Psalm 3 - Save Me, O God

As I read through Psalm 3 I couldn't help but relate to David in many ways. The first paragraph talks about how others claim he will not receive salvation, but then in paragraph two he cries out to the Lord and is answered. He later claims that salvation belongs only to the Lord and it is not up to mans decrees or judgments to say who will or will not be saved. 

This is very comforting if we are crying out to the Lord! Reading through this Psalm reminded me of Romans 8:31 that says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

God is our fortress and when we call upon him he will answer. After reading I asked myself:

Am I calling upon the Lord and waiting patiently for his answers? Or, when I call upon him do I expect an answer? Or do I think that he does not hear my cries and refuses to answer?

Spend time praying and "crying out" to God for the places where you need to receive his saving grace. Ask for the Lord to speak and "answer you from his holy hill," trusting and believing that he will answer you.

Psalm 3 (ESV)

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

3 O Lord, how many are my foes!
    Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul,
    there is no salvation for him in God. Selah

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
    my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord,
    and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;
    I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
    who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O Lord!
    Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;
    your blessing be on your people! Selah

After my reflection, these were my prayers. Feel free to pray this prayer for yourself or to write down some individual prayers that you may have for the Lord.

Jesus, you have saved and rescued me and I thank you for that! It is nothing that I have done to earn or deserve your forgiveness or salvation, but you freely give it to those who believe. 

Be a shield around me, Lord. Teach me to cry out to you when I am in need and to be patient to wait for your answers or to find rest in you! I often forget to call upon you for help and try to do things on my own.

Allow me to find rest in you, be sustained by you, and live more fully into the abundant grace you provide through my salvation. Do not let me forget that I was bought with a price. Amen.

I also listened to the worship song, "Rise" by Shawn McDonald after spending time in Psalm 3 and was encouraged. You can click on the name to hear the song as well. 

With Gratitude,

Katie

Psalm 2 - The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

For Psalm 2, I read the passage a little differently. Rather than "study" the passage, I simply read it over and over again and meditated on the words and let them soak in. I kept coming back to the last line of the passage, "Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

Do I surrender all of my troubles and problems to the Lord and take refuge in him? Do I find rest in His presence? I spent time re-reading the passage, but really focusing on this one line. 

As you read the passage below, are there any words/phrases that stick out to you? As you connect to the Scripture spend time in prayer asking Jesus if he has anything specific to teach you through his word.

Psalm 2 (NIV)

1 Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

7        I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron;
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

We're only on day two friends, but I hope that the Lord is meeting you in Psalms and I can't wait to see what else the Lord reveals through his word.

With Joy,

Katie

Summer Psalm Challenge - Psalm 1

Good morning friends! We are on day one of our "Summer Psalm Challenge". What is this challenge you might ask? Wanting to stay connected to God's word daily this summer I have decided to read one Psalm per day and I am inviting you into this experience with me. We are going to spend all summer in the book of Psalms reading one Psalm per day. I will post thoughts/reflections in reading many of these Psalms and will also open up this space for guest posts as well. I will most likely not post every day and the posts may look/feel different every time. With all that being said, let's enjoy God's word together and jump into the book of Psalms!

A little bit of background as we begin Psalms:

The book of Psalms is filled with songs and prayers offered to God by the nation of Israel. Their expressions of praise, faith, sorrow, and frustration cover the range of human emotions. Some of the Psalms dwell on the treasure of wisdom and God's Word. Others reveal the troubled heart of a mourner. Still others explode with praise to God and invite others to join in song. This diversity is unified by one element: they are centered upon the one and only living God. (And I hope and pray that we will experience this living God as we dig deeper into God's word this summer!) This Creator God is King of all the earth and a refuge to all who trust in him. Many of the Psalms are attributed to King David. The writing and collection of the Psalms into their present form spans the fifteenth to the third centuries B.C.

                                                                                             - Crossway Bible's Introduction for Psalms

Read Psalm 1 noting any words/themes that stick out to you.

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1 is titled, "The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked". It's very interesting that this is the first Psalm in the book of Psalms. I was actually studying this Psalm at Greek IV's Chapter Camp last week and the person leading us through the passage pointed out the structure of this poem and I found it to be very interesting. It goes as follows:

A - Righteous man stands not with the wicked.

      B - Blessed man chooses God's law

         C - Green tree illustrates righteous man

         C - Brown chaff illustrates wicked man

A - The wicked man stands not with the righteous.

      B - God watches over the righteous

You'll notice that there are several contrasts in the Psalm. Types of people, trees & chaff, etc. What do you think the psalmist is trying to communicate?

Why do you think this is Psalm 1? What could be the significance of this being the first poem in this book? 

You can spend time reflecting over these questions, but I was thinking a few things. It is not good enough to just spend time in God's word. We must be delighting in it! Reading this Psalm was convicting to me because I most certainly do not delight in God's laws or meditate on them. I spend so much of my time looking at my phone, on social media, snapchat, instagram, etc and hardly give any of my day to reading scripture....apart from work of course. ;-) However, I was encouraged thinking about the hope of being rooted in God and filled up by his living waters. It was fitting that I am starting this daily Psalm challenge and this is an encouragement to spend more time in Scripture...I see you Jesus! After thinking about all of that I thought....How can I become like a tree planted by streams of living water? What would my life look like? You may have had some of my same thoughts or you may have noticed different things or had different convictions based on your observations. Spend time writing down your thoughts & praying to God about what the Spirit has revealed as you have studied this passage.

I then spent time praying and wrote down this prayer:

Jesus, would you allow my path to be that of your righteous child and servant. Build me up to be a tree rooted in you. Rooted in your truth. Rooted in your grace. Rooted in your love. Rooted in the power of your death and resurrection. Feed me, Jesus. Allow me & help me to delight in your word and your law to be able to grow & flourish. That as you "water" me with your word, my cup would overflow & all of my life would be an outpouring of the love that you have first shown me. As I continue to grow and become more deeply rooted in you, would you bear fruit in my life. Pluck out the bad fruit, Jesus. Protect my tree from all of the bad things that threaten to kill or tear it down and allow healthy fruit to come forth. I am only made righteous through your son, Jesus, so Lord, continue to teach me what it means to walk along the path of righteousness. Humbly correct me and draw me closer to you when righteousness does not come easy. 

Root me in you, Jesus, through faith. 

I hope this passage has allowed you to draw closer to God and I look forward to seeing how God will meet us through this Summer Psalm Challenge! :)

In Christ,

Katie