Author: Stephanie Wolfe

Psalm 116 is a personal song of praise and thanksgiving to God.  It celebrates the writer’s deliverance from a difficult experience that caused him great distress.  We don’t know for sure who the author is, but this Psalm could have been written by any of us.  We can all relate to crying out to God in the midst of a difficult and distressing situation. 

When I first read through this Psalm earlier this week, I was moved to tears.  

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;  he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.  

Psalm 116:1-2

Last Thursday, my husband and I were involved in a freak car accident.  A tire from an animal trailer came loose and catapulted across the road into the front of my SUV.  The firemen who arrived on the scene said they had never seen anything like this.  The tire made a 2 foot indention into the from of my car.  My brother-in-law who is an ER nurse also confirmed that accidents like this don’t usually have a good ending. If the tire would have hit an inch higher it would have gone straight through the windshield of my car with a horrifiic outcome.  It is a miracle we walked away from the scene of this accident with only sore upper bodies from the airbags and seat belts.  Moreover, we walked away with a tremendous feeling of overwhelming gratefulness to God.

The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me;  I was overcome by distress and sorrow.  Then I called on the name of the Lord:  “Lord, save me!”

Psalm 116:3-4

In this Psalm the writer expresses his love for the Lord because God hears and answers His children when they call to Him.  He recalls the many troubles and sorrows he has already encountered and how gracious and compassionate the Lord has been to him.  

As the Psalmist remembers the merciful kindness and patient grace of the Lord towards him.  He then cries out…

What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?

Psalm 116:12

The Psalmist knew that there is nothing we can do to repay the Lord for all His grace and love towards us.  There is no payment or reward that we can offer to God that would pay Him back for all of the wonderful things He has done for us.  

There is nothing we can do except offer Him our sacrifice of praise.  We can pour out our heart of gratitude to Him for our salvation.  We can tell others of the wonders of His grace and mercy.  We can seek to do His will with a willing and obedient heart.  We can let His love flow through us to others.

I am praising God that my husband and I have another day to worship God and tell others that Jesus loves them.  

I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.

Psalm 116:18

Springtime is my favorite season of the year.  I yearn for the flowers to bloom, the trees to bud, the birds to sing, and the grass to green.  The picture above was taken from my back porch over this past weekend.  I sat and marveled at the redness of this cardinal sitting in the pinkness of the tree.  Wow!  God you are colorful and creative!  

Psalm 104 is a marvelous account of God’s creation.  

O Lord, what an amazing variety of all you have created!  Wild and wonderful is this world you have made, while wisdom was there at your side.  This world is full of so many creatures, yet each belongs to you!

Psalm 104:24

The word “wisdom” in the verse above comes from the Hebrew word –chokmah – meaning to describe skillful craftsmanship.  God’s handiwork in nature proclaims His presence and makes us want to praise Him.  

When we see creation as the psalmist who wrote Psalm 104, we will better know and appreciate the greatness of God.  We can all benefit from taking time to sit in the presence of God in His creation.  There we can relax in quiet and ponder the wonders of our God.

Psalm 104 begins and ends with the words:  “Praise the Lord” (vs 1 & 35).  From the red Cardinal sitting in the bursting pink Redbud tree to the oceans, the mountains, and the stars in the sky, our Creator’s artistry is all around us.  May we take it all in today and PRAISE Him for it!

I know I am on vacation when I am surrounded by Palm Trees.  My idea of a vacation is sitting around a pool or on the beach relaxing with family.  My Mom and Dad have had a home in Florida for the past 18 years of which I have had the blessing of visiting at least once every year.  When I am there, I picture myself sitting around their small community  pool where the palm trees are all around us.  There are around 12 different varieties of palm trees in Florida, and NOT one of them is the Palm tree mentioned in todays reading of Psalm 92.

In Psalm 92, David speaks of thankfulness.  We all have days when we can thank God endlessly for the gifts and blessings in our lives.  But, then there are other days when we are rushed and stressed and are too overwhelmed to see beyond the burdens of life.  These are the days we need to most read a Psalm like this one to remind us of how much God loves us.

