One of the things I am finding (as I try to work these Psalms into pictures) is that there is just such abundance within each Psalm.
In this case, I had a vision in my head of these little guys, and so I searched for a Psalm to fit them. And -- of course -- there it was! "You care for people and animals alike, O Lord." Other times, I work from the Psalm. I find one I like, and then I think about how to portray these age old songs. In those moments, I feel the abundance within each Psalm even more acutely. There is so much to work with. There are Psalms for weeping and Psalms for rejoicing. Psalms for animals, Psalms for nature, Psalms for rulers, Psalms for the poor. When I pulled out this little piece that I made a while ago, it reminded me of this abundance. There is a place for each of us in these words, a prayer for each heart -- even the hearts of adorable bunnies and kitties. May you find abundance in the Word that fills the needs of your heart this day and always. Psalm 36 (NIV) I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong. Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. See how the evildoers lie fallen-- thrown down, not able to rise!
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Oh that I would trust in God and not my wealth and not my wisdom and not my power and not my country and not my friends and not my strength and not my money! This is my prayer for today -- a little girl clinging to an olive tree, hoping to flourish in the house of God. Psalm 52 (NIV)
Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? You who practice deceit, your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.[c] You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying, “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good. Can we flee from the Spirit? Can we be separated from His presence? Or will he come and send us His light, pulling us always towards Him?
(This is part of my series on the Psalms.) Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from your Spirit?Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Reading is the only way I really learn something. I can watch it. I can even experience it. But usually it takes seeing the words on the page for me to truly know.
And I want to know about God's love. But God's love can't be described on the pages of a book. The Bible tells the story, and the words on the page help, yet knowing this love doesn't come easily for me. Of course, I have my moments, times when I grasp a small sliver of his huge gift. And when those moments come, the love rushes over me in indescribable waves of joy. I can feel the warmth of His hand, wrapped fully in his embrace. It is then that I know. And recently, the words from J. Ellsworth Kalas (Grace in a Tree Stump) brought me to this knowing. Grace in a Tree Stump is a fantastic book. As I was reading through the Old Testament, I was feeling so lost in the wrath of God that I searched for a book that might give insight into some of these stories of war and anger. And Kalas has answers - profound and amazing examples of God working in even some of the most hideous stories. And speaking of hideous stories... Kalas tells of Hosea and his wife Gomer. Hosea was a prophet, and God called him to marry a wife that wouldn't be faithful to him. Hosea lives through her betrayal and desertion until God tells Hosea to get her back and love her well. It was through this metaphor that God wanted to show Israel his love manifesto: no matter how much you sin, God was still going to come after you, begging for your love. I've read this story plenty of times, and the loss and sadness inherent in Hosea's suffering never translated for me into a real understanding of God's love until I read these words of Kalas, "This is a God who follows errant humanity down the unfaithfulness of our backslidings, through the alleys and back streets and escape patterns of life, even to the slave markets into which we humans sell ourselves. And let it be said, lest we see ourselves with jaundiced eyes, that a slave is a slave, whether in the addicts' recovery ward or in the distracting loveliness of the concert hall. Only the setting is changed, to deflect our egos. Wherever and whatever, God will pursue us and seek to bring us back. This is love quite beyond logic, beyond good senes or even good taste. But after all, whoever expected love to be marked by good taste? Call it grace. And in the Old Testament, call it Hosea." Kalas adds that this desperate, real love explains even some of the most difficult passages of the Old Testament: "It's an unlikely picture of God, is it not? To be God is to be in control, not to be susceptible to the whims of others. God, one thinks, should give commands, not solicit favor or affection. A solicitous God is almost a blasphemy... Yet this is the picture of God that emerges all through the Bible. This may help us understand some of the dramatic language of the Old Testament, where we're told that God is a "jealous God," and where some of the divine activity seems quite petty. The Old Testament writers are never cautious about showing God in such light; it is as if they took for granted (and expected us to do the same) that when one loves intensely, one sometimes does foolish things, the sort of things that can't be explained..." Is this true? Is this the reason for the anger and frustration? Is this why the Jews had to go to Babylon? And spend 40 years in the desert? And be torn into two kingdoms? And so on and so on? Most of my life, I looked at those stories as punishment for sin. God as a punishing God. And this is part of it. God wants obedience (but that's for another post...). But what if Kalas is right and God is also just really, deeply in love? And so here we are... part of a huge love story. God loves us madly, so madly that he, like Hosea, would buy us from slavery after we had prostituted ourselves to the gods of money and ambition and power and beautiful houses and Facebook. I still can't understand that magnitude of love. But I feel the beautiful wave sweeping over me, and I am in awe. Rest. Oh rest!
