Psalm 93 (KJV):Thy testimonies are very sure

From Psalms

Psalm 93

¹The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty;
      the LORD is clothed with strength,
wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished,
      that it cannot be moved.
²Thy throne is established of old:
      thou art from everlasting.

³The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
      the floods have lifted up their voice;
      the floods lift up their waves.
⁴The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
      yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

⁵Thy testimonies are very sure:
      holiness becometh thine house,
      O LORD, for ever.

Yesterday, I talked about how I woke up with a song in my head.  Well this morning I have new song...Rain Down.  Maybe it's just me but I feel the same tone, with similar living water theme, resonates between both.  Possibly this is just a distraction - so let me focus on the psalm.

I chose to focus the title on the last verse because when addicts at meetings, who are celebrating sobriety birthdays, how they did it.  God is always part of the testimony.  "It is only because of my Higher Power."  "I could not have done it without prayer and faith in God."  "God has not just made me sober, He has changed the way I live my life."  The foundation of the 12 steps is built on the Rock of God and this sobriety, and recovery, cannot be shaken.  These testimonies are very sure.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 91 (KJV):I will set him on high, because he hath known my name

From Psalms

Psalm 91

¹He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
      shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
²I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress:
      my God; in him will I trust.

³Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
      and from the noisome pestilence.
⁴He shall cover thee with his feathers,
      and under his wings shalt thou trust:
      his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
⁵Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
      nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
⁶Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;
      nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
⁷A thousand shall fall at thy side,
      and ten thousand at thy right hand;
      but it shall not come nigh thee.
⁸Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold
      and see the reward of the wicked.

⁹Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge,
      even the most High, thy habitation;
¹⁰There shall no evil befall thee,
      neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
¹¹For he shall give his angels charge over thee,
      to keep thee in all thy ways.
¹²They shall bear thee up in their hands,
      lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
¹³Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:
      the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

¹⁴Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
      I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
¹⁵He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:
      I will be with him in trouble;
      I will deliver him, and honour him.
¹⁶With long life will I satisfy him,
      and shew him my salvation.

Despite giving up radio and TV for lent, I still woke up this morning with Kutless' Everything I need playing in my head..."When every step is so hard to take, and all of my hope is fading away...You are strength in my weakness, You are the refuge I seek." (see verse 2, 9).  I guess nothing is a coincidence because that song and this psalm seem to be singing the same song of praise and worship.  At least that's my perspective.

I thank God for the strength to be sober - and strength that sobriety has brought into my life.  I thank God for the refuge of prayer - so that I don't have to seek the refuge of porn or a bottle of wine.  For the refuge of prayer gives me the strength to be sober.  God has set his love upon me and he shown his love with his gift of strength and sobriety.  He is in with me in trouble and in my victories.  He delivers me and shows me salvation.  I am grateful for all this - and which addict in this world would not be.

I was reading today about shopping addicts, where the addictive pattern is driven by the process of spending money.  Where shopping itself is found to be pleasurable, or even ecstatic.  Something I cannot relate to but can identify with in the way my addictions made me feel.  Not unlike other addictions, shopping is an escape, short-lived only to fall back into a tragic reality of the issues at hand with debt, regret, and disappointment.  Only to be followed by more shopping sprees which only serve to heighten the problems being faced.

In any case, today, I offer a prayer for the shopping addicts that still suffer.  That they may come to admit the powerlessness that they have over shopping.  That they admit the problem they have.  That they come to see that their life has become unmanageable and that he seek help.  Especially the help of a higher power.  That God guide them in their journey to recovery.  That God help them find a meeting and guide them to the 12 steps.  That he deliver them from the evils that shopping has brought into their lives and give them a refuge away from that.  A refuge that keeps them sober of shopping and strengthens them in His word.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 90 (KJV): Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts

From Psalms

Psalm 90
(A prayer of Moses the man of God.)