In verse 12 of the 92nd Psalm we learn of the Date Palm tree.  This palm is famous for its beauty.  This tree can grow to 90 feet tall.  It is said to be the most useful tree on earth.  There are desert places that would be uninhabitable if it were not for the date palm.  It can grow where no other useful plant will grow.  The date palm tree is a tree of the desert.  It sinks its roots down deep to draw up the scarce water from down deep in the earth.

The date palm is a long lived tree.  It can still bear fruit when it is  more than 100 years old.  This beautiful and useful palm tree symbolizes the beauty and usefulness of believers who have heir roots in God. 

Yes!  Look how you’ve made all your devoted lovers to flourish like palm trees, each one growing in victory, standing with strength!

Psalm 92:12

This Psalm ends with such a positive and exciting verse.

Even in their old age they will stay fresh, bearing luscious fruit and abiding faithfully.

Psalm 92:14

As I have rolled passed the half century mark in my life, this verse gives me such hope and life.  Just like the Date Palm tree, I want to continue to produce fruit until the end of my days.  I want to flourish, continue to grow deep roots, and be productive all of the days of my life.  

“Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine on us [in favor and approval], and we shall be saved.”
Pslam 80:19 (AMP)

Psalm 80 is a cry to the Lord for His restoration. It was a time of tribulation and distress. God’s chosen people, Israel had turned away from Him. This chapter in the book of Psalms is a cry out to the Lord God Almighty for restoration and revival.

There are 3 instances in this chapter where the people call on God for restoration:
Verse 3 – Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine on us [with favor and approval], and we will be saved.
Verse 7 – Restore us, O God of hosts; And cause Your face to shine on us [with favor and approval], and we will be saved.
Verse 19 – Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine on us [in favor and approval], and we shall be saved.

Do you see the pattern here? The people were desperately looking for restoration. When you seek the Lord, if your cry is from your heart, the light of Jesus will shine upon you. Jesus is the true light that gives light to everyone.

In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men.
John 1:4

In this season, we also may be looking for restoration, freedom, and/or forgiveness. We may be looking for healing. And behold, tomorrow is Easter. We are reminded of how God raised His Son from the dead so that we may have life. If we turn from our sinful ways and seek Him, He will forgive us and give us a new life. Jesus assures us in His Word.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
John 10:10

May His Face Shine Upon You this Easter Weekend.  Bless You.

 

 

 

 

 

What a glorious God! He gives us salvation over and over, then daily he carries our burdens! Pause in his presence
Psalm 68:19 (TPT)

Each Monday of the week that I am assigned to write my Bible Journal Post, I read the Bible verse(s) assigned to me. I try to reflect, pray and research the verse before I begin writing later in the week for my Saturday post.  To be honest, some weeks it is a mad dash to read and post all in the same evening before the Sat am deadline!
This week in my preparation to write on Psalm 68, the same story kept popping up. This is a story of a very religious man that has been passed down with no author that I have found.

This is how the story goes…

Once there was a man who was caught in rising floodwaters. He climbed onto the roof of his house and trusted god to rescue him. A neighbor came by in a canoe and said, “Hop in and we’ll paddle to safety.” “No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to god and I’m sure he will save me”
A short time later a police boat came by. “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll take you to safety.” “No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
A little time later a rescue services helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said, “The waters will soon be above your house. Climb the ladder and we’ll fly you to safety.” “No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
All this time the floodwaters continued to rise until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man drowned. When he arrived in Heaven he demanded and audience with God. Ushered into God’s throne room he said, “Lord, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me, I trusted you to save me from that flood.” “Yes” replied the Lord. “And I sent you a canoe, a boat, and a helicopter. But you never got in.”

We face so much stress and trials in our daily life. God is ready and waiting every moment for us to reach out to him in our daily situations.

Psalm 68 is a Psalm of praise, celebration, and unleashed joy in the lives of God’s people because of the victory he gives us. God daily is there to bear or carry our burdens. But, do we allow Him to carry them? Or do we, as the man in the story above, keep waiting for what we think will be a better or different rescue from our situation?

God is waiting on us to cast our anxieties and burdens on Him. We have to be willing to give them to Him (over and over).

“Cast all your anxiety on him (God) because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7

Don’t miss the gift He is waiting to give you. Don’t pass up what is right in front of you.  God is waiting to be our rescue!

