This week we will be completing Study 2 Meditation 2. Just to let you know, our friend Kimberly will no longer be participating in this group. She is extremely busy with her ministry obligations and has opted out for now.
This is actually still on the week 3 assignment . I took "delighting in the law" here to be delighting in Christ because he came as the fulfillment of the first covenant and he is our delight. See him as the Word at the beautiful beginning of John 1:1-5. I like that thought about meditation being an ongoing thing (day+night )...an avenue of joy and delight in the Lord , and have found that to be true in my life . I believe that the way that works is that it grows a conscious awareness of him within us . We know his Spirit indwells us but do we really meditate on that beautiful gift and realize the power within it ? It is my daily prayer for the women in my church body ,that they would become more aware of the closeness and power of his presence .This Psalm at this time is great as it shows us what the outcome is if we do meditate on him /the Word) and if we do not .Who does not want to be like a tree planted by streams of water ? We are planted in Christ's living water. Also, recently in our John study (7:37)Jesus says ,"If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink ......whoever believes in me ....Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Oh , see the outcome of being anchoured in him .He will bless us and sustain us and shine his light upon us and through us onto others! Wow!I think of P.Tripp here as well and the study on marriage that we have just begun. He stresses that what comes out of our mouths came from what was already in our hearts . TK suggests this Psalm shows that our blessedness or lack thereof is dependent on what we are meditating on in our hearts .Interesting ! He speaks of the "tasting " of scripture , which I think of as the "tasting" of the Lord . We have tasted and he is good !!!
Hey Joyce--you said it lady!! How many of us are aware, really aware of the closeness and power of His presence? I find that there are more intense times of awarenes that's for sure, but just daily and nightly I feel His presence more and more as I get older. When I was young (teen) I only felt that closeness when there was a personal problem and I was seeking solutions. Now I know that I have to seek solutions, through Him, but our story together is so much more than that. He is my all in all and I am willing to sacrifice all that I love here on earth to keep and maintain that!!
Wow ! By the time I came to the end of studying this psalm I was in such a different place than when I began....just like the psalm itself! Either with the Lord or without,the picture is clear here isn't it ? Thinking about the blessing mentioned in verse 12, I had the thought of resting in the shadow of His wings so checked out "wing" references and found Ps.17:8 and Luke 13:34. Check them out and see if they speak to you like they do to me . The two contrasting sides are there , big time ! See the picture of Christ here .I want to be gathered as a hen gathers her brood ! I love the way the Luke passage ends. Although it says your house is forsaken ,and you will not see him .....there comes the little word "until" and what follows is the wonderful hope that we have in the Lord,and the following blessing !! What a great way to start the day and ponder on during it ! Have a great weekend.
Yes, I experienced this Psalm much in the same way. Upon first and even second reading I though I had it all figured out. Even after I answered the questions I felt satisfied in what my responses were. However as the Psalm began to purculate in me throughout the week, the Lord revealled more and more to me. Praise Him!!
This was quite the week for this study in my life. God is working in me, praise Him ! Since returning from Dhaka I have often struggled with a level of frustration & anger that I have never experienced in my life before; I was having difficulty getting past a lot of what I had seen/experienced in what is, for the most part, a nation apart from God. The wonderful thing is that through this study He is teaching me to leave it all with Him, He knows about every little thing, seen and unseen. My heart is glad when I realize He laughs about the plans dark-hearted people make. Their brand of evil will not stand. Many times I have thought back this week to a sermon preached by Kirk Wellum a number of years ago; I think the title was "Every Knee and Every Tongue." Isaiah 45:23 tells us "By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear." (NIV) It has been an adjustment to come back to this culture. While I can't honestly say that is any less evil than others, the in-your-face cruelty and inhumanity are not the same. As in my mere humanity I try to make sense of things, He teaches me that I don't have to carry them, I don't have to understand them. Just serve Him. If He is for me, who can stand against me ? Glory to God
Hey Angela: The evil of North America is not so overt as in other places in the world. Certainly the lack of "god" in our culture is so disheartingly sad. We have so much affluence that we now think we are invincible and do not need Him. Unfortunately God has pointed out for many in His Word that he will not tolerate any of us putting idols ahead of Him. You had said before that the people of Dhaka only lived for the day, but in essence are we any different? Folks want, and want it now without considering the consequences and are willing to sacrifice morality for it. We need to pray for our country and neighbours just as much as those overseas. We have truly become a "Godless" nation!!!
