Posts that reference the Psalms

Be Still and Know

Just back from Women of Faith. Sheila Walsh used one of my favorite verses in her talk- Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God“. That’s the last verse in a great psalm, but in v. 1-3 we read:

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though its waters roar and be troubled

Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

I think this psalm is to be taken absolutely literally when it speaks of raging water and mountains crumbling at the sound of His voice. However, when I move to personally applying it, I utilize some symbolism. The wild waters are always a picture of the emotional turmoil I find myself in from time to time. The instability, unpredictability… the way the waters cover over and wash away everything familiar… floodwaters that carry uncleanness. In contrast, the mountains are the constants, the things I depend on. So for me, these verses read:

God is my place of absolute security and safety. He is my confidence. He is abundantly available and reliable.

Therefore I should not be afraid, distressed, depressed.

Even when I have found my own resources to be nonexistent, and everything else I have confidence in- my judgment, my perceptions, my ability to reason things through- is swept into the maelstrom.

Even when it is at its worst…

Be still- stop trying to fix this yourself, stop wearing yourself out…

and know- when you stop, then you will realize at the very core of your being

that I AM – your place of absolute security and safety, your confidence. I AM abundantly available and reliable.

Study Tip: Keep a notebook

By Paula Wiseman

This tip may be a little obvious, but I’ll mention it anyway. Use a notebook. I don’t remember everything – and less all the time – so my notebook is essential to my studying. I’ve kept a study notebook at least since I was in college. Sometimes I enjoy going back to see how my insights have grown over these “few” years since my college days. (20 is a few, right?)

What should you write in your notebook? It’s your notebook. Write whatever you want. Here are a few ideas.
I make it a point to write the passage and the date. Then I go verse by verse and write my own questions, or comments.

Here’s an excerpt from my notebook: January 22, 1995 Galatians 5:1-26
v.1 This is not freedom to sin but freedom from sin and its eternal penalty
v.2 To say circumcision is necessary for salvation denies the faith that God requires…

I also keep a running list on my computer of some topics I’m chasing. One is ‘fear of the Lord’. Anytime I come to a verse dealing with that topic I make a note. Today I hit Psalm 31:19
Oh, how great is Your goodness,/ Which You have laid up for those who fear You,/ Which You have prepared for those who trust in You/ In the presence of the sons of men!
So in my notebook I added:
Fear and trust are equated. To fear God is to trust Him completely. To begin to trust our own judgment is to begin to put ourselves in God’s place. We can only trust one. The result and reward is God’s goodness- goodness so great He can’t give it to us all at once, but it must be laid up in store. His goodness is not in secret, but will be publicly given as a further testimony of His goodness.

Sometimes I just copy down verses that hit me-
The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,/ And as I have purposed, so it shall stand: … For the Lord of hosts has purposed,/ And who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, And who will turn it back?”
(Isaiah 14: 24, 27)

Finally, I write down questions I have for God that I need help with- These are from November 2007.
Question: How can you know that you are doing what God wants (called/willed) without reinforcement? Failure always causes me to question my course of action. However the failure may not be my fault, may be something God is doing in someone else…
Question: How can I know when I should maintain the course THRU the failure and when should I take that as a hint to abandon that direction? In other words, how do I know the difference between a closed door, and a challenge?

The notebook can be anything you want as long as it helps you stay in God’s word, because His word works! (BTW- If you know the answers to those questions… I’m listening!)

Friday Update- Getting Unstuck

By Paula Wiseman

We went out to eat (just McDonalds- but I didn’t have to cook) and to the movies last night. It was great fun. It was Alan’s idea and he invited one of his and Lauren’s best buddies. We saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and several times I could hear Alan laughing over the crowd. How terrific is that?! I love to hear my kids laugh and we are blessed that they do it often. Today is the first day of summer break for everyone and I slept in!

Friday update- Editing on Contingency hit a little snag. I got stuck on a scene in Chapter 20. Most of it probably needs to go, but there are a couple of very important realizations that Gavin needs to help Chuck with, so I can’t drop it entirely. While I was spinning my wheels there, though, I went back and began a read-through of the whole book. That helped me stay focused on the big picture and gave me a sense that I was making some progress even though that one pesky scene was being contrary. Editing is lonely work, but I am determined to stick with this through all the revisions.

