O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like a lion they tear my soul apaprt, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.--Psalm 7:1-2,17
It's time, once again to reflect on the past 6 days.
Day 71--Creation Movie
God begins to question Job after Job has complained and his "friends" have "comforted" him. God is awesomely powerful. Moreso that we could ever imagine. He is the tamer of oceans and holds the elements of nature in the palm of his hand. We should be more aware of the beauty of creation around us as we go about our lives.
Day 72--God Can Handle You
God talks about dragons. Heh.
God speaks to the three elders who have been constantly berating Job for a few days, now. He pretty much puts them in their places. We really don't have as much understanding about how God works as we might think we do. We should be careful how we make declarations of God's will and other things. We have what the Bible reveals to us and not much else. Without any kind of intimate relationship with him, we really can't even understand that very well.
We also have the privilege of being able to be totally honest with God. This is where the title of the lesson came from. "God can handle you." Yes he can. He can handle anything I can throw at him. And I believe he would rather me throw my objections at doubts at him honestly than to not speak at all and bottle it up.
He can handle me.
Day 73--A Tree Replanted in Eden
Here begins the time in the Psalms. I love the Psalms. That's why I read 5 of them every day. I don't think it's an accident that they are right in the middle of the Bible. They explore every single emotion that we can experience. There is love, worship, anger, confession, indifference, you name it. And all pretty much addressed to God (or at least about him).
This one compares the righteous and the wicked and their relationships to God. The righteous love the word of God and meditate on it constantly. The wicked hang with other wicked. The righteous one is like a tree, planted by a mighty river. Strong and enduring.
I'm not always righteous, that's for sure. I guess my tree moves around?
Day 74--God, Brilliant Lord
Psalm 8. Why does God even bother with us. We are so low and he is so high. We should praise him so much more, knowing that, in the presence of all the huge infiniteness of space and star, he cares for us more than any of his creation.
Day 75--Tell God Your Desire
The psalmist seems to be shouting at God. See a couple days ago...God can handle you. It's ok. We can express our desires to God. And if you read all of Psalm 13, you see that he winds up praising God at the end. If we are honest with God and let him know our desires, our doubts, our frustrations, it will all end well, I think.
Day 76--Staying With God
Psalm 27. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear."
The psalmist is so in love with God that he wants to actually live in God's house, in his sanctuary. We should be that close to God. The intimate relationship that is described here is amazing. I desire that kind of relationship with God. Perhaps someday, I will be able to set my selfish self aside and achieve that.
In the meantime, David's words keep me alive..."Stay with God! Take heart. Don't quit. I'll say it again: Stay with God!"
Grace and peace, y'all!