My wife and I like movies that have happy endings. Too many stories in real life have sad endings. When we watch a movie, we want to feel good when the credits roll. The book of Psalms expresses an array of human emotions: love, loneliness, delight, despair, etc; and it ends in praise. Psalms 146-150 [...]
Archive for the ‘Psalms’ Category
Day 193: Psalms 146-150
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Doubt, Psalms, tagged faith, God, life, movies, praise, religion, spirituality on March 11, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Day 191: Psalms 133-139
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Psalms, Spiritual Disciplines, tagged faith, God, life, Love, omnisciennce, prayer, religion, spirituality on March 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
God’s all-knowing is all-loving, so I want to totally open myself to God and say, “Here I am, God. Take me as I am, with all my imperfections.” God looks at the mistakes and messes in my life and likes me anyway, so I live in the divine presence and open myself to the God [...]
Day 190: Psalms 120-132
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Parenting, Psalms, tagged childbirth, faith, Family, life, religion, spirituality on March 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. My wife and I look forward to the birth of our first child, Caleb, in May. In the last few months, we’ve learned much about pregnancy and parenting. Tamara and I [...]
Day 189: Psalm 119:89-176
Posted in Bible, Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Psalms, Spiritual Disciplines, tagged faith, life, religion, spirituality on March 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands. Those closing words of Psalm 119 speak to me. I too want my life to praise my Maker and Sustainer. I too have at [...]
Day 188: Psalm 119:1-88
Posted in Bible, Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Psalms, Spiritual Disciplines, tagged faith, religion on March 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The blameless are blessed, so says Psalm 119. But I’m not blameless; I make mistakes. I am not alone in this. None of us qualifies for membership in that elite group of people who “do no wrong.” Even the writer of this psalm doesn’t qualify: “Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!” [...]
Day 187: Psalms 115-118
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Grief, Psalms, tagged death, faith, funeral, life, religion, spirituality on March 5, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
My mom’s mom was called Lola, but I knew her real name: Granny. She was a loving woman who was always happy to see me. When Granny died in September 2005, her brother quoted these words from Psalm 116: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (That’s from the [...]
Day 185: Psalms 106-107
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Psalms, tagged faith, forgiveness, God, life, religion, salvation, sin, spirituality, worship on March 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Salvation is more than God’s work of forgiving an individual’s sins. We’ve already seen this in the Psalms, and we see it again in Psalm 106. The psalmist reflects on his people’s history of sin and observes: Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. God’s ministry of salvation [...]
Day 184: Psalms 103-105
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Psalms, Spiritual Disciplines, tagged faith, God, praise, religion, spirituality, worship on March 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
As I wrote in yesterday’s post, every generation needs to create new songs to praise God. In today’s reading, we find several reasons to worship. God: Forgives sins Heals diseases Redeems lives Provides love and compassion Gives good things Renews Performs “righteousness and justice for the oppressed” “Is compassionate and gracious” Is “slow to anger” [...]