why do the nations rage? reminds me of our study this week by Paul David Tripp on marriage and conflict. He was using the James passage, why do we quarrel. Ultimately because we do not get what we want. Our idols get in the way and control our life and we argue and have strife because of them. It is also interesting that we are reading this psalm as all the unrest unfolds in Egypt. Thankfully our hope is in the Lord and knowing and understanding that He is sovereign and has a plan.Verses 4-6 remind us that God is in control, He will rule the nations and establish His kingdom. This psalm is sobering, a powerful reminder of God and his power. I love the last verse, "blessed are all who take refuge in him"
Hi gals ...please pretend that this message is with the ones from this week instead of week 4 where it actually is . As you see, I got to the bottom of it before I realized Laurie's comments were on week 4. What can I say other than I was so happy to successfully send a message I got carried away here and it is now 1 a.m. Yikes!!
Hey Laurie that is a neat insight re studying this psalm with history being written in Egypt and with the P Tripp study being front and center also . Is it not neat to see how God connects things ? You have a big vision !I had not thought of those two things ..I was on another wave length altogether but that message would not go ...it just disappeared as did the next two. I was thinking more on how the Word blossoms when we look closer, reflect, meditate and respond to it. You have reminded me to look abroad as well and I thank you for that . This passage also took me to Hebrews 4:12 and the description of the Word and it being living , active etc. This week's study tells me I should look at the Word in a more active , participating way in my day to day life , with a final assured end (eternity) but also bearing fruit today and every day until the Lord takes me home . I love the verse about storing up the Word in our hearts but it also reminds me of the presence of our Lord there and the first five verses of John 1. Oops! I am talking about psalm 119 which is why I could not find that last verse you mentioned. Forgive me as I have had a spacey night .
8 comments:
This is actually still on the week 3 assignment . I took "delighting in the law" here to be delighting in Christ because he came as the fulfillment of the first covenant and he is our delight. See him as the Word at the beautiful beginning of John 1:1-5. I like that thought about meditation being an ongoing thing (day+night )...an avenue of joy and delight in the Lord , and have found that to be true in my life . I believe that the way that works is that it grows a conscious awareness of him within us . We know his Spirit indwells us but do we really meditate on that beautiful gift and realize the power within it ? It is my daily prayer for the women in my church body ,that they would become more aware of the closeness and power of his presence .This Psalm at this time is great as it shows us what the outcome is if we do meditate on him /the Word) and if we do not .Who does not want to be like a tree planted by streams of water ? We are planted in Christ's living water. Also, recently in our John study (7:37)Jesus says ,"If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink ......whoever believes in me ....Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Oh , see the outcome of being anchoured in him .He will bless us and sustain us and shine his light upon us and through us onto others! Wow!I think of P.Tripp here as well and the study on marriage that we have just begun. He stresses that what comes out of our mouths came from what was already in our hearts . TK suggests this Psalm shows that our blessedness or lack thereof is dependent on what we are meditating on in our hearts .Interesting ! He speaks of the "tasting " of scripture , which I think of as the "tasting" of the Lord . We have tasted and he is good !!!
Hey Joyce--you said it lady!! How many of us are aware, really aware of the closeness and power of His presence? I find that there are more intense times of awarenes that's for sure, but just daily and nightly I feel His presence more and more as I get older. When I was young (teen) I only felt that closeness when there was a personal problem and I was seeking solutions. Now I know that I have to seek solutions, through Him, but our story together is so much more than that. He is my all in all and I am willing to sacrifice all that I love here on earth to keep and maintain that!!
