Psalm 1: Meditating on God's Word

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 


 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 


 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in othe congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

 This psalm begins by passing blessings on those who 'meditate on the law of the Lord day and night.' After a long conversation with Robert tonight, this part of the psalm all but leapt off the page to me.

 

Is it just me, or is it extremely difficult to keep God the center of your life sometimes? Its something I've been struggling with lately---especially the idea of meditating on Gods word day and night. My interpretation of this passage is that the author does not mean to imply that every thought and every second of your entire life must be spent contemplating God, however I think that there must be a certain consistency and devotion towards taking the time to build your relationship with your Creator. If I spent half as much time working on my relationship with God as I did working on my earthly friendships and relationships, I have no doubt I would be less anxious and have a more clear vision of what God wants for my life.


No doubt I would be more fruitful in my own life as well.  ("he is like a tree planted by streams of water the yields its fruit....in all he does, he prospers).  I tend to think of someone who is always trying to be good, and do what is right.  It is exhausting sometimes, and often I find it difficult to JUST BE.  I find myself wanting to prosper and the harder I try, the less fruitful I think I am.  Because trying to do all things without God's help and control on my life is, essentially, a wicked behavior.


That being said, I am interested to hear what my readers view as 'being wicked'.  God makes it clear that the wicked will be judged but the righteous will prosper, but just what is it that qualifies as 'wicked behavior?'


Thanks for reading---I am exhausted and ready for some sleep now.

-RCC

Psalm 3: Save Me

Save Me, O My God A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I relate to this psalm of David more than I do to many others. To put an interesting twist on how this might be interpreted I offer the following: For me, the foes that David describes are often not physical people in my life but instead they are my own personal demons that I struggle with every day. So often I find myself thinking about how very undeserving I am of God's grace and love. While I know that Satan is the instigator of negativity, being a fragile human woman I tend to crumble immediately when I hear them replayed in my mind. "I'm not good enough." "Nobody will ever truly love me the way I desire to be loved." "Who would want to be with someone as awful as I am?" "What do I have to offer anyone?" These poisonous internal jabs cross my mind almost daily and can cripple me from being able to reach to God for help. Sometimes, I struggle with these for days before realizing exactly what has been tormenting me and making me sad. After struggling to handle these feelings on my own that I eventually realize how good God really is. He is my shield; a strong shield, yet one that does not deflect everything (or life would be perfect--without struggle or consequences of sin). I've woken up every morning; even if I feel bad, and God has taken care of me, my family and my friends. The struggle for me is learning that I do not need to fear these 'thousands of people' (struggles) that surround me at all times. I don't need to wake in the morning afraid that I won't be loved. I don't need to curl up and cry because I am afraid I have nothing to offer those around me. This is a great psalm that has spoken to me more lately. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have! Any thoughts? Love, Rachel Catheryn

Lets start at the very beginning...a very good place to start.

Hi readers, This is a blog created to primarily offer me an outlet to reflect on my readings of the Psalms and to serve as a way to hold myself accountable to read scripture every day. That has been the most difficult part about growing in my faith; as I don't really know a good method for reading the Bible and learning what it has to offer for my life. There is a good chance that I will stray off topic and spend time writing about faith issues that I find relevant in my daily life too! :) A wonderful woman, Renee, suggested reading the Psalms and reflecting on my favorite parts or the lines that jumped out to me, so that will be the overarching focus of this blog. I will try to be diligent about posting every few days and welcome your comments! :) Love, Rachel