I Am Still Here…

Just a note to let you know that I am still here!  I have been out of town and experiencing a computer crash which adds up to not blogging regularly like I want to.  I plan to make a post either tonight or tomorrow!  So hang in there and keep coming back!  God bless!!

Be an Olive Tree!

David was constantly being pursued by Saul and many of his psalms show how he cries out to God for refuge and help from his enemies.  Psalm 52 is one of these.  He talks about wicked and evil men and what will happen to them in the end.  Then in verse 8 there is a contrast:

“But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”  Psalm 52:8-9

I want to be an Olive Tree!  I want to trust in the lovingkindness of God forever!!  (I once learned in a Bible Study that God’s lovingkindness is His covenant with us…and covenant is important in the Bible).  I want to give thanks to God forever!  Why?  Because He has done it!  Done what you ask?He is King, He is sovereign and He has saved me by sending His son Jesus to die for me!  And I want to wait on His name…of course the word name caught my eye.  I wondered, what does it mean to wait on God’s name?

 I went to my Logos software and I was so excited to find out that this Hebrew verb “to wait on” means:  hope for, look for, i.e., look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial, often with a focus of anticipation in a future event.  It also means to look eagerly for.  The future event that came to my mind was of course when Jesus returns…what better thing to “wait eagerly for”.  I really like the word, eagerly!  It seems to have so much meaning…yet how often am I eagerly waiting for God/Jesus?  Waiting eagerly for His Name makes me think of Philippians 2:9-11:

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him (Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  SO THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS, EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

My prayer today is that I might wait for you eagerly, LORD, for you and your Son!  That everything I do each day is with eagerness and expectation of what You will do that day and will do in the future.  May it be so…Amen and amen!

It works!!!!!

After all that I have been reading in the Psalms about a contrite spirit and knowing my sins…I have an example to share with you!

I was with a family member here in Colorado at a coffee shop.  We were having such a good time sharing and catching up.  He said something and I replied with the first thing that came to my mind, that was my first mistakeThere were a lot of people in the shop and I spoke rather loudly.  It wasn’t until later that night God showed me that I had been rude!  I had sinned against Him and hurt my family member.  I felt so bad.  I asked God for forgiveness and had the opportunity to talk to that family member later and apologize.  I felt so cleansed and thankful that God showed me my sin and was able to rectify it.  Praise God!!!

Psalm 51: A Picture of a Contrite Spirit

    “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
     And cleanse me from my sin.
     For I know my transgressions,
     And my sin is ever before me.
     Against You, You only, I have sinned
     And done what is evil in Your sight,
     So that You are justified when You speak
     And blameless when You judge.”  Psalm 51:2-4

Wow!!!!  What a picture of a man convicted of his sin…it took Nathan the prophet to proclaim to David what he had done, though.  (See 2 Samuel, chapters 10 and 11).  What does this say to me about the way I am to live?  Well, first, I need to know my sins.  I must ask God to show me my sins, or others to show me my sins and I need to be open to hearing the truth.  Secondly, I need to know that my sins are against God!  No justification here, I sin against God!  And if I hurt someone in that sin, I need to go to that person and ask forgiveness.

     “Create in me a clean heart, O God,
      And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
      Do not cast me away from Your presence
      And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
      Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
      And sustain me with a willing spirit.
      Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
      And sinners will be converted to You.”  Psalm 51:10-13

When David does cry out to God, it gave me a picture of what a right relationship would look like because of what he asks God to do.  He would have or be:

• a clean heart
• an upright spirit
• in God’s presence
• filled with the Holy Spirit
• the joy of God’s salvation
• a willing spirit
• teaching sinners God’s ways

To me, a right relationship with God is living in Jesus’ Name!  O LORD, I pray that I can have a contrite spirit, giving an acceptable sacrifice to you and living as David lived…knowing my sins and crying out to God for forgiveness and then repenting…turning around and doing the right thing!  Amen and amen!

A Right Offering and Sacrifice

As I read through the Psalms I find that I am so drawn to the psalms that King David wrote.  My Bible tells me at the beginning of each psalm who wrote it.  David is called “a man after God’s own heart” (and who wouldn’t want to be known as that?  Ok, I guess I would want to be known as a woman after God’s own heart:), but he is so real and human and I can identify with him.  His trio of psalms, 50-52 have really been touching my heart.  Today, I will write about Psalm 50.  As I continually seek, when I read, what it means to live in Jesus’ Name, God shows me much.

    “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
      And pay your vows to the Most High;
      Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
      I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” Psalm  50:14-15

      “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
      And to him who orders his way aright
      I shall show the salvation of God.” Psalm 50:23

Here I am told I need to offer God the right kind of sacrifice/offering…a sacrifice of thanksgiving.  Many times in the OT, God is displeased with his children’s offerings because they are not coming from a pure heart or with the right motives.  I often just call on God when I need something not to thank Him.  This really convicted me.  And in the very next Psalm 51 (which David wrote after he sinned with Bathsheba and had her husband killed) there is further insight into the right kind of sacrifice. 

     “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
     You are not pleased with burnt offering.
     The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
     A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:16-17

So, along with a sacrifice of thanksgiving, I need to have a broken and contrite spirit…in other words… I need to confess and repent of my sins and only in that spirit can I give a sacrifice to God, one that He will not despise.

Tomorrow, I will share more insights from Psalm 51…another of my fav’s so stay tuned…