Cozy cuddles. Hot tea. The sweet scent of flowers. Tiny hugs. Vacation. All beautiful, restful moments. Yet the rest we crave -- the deep soul-giving rest that brings life and vigor -- is so rare. Cozy cuddles and tiny hugs last only briefly. The scent of sweet flowers is fleeting. Hot tea is gone too quickly. And we all know that we often need a vacation after our vacation. As I was reading through the Old Testament this year, I began to be convicted of my lack of rest, particularly my lack of Sabbath rest. Over and over God chastises His people for not obeying the Sabbath. His anger is repeated again and again through many pages and prophets, and this particular sin seems to be mentioned more than most others (although I didn't actually count). After a while, I finally seemed to get it. The Sabbath rest was the only commandment (of those 10 biggies) that I neglected to follow. This year I changed my mind. (Please understand, I am not trying to convince anyone of the importance of the Sabbath. God speaks to us each individually, and there are plenty of people out there arguing both sides of this debate. I just want to tell a little piece of my story, in case someone else is standing where I stood in the early spring.) But the concept of the Sabbath was relatively new to me. I had heard the sermons. I had read stories. I knew people who followed the commandment to rest. Yet, I couldn't quite wrap my head around it. What would it mean for me? What would I do to rest (yes, I actually asked myself that question)? What does rest mean for me? Is there something else I should do, except for rest? Whenever I have questions, I start reading. So I read through some websites and ordered several books. And lots of pages later, I am glimpsing the Sabbath beauty, and I am so very ready to see more of what God has in store for us on this special day. So far, two things have cemented my understanding and celebration of the Sabbath more than anything else. The first is this -- the Jews were the first people who had some sort of day of rest. All other tribes and people could work their slaves to death. They had no external sense of rest for the "other" (slaves, foreigners, servants). When God (through Moses) introduced this day of rest, it was a novel concept. There were no weekends, no 40-hour workweeks, no regulated kindnesses shown to slaves or servants. And then God said, "I give you a gift. You may rest." It is a kind, good, loving God we serve. It is a God who knows what we need before we can even ask. It is a God who sets up a system in which we will have time to commune with Him. And the idea of communing with Him is the second is thing that has helped me come to grips with what the Sabbath should be. Although the Sabbath is a gift, it's not purely about us. I shouldn't have to say that, but it actually is a huge point. I never learned to take the Sabbath seriously before this spring because I knew that I could push through and rest a little here and a little there. In this day and age, we can get by without a Sabbath, even though the idea of a full day of rest sounds really nice. But, in truth, I would never do it for myself. When I started reading an older book written about the Sabbath (as much of the new stuff does seem to be more "me" focused), I realized that the Bible says to keep the Sabbath day "holy", which means it is dedicated or consecrated to God. The Sabbath is a day not only for rest, but for remembering God, for serving and worshiping the Creator, for singing songs of joy, for putting aside all thoughts of money and the world, which hold our minds in a staggering prison, while clamoring for more of God. And in that, we find the type of rest that no vacation day could ever provide. But let me repeat---it isn't about us. It is holy. It is God's day. So even though I couldn't choose to rest for myself, I decided I had to do it out of obedience to God. And so the Sabbath for me has been a learning experience. Learning how to shut off the world. Learning how to be still. Learning to be obedient. Learning to rest. And learning to be filled by a God who loves us so much that He told us to rest. My daughter always wants to use the sketches I do before felting as coloring pages. So I have decided to post some of these in case others want to use them in the same way. Enjoy!
There are storms in life. We had a big one this week. And we cried out to the Lord, and He brought us out of our distress. I am so thankful for a God who listens. A God who cares.
Psalm 107: 28-32 NIV Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders. This widely recognized Psalm is always a favorite. And I just couldn't resist the thought of making tiny sheep. May your soul feel restored this day and always.
Psalm 23 (KJV) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. This Psalm has so much in it that I would like to discuss… A God who is slow to anger! Turning my soul to the Lord! God bringing joy to his servants! A God abounding in love! An undivided heart! Yet for this Psalm I chose to focus on all the nations worshiping the Lord. These little girls are friends. They love each other. They want to help each other. They see each other as sisters with one Father who loves them with abundant love and mercy. And so they join their hearts together in worship. One thing I've been learning lately in my study and prayer time is that it is impossible to have a true relationship with God without first getting rid of all of the anger and hatred and fear that lives within us. Our world wants to make us angry. Our world wants to make us afraid. Our world wants to make us hate each other. These girls have stopped listening to those messages of the world. They have attached themselves to a higher love. My prayer is to do the same. Psalm 86
Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life-- men without regard for you. But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me. This Psalm means more to me every time I read it.
Psalm 18: 1-2 (NIV) I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. |
AuthorA dollmaker in a little town with lots of flowers and birds. Archives
August 2019
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