Psalm 40 - Worth the wait

When we moved from Ohio to Michigan a few years ago we went into little rental house with no idea when our house would sell in Ohio. We were very unsettled and I had to wait patiently because there was no amount of anything I could do to sell our house more quickly. All I could do was pray and wait. Wait and pray. In His timing, not mine, the house sold with not one buyer but two buyers came in on the same weekend and the one buyer raised their offer $10K to counter the other offer. God's timing and answers are much wiser than our prayers.

1. What attributes of God help us to wait patiently?

2. What slimy pit do you repeatedly try to climb out of on your own effort only to fall back in time and time again?

3. What firm place do you stand? Are both feet secure or do you try to balance between God and the world causing unstable footing?

4. How has his rescue changed you? What is your new song? Who are you singing it to so that many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord?

5. Who are the proud and false gods of your life that you are tempted to trust over the Lord?

6. Recall some of the many wonders He's done in your life. How many more does verse 5 say are coming your way?

7. What part of worship has become stale, routine or meaningless? How can the desire to do God's will remain in your heart?

8. What groups do you belong to? How do you proclaim God's faithfulness, love, truth and salvation in each group? Are you better at walking the walk or talking the talk? Is one more effective in ministry than the other? Is their a group or person you conceal your faith around?

9. How can God's love and truth really protect you from your numerous troubles? What stops you from being overwhelmed, blinded and broken hearted.

10. How do we wait patiently for the Lord yet ask for quick deliverance?

11. How do you react to others sins? Are you appalled and hope they get what they deserve? Who is going to get what you deserve?

12. Do you seek the ways God can be exalted in all situations?

13. Do you seek gossip or dirt on other's lives? Do you help spread rumors even under the guise of concern and care? Should you stop a conversation or just not participate in it if someone is talking negatively about someone? Do we gossip about celebrities as if they are exempt from the laws of God?

14. Do you want the Lord to think of you as poor and needy? Do you want others to think of you as poor and needy or as okay and independent? How do you expect the Lord to deliver you if you don't reveal that you are poor and needy?

Psalm 38 - Prickers

The intense pain of sin can only be alleviated by God. Pain is a gift. It is the indicator that something is wrong. The intensity of the pain can usually correlate to the severity of the injury. Punctures are in interesting pain because it is almost immediately relieved once that object is removed. But from the time a pricker enters your skin to the time it is removed you can think of nothing else than to relieve that pain. If we could immediately remove any sin from our lives at the first instance of pain we would save ourselves from infections, scars, and further damage. Don't hesitate to confess your sin and ask God to remove it from your life before it has a chance to hurt you more deeply. Confession brings healing and relief from the pains of sin.

Psalm 38 Questions -

1. Has guilt ever made you sick? Is there physical side effects to your guilt: upset stomach, grinding your teeth, biting nails, sleepless nights, migraines?

2. Do you carry a burden too heavy to bear? Are you overwhelmed? Is feeling overwhelmed a sin?

3. Do you have wounds from others that hurt you that you are letting fester instead of going to the Great Physician for healing and forgiveness? Are certain people staring to avoid you, is it because you always lick your wounds around them?

4. Is there something you are hiding from others? from God? When you go into the dark to hide something you are letting the light go from eyes.

5. Does it feel like someone is out to get you or your reputation? Is there someone your gossip is hurting?

6. Do you plot to deceive? Do you spend time and money on ways to look younger, smarter, thinner, happier, richer, more successful than you really are?

7. Are you not hearing what God or others might me warning you about? Slow down, stop this, start that, stay away from…

8. Do you realize that your sins have given you no room to talk about others or do you think your sins are less than the next persons and therefore you have a right to judge?

9. Are you on the verge of failure? Is the pain constant? What solution does this psalm suggest to save and heal yourself?

10. What in your life need confession right now? How many times a day do you sin? How many times to you confess and ask for forgiveness?