¹Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place
      in all generations.
²Before the mountains were brought forth,
      or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
      even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

³Thou turnest man to destruction;
      and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
⁴For a thousand years in thy sight
      are but as yesterday when it is past,
      and as a watch in the night.
⁵Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:
      in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
⁶In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;
      in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

⁷For we are consumed by thine anger,
      and by thy wrath are we troubled.
⁸Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
      our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
⁹For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:
      we spend our years as a tale that is told.
¹⁰The days of our years are threescore years and ten;
      and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength labour and sorrow;
      for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

¹¹Who knoweth the power of thine anger?
      even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
¹²So teach us to number our days,
      that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

¹³Return, O LORD, how long?
      and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
¹⁴O satisfy us early with thy mercy;
      that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,
      and the years wherein we have seen evil.
¹⁶Let thy work appear unto thy servants,
      and thy glory unto their children.

¹⁷And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us:
      and establish thou the work of our hands upon us;
      yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Lord,  thank you for this psalm this morning and allowing me to use to start this day of recovery.  For it reminds me of many things and helps me to praise your name.  From verse 14, it satisfies me early in the day with your mercy, and allows to sing for joy and be glad.  It also reminds me that are days on this earth are numbered and I need to use them wisely.  I need to use them to spend time with the ones I love.  To teach my children well that they may pass on your wisdom that my father taught me.  To teach my children to avoid the sins and affliction that troubled my life.  As the psalmist here wrote in verse 15 please give me as many beautiful days in your light as I spent in my addictions - if you can do that I can rest assured the rest my days will be great.  Let this psalm, as with all the passages of the bible, guide me and help establish the of my hands that I may live a life that is as satisfying to you as it is to me.

Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 89:30-52 (KJV): Then I will visit their transgression with the rod

From Psalms

Psalm 32:29-52

³⁰If his children forsake my law,
      and walk not in my judgments;
³¹If they break my statutes,
      and keep not my commandments;
³²Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,
      and their iniquity with stripes.
³³Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him,
      nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
³⁴My covenant will I not break,
      nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
³⁵Once have I sworn by my holiness
      that I will not lie unto David.
³⁶His seed shall endure for ever,
      and his throne as the sun before me.
³⁷It shall be established for ever as the moon,
      and as a faithful witness in heaven.
                                    Selah.

³⁸But thou hast cast off and abhorred,
      thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
³⁹Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant:
      thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
⁴⁰Thou hast broken down all his hedges;
      thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
⁴¹All that pass by the way spoil him:
      he is a reproach to his neighbours.
⁴²Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries;
      thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
⁴³Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword,
      and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
⁴⁴Thou hast made his glory to cease,
      and cast his throne down to the ground.
⁴⁵The days of his youth hast thou shortened:
      thou hast covered him with shame.
                                    Selah.

⁴⁶How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever?
      shall thy wrath burn like fire?
⁴⁷Remember how short my time is:
      wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
⁴⁸What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?
      shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?
                                    Selah.
⁴⁹Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses,
      which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
⁵⁰Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants;
      how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;
⁵¹Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD;
      wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

⁵²Blessed be the LORD for evermore.
      Amen, and Amen.

With that I have completed book 3 of the 5 books of psalms.  There is a bit of a sense of achievement knowing that this is still a "one day at a time" journey.  This, although i haven't looked at how many more entries I have, is likely pretty close to halfway.

Nevertheless, I do want to talk more about psalm 89, because with verse 30 the mood changes considerably from the first 29 verses that I discussed yesterday.  The mood yesterday, was joyous, declaring love to God, who in the skies above can compare to the Lord, and He would maintain His love forever.  Today, though, it's about the wrath God, God hiding his face, and renouncing His covenant.  So, what gives?