BTW- While letting that sticky scene percolate… before I dropped off to sleep last night, I had an idea. I think I’ll try it from Gavin’s POV. The edits for the rest of the book promise to be intense. It’s a little flabby. I’ll let you know next week how things have progressed!

Books read this week – Both of these were for school next year, part of Lauren’s Starting Points course. I hope to read some for myself next week.

Know What You Believe: Connecting Faith and Truth by Paul Little. It was a great overview of theology.
How to Read Slowly: Reading for Comprehension by James W. Sire. This was a primer on pulling a deeper meaning from all the types of literature we read, fiction, poetry, essays and so forth.

Psalm 20:1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you

God-ness

By Paula Wiseman

I read Psalm 36 this morning preparing for tomorrow’s Bible study, and verses 5-6 outline a few of God’s attributes. Mercy vast as the heavens, faithfulness beyond the clouds, righteousness like mountains and justice deep as the sea. All of these are poetic images used to convey the idea that God is limitless. He is infinite. That’s one of the simplest ways to distinguish God from the rest of us. I am constantly aware of my limitations. I get tired, irritated. I fail in my dealings with others, withholding mercy at times, crossing a line from justice to vindictiveness on other occasions. I know my righteousness doesn’t measure up to a dirt clod, much less a mountain.

Thankfully, the psalm goes one more step and includes God’s precious unfailing love, and as an outworking of that He offers shelter and provides for us, satisfying the deep longings of our souls.

Sometimes, in my quest for intimacy with God, I lose sight of His uniqueness, His God-ness, of everything that makes Him God alone. It’s good to be reminded regularly, because it is in recognizing that separate-ness of God that I begin to grasp how wondrous, how beyond description, His desire for a relationship with me truly is.

Stormy Weather

By Paula Wiseman

It’s spring and we’re having our share of rain, but we’re also getting a healthy dose of thunderstorms. Yesterday, it was almost constant beginning in early morning and continuing all through last night. At one point, the winds were strong enough that I got up to make sure we weren’t under a tornado warning. Most of the storms skirted by us, but we still heard the thunder and saw the lightning. Then this morning as Alan and I walked to school we had to take care to step around all the slugs, snails and worms on the sidewalks. He said, “Look, the rain washed out all the ugly things.”

Sometimes life is like that. Storms aren’t just isolated events, but we find ourselves in a season of storms, under relentless attack. Lying in bed trying to get back to sleep early this morning, I was reminded of how many times the Psalms talk of God’s voice as thunder. You only have thunder when a storm is going on. It’s in the storms that I most clearly hear God speak. (Now, Elijah and his still small voice… that was a different lesson.)

Storms in my life wash out all those ugly things, too. The worms left out in the sunlight will eventually die. A storm gives me the opportunity to bring all those long-harbored sins, attitudes or actions, out into the light for God to deal with them.

Storms can be frightening and remind me how powerless I really am. If you in the middle of a storm, hang in there. After a day and a half of rain and thunder, this morning, it’s bright and beautiful.

Separated

By Paula Wiseman

I didn’t post Friday- needed a ‘personal’ day. It happens every so often.We were headed to the park one evening as a perfect day drew to a close. Before we got off the property, though, my son got in trouble. He’d ignored his dad’s instructions about riding his bicycle near the street. So after a short confrontation, we headed back to the house and he got sent to bed.

Isaiah says ‘your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you’. That verse crystallized for me in those moments. Here was the son, separated from the father because he had transgressed the father’s counsel. Sin divides families. It hurts innocent people. My daughters were robbed of a trip to the park, but hadn’t done anything wrong. The rule was for my son’s protection, and although he understood that, he thought it was no big deal to skirt it. Then he’s very good at playing the remorseful penitent.

I’ve done the very same things myself. Often I even whine that God isn’t listening without even realizing I’ve been ‘sent to my room’. Thank God that ‘His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life’. While the separation is temporary, the relationship is unbreakable.