Wow ! By the time I came to the end of studying this psalm I was in such a different place than when I began....just like the psalm itself! Either with the Lord or without,the picture is clear here isn't it ? Thinking about the blessing mentioned in verse 12, I had the thought of resting in the shadow of His wings so checked out "wing" references and found Ps.17:8 and Luke 13:34. Check them out and see if they speak to you like they do to me . The two contrasting sides are there , big time ! See the picture of Christ here .I want to be gathered as a hen gathers her brood ! I love the way the Luke passage ends. Although it says your house is forsaken ,and you will not see him .....there comes the little word "until" and what follows is the wonderful hope that we have in the Lord,and the following blessing !!
What a great way to start the day and ponder on during it ! Have a great weekend.
Yes, I experienced this Psalm much in the same way. Upon first and even second reading I though I had it all figured out. Even after I answered the questions I felt satisfied in what my responses were. However as the Psalm began to purculate in me throughout the week, the Lord revealled more and more to me. Praise Him!!
This was quite the week for this study in my life. God is working in me, praise Him !
Since returning from Dhaka I have often struggled with a level of frustration & anger that I have never experienced in my life before; I was having difficulty getting past a lot of what I had seen/experienced in what is, for the most part, a nation apart from God. The wonderful thing is that through this study He is teaching me to leave it all with Him, He knows about every little thing, seen and unseen.
My heart is glad when I realize He laughs about the plans dark-hearted people make. Their brand of evil will not stand. Many times I have thought back this week to a sermon preached by Kirk Wellum a number of years ago; I think the title was "Every Knee and Every Tongue." Isaiah 45:23 tells us "By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear." (NIV)
It has been an adjustment to come back to this culture. While I can't honestly say that is any less evil than others, the in-your-face cruelty and inhumanity are not the same. As in my mere humanity I try to make sense of things, He teaches me that I don't have to carry them, I don't have to understand them. Just serve Him. If He is for me, who can stand against me ?
Glory to God
Hey Angela:
The evil of North America is not so overt as in other places in the world. Certainly the lack of "god" in our culture is so disheartingly sad. We have so much affluence that we now think we are invincible and do not need Him. Unfortunately God has pointed out for many in His Word that he will not tolerate any of us putting idols ahead of Him. You had said before that the people of Dhaka only lived for the day, but in essence are we any different? Folks want, and want it now without considering the consequences and are willing to sacrifice morality for it. We need to pray for our country and neighbours just as much as those overseas. We have truly become a "Godless" nation!!!
why do the nations rage? reminds me of our study this week by Paul David Tripp on marriage and conflict. He was using the James passage, why do we quarrel. Ultimately because we do not get what we want. Our idols get in the way and control our life and we argue and have strife because of them. It is also interesting that we are reading this psalm as all the unrest unfolds in Egypt. Thankfully our hope is in the Lord and knowing and understanding that He is sovereign and has a plan.Verses 4-6 remind us that God is in control, He will rule the nations and establish His kingdom.
This psalm is sobering, a powerful reminder of God and his power. I love the last verse, "blessed are all who take refuge in him"
Hi gals ...please pretend that this message is with the ones from this week instead of week 4 where it actually is . As you see, I got to the bottom of it before I realized Laurie's comments were on week 4. What can I say other than I was so happy to successfully send a message I got carried away here and it is now 1 a.m. Yikes!!
Hey Laurie that is a neat insight re studying this psalm with history being written in Egypt and with the P Tripp study being front and center also . Is it not neat to see how God connects things ? You have a big vision !I had not thought of those two things ..I was on another wave length altogether but that message would not go ...it just disappeared
as did the next two.
I was thinking more on how the Word blossoms when we look closer, reflect, meditate and respond to it. You have reminded me to look abroad as well and I thank you for that .
This passage also took me to Hebrews 4:12 and the description of the Word and it being living , active etc. This week's study tells me I should look at the Word in a more active , participating way in my day to day life , with a final assured end (eternity) but also bearing fruit today and every day until the Lord takes me home .
I love the verse about storing up the Word in our hearts but it also reminds me of the presence of our Lord there and the first five verses of John 1.
Oops! I am talking about psalm 119 which is why I could not find that last verse you mentioned. Forgive me as I have had a spacey night .
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