God is with Us

1O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
5You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
7Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
8If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”
12even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
(Psalm 139:1-12, NRSV)

When someone really knows us they get us. They know what is happening even if we don’t tell them. They know our emotions and what we are dealing with even when we don’t talk about it.

They can sense when things are going wrong and will be there to help.

Now imagine someone who knows you better than you know yourself. God knows everything about you and even why you do the things you don’t know you do.

God has searched you and knows you and loves you despite all of that and will always be your greatest cheerleader and always there for you.

Steadfast Love Endures Forever

1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
3Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
(Psalm 100, NRSV)

Be joyful in the Lord’s presence. For He is faithful and just and His steadfast love endures forever.

God is faithful to all generations.

Hold tight to that promise.

Our God of Mercy

11Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
12For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
13Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.
14Let all be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt.
15Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
(Psalm 40:11-17, NRSV)

Be pleased o Lord make haste to deliver me and help me.

No matter what the circumstances are we are facing when we cry out to God, He will be there to help us and pull us up.

If we trust in God we will always have shelter from whatever storm we face.

Ten Lepers are Healed

11On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean.15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19, NRSV)

The one who turned back was a Samatitan. What were the other 9? We are not told but from the reference that the one was a Samaritan we are led to the understanding that the others were Jewish and therefore should have noticed the transformation and realized the one that did this could have been the Messiah.

But maybe they did notice and actually went to the priest to be restored to community. While the Samaritan didn’t but knew the higher calling.

What do we have to be thankful for in our lives that we don’t give thanks for?

What have you noticed after the fact and returned to give thanks for?

How can we be like the Samaritan and give thanks?

Thanksgiving for Help

1I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
3He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.
4Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.
5You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.
6Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
7Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
9I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.
10I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
11Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
12For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
13Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.
14Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt.
15Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
(Psalm 40, NRSV)

As for me I am poor and needy!

And as I wait for the Lord my cries are heard and the Lord delivers me.

Happy is the one who trusts in the promises of the Lord for the Lord is good and His love will endure through anything we face.

The Lord will not let us down. The Lord hears our cries and sees our anguish and comes to our aid.

Trust in the Lord and live in His life!

The LORD is Righteous

1I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
2Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
4Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
6The Lord protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
7Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
(Psalm 116:1-7, NRSV)

Do you love the Lord?

If you do, why do you love the Lord?

This psalmist says they love the Lord because the Lord heard them cry when they were close to death and were encamped all around by enemies and the Lord heard them and saved them.

That is actually where all of us were. Death was knocking and we were sinking down in our sin and God reached in and pulled us out. Not because we were or are worthy but because God made us. The Lord loves us and will not let us fall.

Trust in the promise and love the Lord!

God is our Refuge and Strength

1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
6The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
10“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”
11The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
(Psalm 46, NRSV)

God is always with us.

God makes wars cease and brings peace to our lives.

No matter what may come we can rest easy in God and not fear what is or will happen.

Just Be Still and know that God is God and that is enough for us to rest peacefully!

The LORD is my Shepherd

1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
(Psalm 23, NRSV)

I have the book pictured in my office. It is 144 pages on the 6 verses above. That is 24 pages a verse!

It is hard to imagine that one could expand that much on these verses that seem to be straight forward. But Mr. Keller opens up the meaning behind the oil and rod and staff in a way that makes the psalm come alive and means much more than it does on the surface.

The is the wonder of the psalms and all of the Bible. It has many meanings and impacts our lives in many different ways.

I recommend reading psalms daily and reading Mr. Keller’s book to see just how much God as our shepherd loves us.

The Lord is my Rock and Fortress

1In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.
2Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.
3You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
4take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
5Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
(Psalm 31:1-5, NRSV)

When I get trapped o God help me out. For you alone are my sure foundation and protection.

I will always seek you to be my refuge, my shelter from the storms of my life.

God you alone are my protector and my shade. You alone hear me when I cry and come to my aid.

Live in the refuge of our God and trust in God’s promise to be there.

The LORD is my Strength

6Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
7The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
8The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever.
(Psalm 28:6-9, NRSV)

God had heard me every time I cried out. God is my strength and my shield and a refuge from the storms of my life.

God always hears me and watches over me.

God will never let me down.