If you think of all the tears you have ever cried, would they amount to much?  All the tears as a baby, crying to let your mother know you were hungry, dirty, lonely or scared.  Next, to tears you cried as a teen-ager because friends were mean or a first love didn’t go as expected.  And then as an adult, tears from grief, death, sickness, divorce, or any wrong-doing in your life.  Life is hard.  We face difficulties of all kinds and tears come and fill our eyes.  

In Psalm 56, David writes of a time he had been captured by an enemy.  He was fearful, not knowing what the Philistines might do to him.  Instead of focusing on the horrible situation he was in, he changed his focus.  He was reminded of how carefully God watched over him.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:3&4

David tells us that God is concerned enough about us and what we face and that He keeps every tear that falls from our eyes in a bottle.

You have kept count of my tossing;  put my tears in your bottle.  Are they not in your book?

Psalm 56:8

Can you actually picture this for yourself?  God, right at this moment, sitting in Heaven with a bottle that has every single tear you have ever cried?  That is a little over-whelming to me.  To think that He cares that much about me means that each tear really matters to Him.

Today, you can actually find delicate, ancient vials called lachrymatory bottles (examples pictured above) for sale.  There was a custom as far back as David’s day that when a person was ill or in great distress, his friends would take him a tear bottle.  As the tears rolled down the cheeks of the person suffering, they were caught in these bottles, sealed up and preserved as a memorial of the person’s pain.  

This is what God does for us.  He has bottled all of our tears and assures us that He see us and remembers every single tear shed.  God charts our steps and records our tears to show us just how closely He notices and cares for us.  We, like David can take comfort in knowing that we can trust in God and that He sees us.

 

How many of you have (or had) the routine of expressing your “Highs” and “Lows” at dinner time with your family?  I laugh now when I remember asking my kids at dinner what there highs and lows of the day were.  Some days there were no highs and only lows while other days held only highs!  Life…full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows.  I could ramble on about my ups and downs and I am sure we can all lament over the “downs” of the past year.  The Psalms are easy to relate with because they describe the extremes, the highs and the lows.  

In Psalm 44, we read a Psalm of lament.  A lament is a passionate expression of grief and sorrow.  It is a wailing, a groaning, a moaning, and a weeping grieving great loss.  Psalm 44 laments the defeat of Israel by its enemies and calls upon the Lord to deliver His people from a great national suffering.  

Sometimes we experience suffering for what seems like no apparent fault of our own.  Suffering doesn’t always mean we are being punished or disciplined by God for something we did wrong.  This Psalm is an example of the people calling out to God to deliver them, just as He promised He would do.  

Even through our “Lows” and disappointments in life, Psalm 44 shows us that we can express ourselves to the Lord and be honest with Him about our feelings.  We can cry out to Him,

“Awake, Lord!  Why do you sleep?  Rouse yourself!  Do not reject us forever.  Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?”

Psalm 44:23-24

This is our petition to God as we experience the lows of our life and lament to Him.   Even in our sorrow, we can express our trust and faith in Him.

In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.

Psalm 44:8

You are my hiding place;  you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7

I know I have written this in a previous post, but I am so thankful for growing up in a church and home that taught me praise songs!  I was reading through our reading of Psalm 32 and once I got to verse 7 this melody started playing in my head!

You are my hiding place.  You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance whenever I am afraid.  I will trust in You.

I will trust in You.  Let the weak say I am strong in the strength of the Lord.

You are my hiding place.  You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance whenever I am afraid.  I will trust in You.

Iwill trust in You.  Let the weak say I am strong in the strength of  the Lord.  I will trust in You.

Are you singing it now???

Psalm 32:7 identifies God as our hiding place:  ”For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble.  You surround me with songs of victory.”  The Hebrew word seter, translated here as “hiding place,” can refer literally to a secret location in which to conceal oneself.  In 1 Samuel 19, for example, when King Saul saught to kill David, Jonathan, Saul’s son and David’s friend, warned him, saying, “You must find a hiding place (seter) out in the fields”(19:2)

In Psalm 32:7, God is a hiding place in that he protects us from trouble.  He surrounds us with “songs of victory” or “songs of deliverance”.     Because of this, when we trust in the Lord, we can be assured that our lives are safe in his hands.

