3 Ws

10/2/13  3 Ws  were blog thoughts that wandered away after I headed to bed last night. Regrettably, I think the first one was worry----thus the headache that had me to "take to the bed." Possibly the second W was wait. Certainly waiting is a more spiritual activity than worry. Worry is a lack of trust. Worry is sin.
Waiting on God for direction can sometimes be difficult, especially for "doers"......for those who prefer answers sooner rather than later. Yet, today as I tried to recapture the Ws from the recesses of my memory, I realized that God was waiting on me. Waiting for me to give up the worry and trust Him in the situation that loomed with unknowns.

Once that happened, wisdom arrived all the way from France. Words of wisdom via God's child. So timely....but then His timing would be, wouldn't it?

An email arrived from Aggie to ask about the absence of the 3 Ws blog text, AND to share truths she gleaned from from her Lydia prayer cell's meditation of Psalm 67, especially the first 2 verses. To her it was just a way of sharing today's meeting, which is similar to our prayer for revival group. To me it was God-speak. (Even the cross ref to the Numbers verse was one used by me in  9/16 & 9/18 blog entry)

1 May God have pity on us and bless us!

 May he smile on us. Selah  (Numbers 6:24-26)

2 Then your ways will be known on earth,

your salvation throughout all nations.

She added: What stood out to me was the fact that when we are in trouble or testing, we - I - tend to ask God for the way out, "O God, help me!  Send your light and blessing and grace."  But vs 2 makes it clear that the purpose of God's intervention and blessing is (also) for the purpose of making Him and his ways known to those around us, and to the ends of the earth.

Aggie didn't have a clue what I was facing but God knew.

When I replied to her with my situation concern, she sent more wisdom gleaned from others along her life path.

"WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES; it takes away today's PEACE."

She also wrote:  I wish that a lesson learned once is permanently acquired.  Not necessarily.  One time I said to a retired pastor, "I get discouraged because I get the impression that I'm always going through the same things, same lessons and spinning my wheels.  He replied, "No, Agnes.  It's a spiral and each time we go through a lesson we move on, and upward.  If we come to what seems like the same thing again, it is on a different level, because we are moving on in the Lord, growing in grace." That was SUCH an encouragement to me!  God is good, He is faithful. 

That's it---the 3rd W---came to mind.

WORSHIP---He is worthy.

He, who is good and faithful and waits patiently on me to give my burden of worry to Him, is worthy of worship. 

Meditations from the Psalter

5/21/12 Bonhoeffer calls Psalms, the prayer book of the Bible but the Hebrew title also means hymns. Either term, prayer or hymn, has a purpose in worship. Embedded within some of the psalms is another word which can aid one in meditation. Selah., when used in a psalm invites the reader to pause and to reflect. A synonym for meditation."Selah" 

Psalms teaches that “Selah” means we should pause to carefully examine, measure, and value what has been said. Harvestime Psalms/Selah Sounds like our “Meditation Monday” practice to me. Whether it’s a passage from the Psalms or another book in the Bible, it is good practice to measure the truth encountered. Read. Pause. Measure your thoughts with the whole truth of Scripture---for all truth from God has been given for our meditation, our reflection, and our application. So….one wants to get it right.

 Bonhoeffer quotes Luther on the advantage of a “Selah” interlude in the salms, “…for they demand  a quiet and restful soul, which can grasp and hold to that which the Holy Spirit there presents and offers” (Psalms the Prayer book of the Bible, p. 23) Practice meditating today under that guidance.

Today my meditation, from the psalter, turned to prayers for many on my "list" who are suffering from the calamaties caused by cancer---young and old alike.

Song of Deliverance

2/8/12 

Soothing sounds of “You Deliver Me” were being sung by Selah. 

They’re also the vocal group that sing, “You are My Hiding Place."

You are my hiding place

You always fill my heart

With songs of deliverance

Whenever I am afraid

I will trust in You          (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/selah)

How interesting that this Dove Award winning trio is uniquely named with the exclamation that ends the Psalm verse from which " You Are My Hiding Place" was written. If there’s a story there, I don’t know it. I just know that today that song of deliverance spoke to my heart.

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah (Psalm 32:7)

Thank you Lord for delivering me from my self.

