Psalm 67 (KJV): Let the people praise thee

From Psalms

Psalm 67
(For the director of music.  With stringed instruments.  A psalm.  A song.)

¹God be merciful unto us, and bless us;
      and cause his face to shine upon us;                Selah.
²That thy way may be known upon earth,
      thy saving health among all nations.

³Let the people praise thee, O God;
      let all the people praise thee.
⁴O let the nations be glad and sing for joy:
      for thou shalt judge the people righteously,
      and govern the nations upon earth.                 Selah.

⁵Let the people praise thee, O God;
      let all the people praise thee.

⁶Then shall the earth yield her increase;
      and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
⁷God shall bless us;
      and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

I nice simple psalm - at an appropriate time of year, when we should be praising all of the blessings and gifts of God.  This year God gave me the gift of one year of sobriety of both alcohol and sex addiction.  Thanks to these gifts, the 12 steps, and prayer my life is different.  I have better and stronger relationship with my wife.  I am not afraid to ask for help.  I am much more open and honest.

There is still room for improvement - everyday is progress over the prior.  My life is so much better there's very little I can do except thank and praise God.  Merry Christmas and may you also enjoy the best the season has to offer.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 66 (KJV): Thou laid affliction upon our loins

From Psalms

Psalm 66
(For the director of music.  A song.  A psalm.)

¹Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
²      Sing forth the honour of his name:
      make his praise glorious.
³Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works!
      through the greatness of thy power
      shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
⁴All the earth shall worship thee,
      and shall sing unto thee;
      they shall sing to thy name.                          Selah.
⁵Come and see the works of God:
      he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men.
⁶He turned the sea into dry land:
      they went through the flood on foot:
      there did we rejoice in him.
⁷He ruleth by his power for ever;
      his eyes behold the nations:
      let not the rebellious exalt themselves.          Selah.

⁸O bless our God, ye people,
      and make the voice of his praise to be heard:
⁹Which holdeth our soul in life,
      and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
¹⁰For thou, O God, hast proved us:
      thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
¹¹Thou broughtest us into the net;
      thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
¹²Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;
      we went through fire and through water:
      but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.

¹³I will go into thy house with burnt offerings:
      I will pay thee my vows,
¹⁴Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken,
      when I was in trouble.
¹⁵I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings,
      with the incense of rams;
      I will offer bullocks with goats.                            Selah.

¹⁶Come and hear, all ye that fear God,
      and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
¹⁷I cried unto him with my mouth,
      and he was extolled with my tongue.
¹⁸If I regard iniquity in my heart,
      the Lord will not hear me:
¹⁹But verily God hath heard me;
      he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
²⁰Blessed be God,
      which hath not turned away my prayer,
      nor his mercy from me.

Why am I cursed with my affliction of the loins?  Why must I pray everyday for strength?  Just so I could learn that I needed to depend on God?  It also makes me think that if psalmists were writing about afflictions of the loins then these feeling of lust and unmanageability has been around a long time.  Not only am I not alone today - but people have been feeling like this for thousands of years.  Not only that they have been successfully turning to God and prayer to help calm these urges and desires.

This makes think that I'm probably not the first person to use all of the psalms of the bible to recover from a sex addiction.  That makes me feel pretty good.  Praise be to God, for he has not turned away from my prayer.

Thanks for letting me share.