As we know, this does not mean that we will not experience troubles.  I, in fact, have had my fair share recently.  But it does mean that when we do face the hard times we can have confidence that God is on our side.  No matter what happens in this life, no matter how it seems that God has abandoned us, he is there nonetheless.  

I believe that the more we turn to Him, the more we trust Him, the more we live securely.  He is the best hiding place of all.  When we hide all our troubles in Him, we find joy.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Psalm 32:11

Psalms 20 opens as a prayer to the Lord (Yahweh) to answer in the day of trouble.  We must never doubt that God hears our prayers.  I believe that not only does God hear our prayers, but He is more than able to answer our prayers.  The Bible tells us,

Now to him who is able to do far more than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Ephesians 3:20

Why do I believe in God?  Why do I trust he hears and answers my prayers?

Because the Bible tells me so!  That might be a simple answer for many and that is ok, because for me I believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God.  Does that mean that God makes my life easy and answers all my prayers exactly as I prefer?  Not by a long shot!  In fact circumstances rarely go as I desire.  

For example, this is the 3rd Bible Journal Post I have had to peck on my computer with one hand.  God has not answered my prayer to totally heal my wrist like I have asked.  But He has provided in ways that have blessed me far beyond having use of my right (dominant) hand!

On Dec 14, I had a silly accident and tripped outside on our patio.  My entire body landed on my out-stretched right arm.  I knew immediately that I had broken it.  A trip to urgent care and a follow up to an Orthopedic Dr confirmed that I had fractured my radius bone at my wrist.  I had prayed that I would not need surgery as we would be leaving for our annual Christmas trip to Florida in just 3 days.  At that time my prayers were answered and it looked like a clean break with just a cast for 4 weeks!

Well, long story short, my fracture is healed, but but I still have much pain.  Last week an MRI showed some tendon/ligament damage so now I am now waiting to meet with a hand surgeon.  But, God has heard every prayer and answered with each member of my family stepping up!  For 25 years I have been the sole house cleaner, cooker, grocery shopper, laundry washer/folder, etc…you need something done?  I’ll do it for you!  Yes, my kids had/have “chores” and they do help around the house, but this set back made it obvious that I do 90%of the work.

Over the last almost 6 weeks I have had to sit back and let them take over.  Talk about humbling!  Things may not be done to my satisfaction, but they are done.  Food prep has been the hardest and every evening someone in my household has shown up to help chop and prepare dinner.  My husband has even perfected my pony tail! 

I have prayed to God in my time of trouble and he hears me!  He provides for me as He sees fit!

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!  May the  name of the God of Jacob protect you!  May he send help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!  

Psalm 20:1-2

I believe because through every trial or hardship I have faced, I have tasted and seen God’s help all the way through.  Psalm 20 shows us the importance of three words:  hope, faith, and trust.  Hardships and trials of any kind cause us to question what we hope in, what we believe in, and what we trust in.  Psalm 20 calls us to trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Psalm 20:7

We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but if we believe the Bible is Truth, we place our Hope, Faith, and Trust in the name of the Lord our God.

While living in Green Valley, Arizona many years ago, I got to experience the wonder of God’s creation in ways not experienced here in the Midwest.  In our town there were “Light Ordinances” so that nothing impacted the view of the stars.  We lived at the base of Madera Canyon and the majesty we saw everyday from sunrise to sunset was incredible.  Our favorite family activity was to sit in the hot tub at night and gaze at the millions of stars overhead.  We couldn’t help but be astounded at the hundreds of thousands of tiny pinpricks lighting up the sky.

Who is God that He created all the majestic creation and yet He still cares about me…and you?!?!  

In Psalm 8, David declares the Heavens and the earth Majestic!

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Psalms 8:4

David would have been able to sit under the stars nightly and experience the majesty of God as he kept an eye on his sheep.  

My awe and belief in God is renewed when I take time as David did and gaze up at the sky in the early morning or the setting sun in the evening.  I look to see how God’s majestic name shows up in every corner of His creation.

I don’t know why God cares so much about us but, I believe God put the stars in the sky as a visible reminder of His presence and his desire to have a relationship with us.  We feel how small we are and yet God still thinks of us.  He sent His own Son to give His life for us.  What is man that you are mindful?  Next time you wonder about God, go out and gaze up at the stars.  Remember that the God who created the stars also created you!