Monday Musings in May

5/2/11 Since tonight winds up my BSF Isaiah study, I assumed that today's meditation would be one of the rich verses from that book. Yet, this morning as I was praying Psalm 33:20-22, for my friend, Ellen, who was having surgery, I decided those verses were worthy meditation for all blog readers’----way to focus on the ONE who is our help, our shield, our trustworthy Lord of mercy. The One in whose holy name we have hope.

Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, Just as we hope in You. (Psalm 33:20-22)

Definitely verses worthy of prayerful consideration.

But God…..did not let my meditation stop there. Though I am not a proponent of the “drop and plop” method of meditation selection, my eyes caught the word flood on the preceding page.

For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah (Psalm 32: 6-7)

Though one might think I was interpreting these verses as an answer to the “possibility” of rising water in my neighborhood, it really spoke to me of my own heart. This psalm had me reflecting more on the flood of troubles that seemed to be overwhelming me lately. I began praising Him---that’s what meditation produces---for sustaining me when I felt as if I were drowning in heartache and even in my own self-pity.

In the first verses of the psalm, the psalmist, David, is hiding from God, but in these verses he is seeking to hide in Him. God became his refuge. Today He is mine as well.

Communion of the Heart

11/2/09
Unity, spiritual union, close association, relationship. All these are results of an open heart communing with God’s heart through His word. Last night as I was “communing with God” upon my bed, I selected Psalm 4, another psalm of David’s. Subtitle: Evening Prayer of Trust in God.

Psalm 4 (NASB) (notations, mine)

Answer me when I call O God of my righteousness! Thou hast relieved me in my distress. (Amen!)

O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception? [Selah)
Remember Selah denotes pause. Ponderings from my pause: What am I loving in my life that is useless or of no real significance---Is it robbing me of time and energy of that which is truly valuable. Help me, O Lord to discern.

But know the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself: The Lord hears when I call to Him. (What a comfort to know that the Lord hears even me.)

Tremble and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. [Selah (I can tell You this fear that I am facing tomorrow, and in turning it over to You, I do not sin.)

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the Lord. (Sacrifices that are righteous before Him---a broken and contrite heart. (Psalm 51:17) Trust Him not myself---Thee not me!)

Many are saying, “Who will show us any good?” Lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us, O Lord! (THOT: Is it salvation that is the shining of His face upon us?)

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound. (Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing….and girded me with gladness. Psalm 30:7)

In peace, I will both lie down and sleep, For Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety. (My peace comes from Thee, and Thee alone!)

Today, choose one of these verses that speaks to your heart and meditate on it throughout the day. Tonight, meditate upon your bed and be still as you lie down to sleep in His peace.

Selah

10/26/09 Meditation started early this Monday morning in Psalm 3, a psalm of David. I was using my New American Standard translation but my heart was remembering the good ole King James version from my grandmother’s Bible. Psalms and KJV equal comfort for me. I was in need of a little old fashioned comfort this past weekend. Though my grandmother’s Bible is too fragile to travel, I’m staying in a preacher’s house where Bibles abound and the internet is at my finger tips. http://www.biblegateway.com/ (a great source for different translations)
Psalm 3, according to my Bible notes, is a morning prayer of trust in God. Perfect! The first 2 verses deal with the problem but in verse 3, the focus shifts from the problem to the problem solver.

But Thou, O LORD, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. (Psalm 3:3)

THOTS: As a shield, He is my protector. A biopsy report looms. Time is a critical factor today in scheduling both an infectious disease regimen and hopefully keeping my pending surgery on the docket. Of course, if diagnosis is cancer all recent plans go by the wayside. Regardless, He is my shield! My marginalia says, "to adorn" beside the word glory. Glory is perhaps the hardest word for me to wrap my finite mind around, so I am Trusting Him On This Subject today. Does He adorn me? Does my trust in Him adorn Him?? As the lifter up of my head, He is my encourager. No “happy pills” needed. (Yet!)

I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. (Selah) I laid down and slept: I awakened; for the Lord sustained me. (Psalm 3:4-5)

Those verses pretty much describe last night and my “new beginnings” this morning.

THOTS: Selah. Bible dictionary says there are different interpretations of this word---silence or pause is given.

...+ Meaning pause and listen


I think I’ll pause to think on these verses. Won’t you join me!