So this last section of the psalm requires some honesty on our part.  The fact is as humans we are quite easily drawn to sin, and in my case addiction.  And in coming to God and Jesus does not eliminate that tendency.  That is still part of our nature.  So it is that we are in need of some correction.  In these instances God finds it necessary to use his rod.  The use of a rod is important because a rod is for teaching or correction, unlike a sword which is used to destroy.  So, God uses his rod to teach us difficult lessons that we do not, and cannot, forget for this lifetime.

At the time these lessons may seem difficult and they may seem like they will destroy us.  However, as long as we stay close to God he will continue to show his mercy.  We need to believe in that and have faith in that.  There is a brighter day I promise you that...and I will close as Psalm 89 does...Praise be to the Lord forevermore - Amen and Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 89:1-29 (KJV): My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him

From Psalms

Psalm 89:1-31 (KJV)
(A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.)

¹I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever:
      with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
²For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever:
      thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

³I have made a covenant with my chosen,
      I have sworn unto David my servant,
⁴Thy seed will I establish for ever,
      and build up thy throne to all generations.
                                     Selah.

⁵And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD:
      thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
⁶For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD?
      who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
⁷God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
      and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
⁸O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee?
      or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

⁹Thou rulest the raging of the sea:
      when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
¹⁰Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain;
      thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
¹¹The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine:
      as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
¹²The north and the south thou hast created them:
      Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
¹³Thou hast a mighty arm:
      strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

¹⁴Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne:
      mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
¹⁵Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:
      they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
¹⁶In thy name shall they rejoice all the day:
      and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
¹⁷For thou art the glory of their strength:
      and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
¹⁸For the LORD is our defence;
      and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

¹⁹Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst,
      I have laid help upon one that is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
²⁰I have found David my servant;
      with my holy oil have I anointed him:
²¹With whom my hand shall be established:
      mine arm also shall strengthen him.
²²The enemy shall not exact upon him;
      nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
²³And I will beat down his foes before his face,
      and plague them that hate him.
²⁴But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him:
      and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
²⁵I will set his hand also in the sea,
      and his right hand in the rivers.
²⁶He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father,
      my God, and the rock of my salvation.
²⁷Also I will make him my firstborn,
      higher than the kings of the earth.

²⁸My mercy will I keep for him for evermore,
      and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
²⁹His seed also will I make to endure for ever,
      and his throne as the days of heaven.

There are days when I question my strength and doubt my own abilities.  Days when I want to shrink into myself and isolate from those around me.  Days when I feel like everything going on is just too much too handle.  Its on these days I need my daily meditation and prayer with my psalms.  For in these psalms I find God and find my strength to go on with the day without the false support of my addictions.

For as it says here in verse 17 of psalm 89 "Thou at the glory of their strength."  In verse 26, "and the rock of my salvation."  Then the perspective of the psalm changes and we see that God can be faithful to his servants as well.  In this case, the psalmist shows God's faithfulness to David as an example.  He will beat down his enemies before his face (verse 23) and His faithfulness and mercy shall be with his servant.

Lord, as I start out on this day, which I know will be full of trials be with me and guide.  Show your faithfulness to me and keep your hand on me and beat down my enemies of addiction and distraction.    When things become difficult give me the strength and courage to do what is right.  Help me show those around me of the your power and let me be an example and a light of your love.  In your sons name.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 88 (KJV):Lord, I have called daily upon thee

From Psalms

Psalm 88
(A Song.  A psalm of the Sons of Korah.  For the director of music.  According to mahalath leanoth.  A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.)

¹O lord God of my salvation,
      I have cried day and night before thee:
²Let my prayer come before thee:
      incline thine ear unto my cry;

³For my soul is full of troubles:
      and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
⁴I am counted with them that go down into the pit:
      I am as a man that hath no strength:
⁵Free among the dead,
      like the slain that lie in the grave,
whom thou rememberest no more:
      and they are cut off from thy hand.

⁶Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,
      in darkness, in the deeps.
⁷Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,
      and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.
                                        Selah.

