Posts Tagged: Psalms

Story / The Word — 3 Comments
6
May 11

Comparison…

“For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.  They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.”
(Psalm 73:3-5)

 

I came across Psalm 73 this morning and was reminded of the pitfall of comparison that I often fall into.  Prior to the recent battle that has entered my life I felt entitled to many things.  And I’m finding as I emerge on the other side of the dark forest that my entitlement is often bred in the deceptive trap of comparison.  In a material world of possessions and people, it is difficult to keep my eyes on the ultimate and the immaterial (2 Cor 4:18; Heb 11:1).  It creeps in so subtly as I peruse Facebook and catch a glimpse of someone else’s ‘glorious’ life. Continue reading →

Uncategorized — No Comments
29
Apr 11

Self Pity…Part II

Earlier this week I wrote a post on Self-pity and self-salvation and Psalm 25.  I concluded the post with a reference to a sermon on Psalm 25 by James McDonald.  Well, the video came available on-line this week.  If you’ve walked through a recent trial or difficult season where you’re having difficulty understanding how God is moving in your life, you must listen to this sermon.  And if you haven’t walked through a season like this, you would still do well to give a listen; you never know what God may be preparing your for.

Prayer / Story / The Word — 1 Comment
25
Apr 11

Self-Pity: A way that seems right…

I want to write on some passages that have been the power of God for me in the midst of trial in the past weeks.  As I’ve walked through this many battles with my flesh have risen.  Contrary to what I had assumed, trial actually increases my desire to give into my flesh.  In His wisdom, this is part of God’s design for suffering: like a furnace it burns and reveals impurities in  the temptations that come in its midst (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 4:12-13) and he has armed us to endure it (2 Peter 4:1-2; 1 Cor 10:13-14).

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The Word — No Comments
24
Apr 11

From Grief to Grace…

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.”
(Psalm 22:1-3 ESV)

Jesus cried out from the cross.  Flesh torn bear and sticking to the dry rough wooden cross.  Lungs barely able to gasp for air.  The wrath of God poured out upon him for the iniquities of those who would be saved.

“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?…My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

But even as Jesus cried the words of the Psalm 22 I believe there was a hope and trust in God.  Quoting the Psalm, his cry of only one line doesn’t tell the whole story of the Psalm or of Christ’s emotions.  As we read the Psalm, we watch as David lays out his pleas before God for deliverance.  Raw emotions pour forth from the hand of the song writer but it ends in a surprising place.

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