11. Who are your enemies? Ho do you handle those who hate you for no reason?

12. Do you think it is a good practice to be troubled by your sins?

13. Could you commit verses 21-22 to memory for a prayer to ask for forgiveness and help daily?

Psalm 36 - Real Thing

It is the difference between real and substitute. I remember the first time I had real whipped cream. I had loved coolwhip until I had homemade whipped cream. The difference was night and day but one I hadn't ever known existed until someone introduced me to it. Same story came along with maple syrup. We had been inspired to make our own from our maples in the woods. Mrs. Butterworth can pack her bags from home. I can't go back. I don't mean to be a snob but there are certain things in life that real is better than the substitute. The principle points to our lives with or without God. He is the real thing but the world is full of watered down substitutes. Most people don't think they are wicked but until they are contrasted with God's pure goodness than they never know. And how will they even know that the option is available? It is how other Christians introduce them to the real thing. We need to live our lives from the supply of the real things so that others may see and know and learn to trust the Lord. Verses 1-4 give us indicators for how a wicked person operates. Verses 5-10 answer back to describe how God operates in His encompassing goodness. His goodness is indescribable, unfathomable, and available for everyone. Won't you examine your life to make sure you are choosing the real thing?

Psalm 36 Questions -

1. Do you really fear God or has God's qualities of love and mercy overshadowed his equal qualities of justice and wrath?

2. When is the last time you've asked God to reveal a sin in your life? Do you think so highly of yourself that you'd never do _____ or be like that. Have you ever said, "I just don't understand how someone could ______". Do we flatter ourself to think we could be above a sin without God's grace to protect us from that?

3. Are you doing good for others or for your own benefits? Have you had more instances of "why did I do that?" than "I am glad I did that"? Are you seeking His wisdom on what you should be doing with your time and resources? Do you lie awake at night figuring out your agenda for the next day or dedicating your day to His service?

4. Do you reject what is wrong? Or do you tolerate it, ignore it, or even accept it in indirect ways? How do you decipher what is right and wrong? God's law or our cultures definition?

5. Is there something about you that others reject or is unlovable? How far does God's love reach out to you?

6. Has everyone let you down? How high up does God's faithfulness go?

7. Have you tried everything in your own might to make a wrong right? What does God's righteousness liken to? What are its qualities?

8. Have you been treated unfairly? To what depth does God's justice go?

9. Who can find refuge in God, feast in His abundance and drink from His river of delights? What are these abundances and delights? What hope does this bring you?

10. What is still in the dark and seemingly unattainable? Can His light illuminate a darkness inside you?

11. If you were to drink from the fountain of life, what benefits would you get?

12. How do you pray for others? Is it proactive or reactive to circumstances?

13. What makes you confident in evils inability to come against you?

PSALM 37: Feeling Right

Is anyone reading our commentaries on the PSALMS? Just curious :)

Okay...Psalm 37 vividly contrasts the wicked from the righteous. What is righteousness? What is being righteous? Pastor Coffey explained righteousness as "feeling right in God's sight"... Instead of wanting others to make me feel right. If my husband doesn't make me feel "right"....I might have a fit. If my friends make me feel any other way then "right" I might not want to be friends with them anymore. How twisted is that!? But then again, who doesn't want to be right? When I write about this I realize how backwards it is. And how I need scripture to remind me of my sin.

Psalm 37 is begging us over and over again to remain as the righteous. David is reminding us that the wicked will be cut off, laughed at, will perish, vanish like smoke, wither away, will pierce their own hearts, pass away and be no more! That sounds like a list I want to stay away from. But when we allow everyone else to tell us we are "right" instead of God--aren't we acting like the wicked? Isn't it tempting at times to look around at others that may be flourishing and be a tad bit jealous? David says "I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in native soil, but he soon passed away and was no more. Though I looked for him, he could not be found." Vs. 35-36.

God's word reminds us everyday what is TRUE, EVERLASTING and REAL. Don't be tempted today to look elsewhere and for someone else to fill up your "righteousness tank" to satisfy your thirsty soul. Drink from the source that gives us our true righteousness!

Psalm 35: HUNTED

My bible tells me that Psalm 35 is a prayer to God for help against those who try to inflict injury for no reason. That David was writing this psalm and crying out to God when he was being HUNTED by Saul. I'm not sure we can all relate with the feeling of being hunted but I know we can understand David's feeling of "unanswered prayers" vs. 13. The bible tells us that David was full of sadness when his prayers seemed "unanswered." It's easy to assume (and if you don't remember what assume means--ASS of U and ME...ha ha) that God hasn't answered our prayers when our deliverance isn't immediately knocking at the door. In our culture of immediate gratification we want our prayers answered over night too. But maybe God is refining you or teaching you to rely more on Him...or bringing believers to surround you with their presence and prayers?. A few of my most beautiful times with the Lord were during years of what I called "unanswered" prayers. I didn't understand and I was in pain. But I used the time to deepen my understanding of Christ, lean on Him and lean on my sisters of faith.