⁸Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me;
      thou hast made me an abomination unto them:
I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
⁹Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction:
LORD, I have called daily upon thee,
      I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
¹⁰Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead?
      shall the dead arise and praise thee?
                                        Selah.
¹¹Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
      or thy faithfulness in destruction?
¹²Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?
      and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But unto thee have I cried, O LORD;
      and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
¹⁴LORD, why castest thou off my soul?
      why hidest thou thy face from me?

¹⁵I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up:
      while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
¹⁶Thy fierce wrath goeth over me;
      thy terrors have cut me off.
¹⁷They came round about me daily like water;
      they compassed me about together.
¹⁸Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,
      and mine acquaintance into darkness.

Lord, I have called upon you, and cried night and day to you.  You have answered - but sometimes you have let me sit and cry.  In those times that I have been left to sit and cry and wonder why you cast off my soul.  Why would you hide your face from me.  I realize now that you didn't answer because I wasn't truly ready to have you answer.

I know now that there is a difference between wanting, or needing, to change and being ready for change.  The difference is similar to how a farmer plows, harrows, fertilizes, and harrows his field before he plants.  All this I learned in step 6 - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."  In an addict this is hard spiritual work.  God, I now realize you can't change me unless I am willing to change.  Unless I first admit my weaknesses and know how those weaknesses need to be transformed.

Lord, please help prepare my heart for the lessons you have for me today.  As I continue to work on my weaknesses of procrastination, fear, and selfishness.  As I ask for you to change those weaknesses into the strengths of focus, courage, and selflessness.  Please do that for the other addicts I share these pages with as well - turning their weaknesses into strengths.  Finally, be with the addicts that still suffer.  Through the people in their lives show them that there is another way, the path of your light, a path of love and hope.

Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 87 (KJV): His foundation is in the holy mountains

From Psalms

Psalm 87
(Of the sons of Korah.  A psalm.  A song.)

¹His foundation is in the holy mountains.
²The LORD loveth the gates of Zion
      more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
³Glorious things are spoken of thee,
      O city of God.                         Selah.
⁴I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon
      to them that know me:
behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia;
      this man was born there.

⁵And of Zion it shall be said,
      This and that man was born in her:
      and the highest himself shall establish her.
⁶The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people,
      that this man was born there.            Selah.
⁷As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there:
      all my springs are in thee.

Last night I had a dream where I had a drink.  I don't have them as often as I used to when I was first sober - but I do have them once in a while.  In this case it was a beer.  It wasn't anything special - and I don't remember how much of the beer I drank in the dream.  I do remember when I ordered it I didn't entirely understand what I was getting because I was pleasantly surprised when it came and it was a half pint of a very light beer.  In my dream I could justify that it didn't impact my sobriety because it was small and light.  Kind of like the physician who initially believes that being sober means drinking without getting drunk.  In any case it these dreams show that my addictions loom in my life like a small cloud following me - thankfully though it was just a dream and my sobriety is still together.

Nevertheless, let's move on with short psalm which discusses, some say, the founding of the holy temple and Jerusalem.  The foundations of which are established on the strength of Mount Zion.  As this temple is built on a the strong foundation, a rock, so must everything be.  And so it is our sobriety and recovery needs a strong foundation.  That foundation needs to be our higher power, God.  That is why we start the 12 steps with building that relationship with God, building our faith in God, for that is the foundation of the rest of our recovery.  The personal inventory we take in step 4 and that we share in step 5 are built on this foundation.  The amends we make in step 9 are built on that foundation.

Like it is written in Luke 6:48: "He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock."  The 12 steps will create a foundation so that your sobriety and recovery cannot be shaken.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 86 (KJV):Give thy strength unto thy servant

From Psalms

Psalm 86
(A prayer of David)

¹Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me:
      for I am poor and needy.
²Preserve my soul; for I am holy:
      O thou my God, save thy servant
      that trusteth in thee.
³Be merciful unto me, O Lord:
      for I cry unto thee daily.
⁴Rejoice the soul of thy servant:
      for unto thee, O Lord,
      do I lift up my soul.

