last psalm I looked at.

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; 

Bow down before Him, His glory proclaim; 

Gold of obedience and incense of lowliness 

Bring, and adore Him; the Lord is His Name!

Low at His feet lay thy burden of carefulness, 

High on His heart He will bear it for thee, 

Comfort thy sorrows, and answer thy prayerfulness, 

Guiding thy steps as may best for thee be. 

Fear not to enter His courts in the slenderness 
Of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine; 
Truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness, 
These are the offerings to lay on His shrine. 

These, though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness, 

He will accept for the Name that is dear; 

Mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness, 

Trust for our trembling, and hope for our fear.

(John S. B. Monsell)

Psalm 30

Verse 5...

For His anger is but for a moment,
     and His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
     but joy comes with the morning.

Amy Carmichael: "Joys are always on their way to us. They are always travelling to us through the darkness of the night. There is never a night when they are not coming."

Ann Voskamp: "Because there is never a night where joys are not coming to us, there is never a road that can’t arrive at Hope. Circumstances can go ahead and run out of time — but the courageous refuse to run out of hope. We can always hope because there is always joy traveling to us down the unexpected roads."