Don't let the absence of an immediate answer cause you to doubt and resent God. Instead, let it be an occasion to deepen your faith, cry out to God and pray with other believers! So if we don't feel hunted by someone--why don't we do the hunting for God today!?

Psalm 33: What I do IS Important

What I do is important. I will say it to you--What you do is important. As little or insignificant as it may seem--wiping a bottom, cradling a crying child, teaching your little one by letting them be a part of your life--is all so important. Are you too busy to miss the moments in the day...am I?

As we are all aware of, America was founded and blessed because our forefathers took a stand to serve God. But it doesn't necessarily mean that "what was" is "what will be". It's up to you and me to make a difference in our homes, with our children, with our spouse, in our neighborhood...to go the extra mile for those that won't give us a lot of credit (humm, hummm--our children or spouse!) But isn't that what Christ would tell us to do? Psalm 33 tells us that "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord". So as we all celebrate our nations holiday--July 4--this weekend let's remember to give God thanks for allowing us to live in such a beautiful, free country. Let's continue to to put our trust in Him alone--and take a step to go the extra mile for those people of God that are in our lives today. After all, what you do is important!

Psalm 34 - Only one thing to Fear

What do you fear? Fear is probably the most motivating emotion we have. It factors into most of our decisions even who we surround ourselves with. Your closest friends probably fear the same things you do or their strength alleviates a fear of yours and that is why you align yourself with them. But is fear a sin? Is it a result of the fall? We are repetitively told to fear the Lord and nothing else. Psalm 34 says fearing the Lord is the key to lacking nothing and having many good days. Proverbs 1:7 says fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. I don't even need a show of hands who wants these things. I am sure with more study we could find even more locks that the key of fearing the Lord would open. So if we fear the Lord, we have nothing to fear. Yet we spend our whole lives avoiding our fears and trying different ways to obtain things and knowledge just to have a few good days. For me, I need to make the shift from knowing God can to trusting that he will. Jared and I use to go rock climbing and there were many times I could climb to the top without falling. But you better believe there was never a time I didn't ascend without harness, ropes and a trusted belayer. I could climb without fear because I was equipped and someone trusted and strong was ready to catch me when I fell. I had to move from knowing Jared could save me if I fell to trusting he really would and it was proved when I over came my fear and went up the wall. Some of us just don't go very far up the wall, we think God might let us fall, it would be safer just to stay low, just in case. But shat walls would you scale if you really knew God, that you knew you safe and secure, that there was nothing to fear from the one who made the wall, equipped you, created your body to climb it, gave you the intellect to see routes, and even designed the gravity you are so afraid will pull you down? Verses 11-14 give us some practical exercises to learn to fear the Lord. These are actions that require obedience and steps of faith. What lies and evil will you keep off your lips? How will you turn from evil things? Where will you do good? When will you seek peace? How will you pursue peace? Which steps are you taking to learn to fear the Lord today?

Psalm 34 Questions -

1. Do you extol the Lord at all times? When you aren't praising the Lord, what other things are on you lips in a day?

2. Do you share the gospel of Jesus in your life so the afflicted with hear and rejoice? Do you find others to glorify and exalt the Lord with or do you live your faith privately?

3. How many times does this pattern emerge in this psalm: Cry to God--> God hears-->God delivers? How many times to you need to repeat this pattern in your life today? God is gracious to repeat himself because we are so prone to repeat our mistakes.

4. What are you doing to teach your children to fear the Lord? How is fear different from respect? Is fear of the Lord different than being afraid of Him?

5. What do you think about guardian angels? What does this psalm say about the angel of the Lord? How would your day look if you could visibly see that angel? Ask God to give you eyes of faith.

6. How can you seek and pursue more peace? This implies it is hard to find and need an active maintenance program. What areas have little peace in your life? What are you going to do about it?

7. Who is brokenhearted or emotionally or spiritually crushed in your world today? How will you encourage them and be close?

8. How many troubles will the righteous man have in verse 19? How many of them will the Lord deliver him from?

9. Who does verse 20 remind you of? Read John 19:32-37.

10. Verses 21-22. Who will be condemned? Who will not be condemned?