⁵For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive;
      and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
⁶Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer;
      and attend to the voice of my supplications.
⁷In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee:
      for thou wilt answer me.

⁸Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord;
      neither are there any works like unto thy works.
⁹All nations whom thou hast made
      shall come and worship before thee, O Lord;
      and shall glorify thy name.
¹⁰For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:
      thou art God alone.

¹¹Teach me thy way, O LORD;
      I will walk in thy truth:
unite my heart
      to fear thy name.
¹²I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart:
      and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
¹³For great is thy mercy toward me:
      and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

¹⁴O God, the proud are risen against me,
      and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul;
      and have not set thee before them.
¹⁵But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious,
      long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

¹⁶O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me;
      give thy strength unto thy servant,
      and save the son of thine handmaid.
¹⁷Shew me a token for good;
      that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed:
      because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

Step 2 of the 12 steps, "We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity," seems to be echoed here in Psalm 86.  In fact, it can probably be said of many psalms.  However, this seems stronger in verse 7 than most other psalms: " In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me."

This is important today since we start the season of lent tomorrow.  For this we will need to ask God for strength, control, focus, and of course sanity as we continue our journey of sobriety.  This year for Lent I journey down step 9 in making amends to those I have hurt in my addiction.  For my wife I will be doing the Love Dare. For myself I will be giving up many things, which I am expecting will making me  stronger and more focused in my sobriety.  As means of handing more control to God I am giving up caffeine, as an example.

God, as psalm 86 says, over the coming weeks of lent, teach us in your way, that we may walk in truth (verse 11).  Through the sacrifices of lent we will have days of need and possibly suffering.  In those days of need we will call on you for we know you will answer (verse 7).  O Lord, you are a God of compassion and grace (verse 15) so give strength to your servants (verse 16).  We know that you have brought us comfort (verse 17) and that you will continue to do so.  So, in this time of learning and sacrifice we will go on and glorify your name (verse 9) for all of your wonderful works (verse 10).  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 85 (KJV): but let them not turn again to folly

From Psalms

Psalm 85
(For the director of music.  Of the Sons of Korah.  A psalm.)

¹Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land:
      thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
²Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people,
      thou hast covered all their sin.               Selah.
³Thou hast taken away all thy wrath:
      thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

⁴Turn us, O God of our salvation,
      and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
⁵Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?
      wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
⁶Wilt thou not revive us again:
      that thy people may rejoice in thee?
⁷Shew us thy mercy, O LORD,
      and grant us thy salvation.

⁸I will hear what God the LORD will speak:
      for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints:
      but let them not turn again to folly.
⁹Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him;
      that glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰Mercy and truth are met together;
      righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
¹¹Truth shall spring out of the earth;
      and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
¹²Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good;
      and our land shall yield her increase.
¹³Righteousness shall go before him;
      and shall set us in the way of his steps.

For God speaks, and if we listen, He will not let us turn again to folly.  However, sometimes the voices of earthly influences seem louder than the voice of God.  That's why it's important to pray - that's the only way for us to be close enough to God that His God will continue to guide us.

In that moment, when we are close to Him and his voice guides us, Truth shall seem to spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.  Yea, we shall receive those things abunduntly, love, joy, happiness, and peace.  Everyday we need to take time to observe that God has in fact provided these things in our lives and be grateful.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 84 (KJV): Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere

From Psalms

Psalm 84
(For the director of music, According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah.  A psalm.)

¹How amiable are thy tabernacles,
      O LORD of hosts!

²My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth
      for the courts of the LORD:
my heart and my flesh crieth out
      for the living God.

³Yea, the sparrow hath found an house,
      and the swallow a nest for herself,
      where she may lay her young,
even thine altars,
      O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
⁴Blessed are they that dwell in thy house:
      they will be still praising thee.             Selah.

⁵Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;
      in whose heart are the ways of them.
⁶Who passing through the valley of Baca
      make it a well;
      the rain also filleth the pools.
⁷They go from strength to strength,
      every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

⁸O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer:
      give ear, O God of Jacob.           Selah.
⁹Behold, O God our shield,
      and look upon the face of thine anointed.

¹⁰For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
      than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and shield:
      the LORD will give grace and glory:
no good thing will he withhold
      from them that walk uprightly.

¹²O LORD of hosts,
      blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Blessed is the man who trusts in thee...for he will be given a day in your courts.  And better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.  Certainly any day in the past year, while sober with the help of God, was better than all of my achievements in the 10 years before that living in my addiction.  Each day in the past year came with the gift of prayer, through psalms.  Each day came with the joy and love of my family.  Each day came with the clarity of sobriety.  Each day came with the strength that only God can provide.  The value of these gifts cannot be measured in this life.  Meaning they can't be measured in money or time or any worldly good.  These are treasures that only God can bless us with.

That is what it means to this addict to spend one day in the God's court.  No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 83 (KJV): They are confederate against thee

From Psalms

Psalm 83

¹Keep not thou silence, O God:
      hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
²For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult:
      and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
³They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,
      and consulted against thy hidden ones.
⁴They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;
      that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

⁵For they have consulted together with one consent:
      they are confederate against thee:
⁶The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites;
      of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
⁷Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;
      the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
⁸Assur also is joined with them:
      they have holpen the children of Lot.      Selah.

⁹Do unto them as unto the Midianites;
      as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
¹⁰Which perished at Endor:
      they became as dung for the earth.
¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb:
      yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
¹²Who said, Let us take to ourselves
      the houses of God in possession.

¹³O my God, make them like a wheel;
      as the stubble before the wind.
¹⁴As the fire burneth a wood,
      and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
¹⁵So persecute them with thy tempest,
      and make them afraid with thy storm.
¹⁶Fill their faces with shame;
      that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

¹⁷Let them be confounded and troubled for ever;
      yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
¹⁸That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH,
      art the most high over all the earth.

This is about how all the enemies of the Isrealites collaborated together to try to defeat Isreal.  I would like to use this as a parable for the forces of addiction getting together to overtake the addict.  We are inundated with messages and situations where our addiction is constantly in front of us.  Pressures that constantly encourage us to give in to the temptation of our addiction.  Whether its a small party after work to celebrate a milestone...of course, you'd be letting the team down if you don't have a beer...or if you leave early.  Thankfully, I no longer have to believe any of that.

The pressures are all around.  They seem to work together.  It takes great strength to overcome the pressure. It takes the strength of God.  Thankfully though there is God to hand this over to - and to pray for strength from.  Otherwise, I'm sure I would have acted out on my addictions this week...or next.  You see I have a business trip coming up.  Being away from home - away from visible accountability - would make it easy to act-out and justify it with some lie.  However, I remembered that God is everywhere and has his hand on me. (1 Thessalonians 1:4)  This brought me back to my sobriety before things got out of hand.

So I thank God that He knows when not to hold his peace.  I am grateful that He is strong enough defeat especially the most powerful enemies.  I am most thankful that God has a plan for me.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 82 (KJV): Do justice to the afflicted and the needy

From Psalms

Psalm 82
(A psalm of Asaph.)

¹God standeth in the congregation of the mighty;
      he judgeth among the gods.

²How long will ye judge unjustly,
      and accept the persons of the wicked?       Selah.
³Defend the poor and fatherless:
      do justice to the afflicted and needy.
⁴Deliver the poor and needy:
      rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

⁵They know not, neither will they understand;
      they walk on in darkness:
      all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

⁶I have said, Ye are gods;
      and all of you are children of the most High.
⁷But ye shall die like men,
      and fall like one of the princes.

⁸Arise, O God, judge the earth:
      for thou shalt inherit all nations.

The addicts today are part of the afflicted and needy.  They need help and often do not even realize it.  They often deny the fact that they have a problem until its too late.  It's a fortunate few that actually make it to a meeting before they lose everything they have.  Or worse perish in their addiction.

I will close in prayer for the addict that still suffers.  For the woman who wrestles with her decisions to continue to drink despite what it does to her life.  Despite losing who job and alienating her children.  She continues to isolate and seek solace in her lite beer.

For the man who continues to watch porn and webcams and explore the world of sex parlors, every chance he can be alone at a computer.  Despite the fact that women working in the sex trade repulses him its not really clear even how he finds himself on these sites.  Or why his brain needs this stimulation.  He knows very well that there are people at his company that monitor his activity.  He also knows that, with his company's zero tolerance policy, he could be fired in an instant for this.  Despite all this he continues, almost unwilling, on his addiction.

God be with these people.  Show them there is an alternative.  There is a path to sobriety.  Work through the people in their lives to expose their problem.  To show them they need to find help.  To help them realize that they need to turn their lives around.  That there is a path to do that - that you are the path and that the map is the 12 steps.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 81 (KJV): But my people would not hearken my voice

From Psalms

Psalm 81
(For the director of music.  According to gittith.  Of Asaph.)
¹Sing aloud unto God our strength:
      make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
²Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel,
      the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

³Blow up the trumpet in the new moon,
      in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
⁴For this was a statute for Israel,
      and a law of the God of Jacob.
⁵This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony,
      when he went out through the land of Egypt:
      where I heard a language that I understood not.

⁶I removed his shoulder from the burden:
      his hands were delivered from the pots.
⁷Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee;
      I answered thee in the secret place of thunder:
      I proved thee at the waters of Meribah.                Selah.

⁸Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee:
      O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
⁹There shall no strange god be in thee;
      neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
¹⁰I am the LORD thy God,
      which brought thee out of the land of Egypt:
      open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹But my people would not hearken to my voice;
      and Israel would none of me.
¹²So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust:
      and they walked in their own counsels.

¹³Oh that my people had hearkened unto me,
      and Israel had walked in my ways!
¹⁴I should soon have subdued their enemies,
      and turned my hand against their adversaries.
¹⁵The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him:
      but their time should have endured for ever.
¹⁶He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat:
      and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

When we are close to God it is much easier to maintain sobriety when we are farther from him.  Vice versa is true, when I find I am drifting closer to temptation and urges, I have drifted farther from God.  If we do not focus on His word and His will for us, if we try to control, or take back control, he will let us fail.  Sometimes it takes this failing to learn faith.

We sometimes we think God is reluctant to bless us, but that's never the case.  Maybe because you aren't as rich as a friend, don't have as big a house as your neighbor, or don't have as nice a car as your co-worker, he hasn't blessed you.  It may just feel that way because we have not surrendered to God's will.

I recently read the review of Psalm 81 by a "prosperity preacher."  In this review the preacher said, "God's desire is to give His people the finest of everything - then ask yourself what it is in your life, if anything, that is hindering God from blessing you with more than what you currently have."  There is some truth in this, however, this preacher was trying to say that if you give money to her "ministry" then you would prosper materially.  God doesn't want your money - that's not what this psalm is about.  Nor does God want to bless you with mere money.  Money is insignificant for God - God wants you.  He wants you to live for him and to serve him - and to serve his people, and to reflect his love.  In return, God will bless you with gifts that are priceless.  In return, you shall experience the gift of his love, you shall experience the gift of sobriety, you shall experience the gift of salvation and forgiveness.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 80 (KJV): Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved

From Psalms

Psalm 80
(For the director of music.  To the tune of "The Lilies of the Covenant."  Of Asaph.  A psalm.)

¹Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
      thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;
thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
²Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh
      stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

³Turn us again, O God,
      and cause thy face to shine;
      and we shall be saved.

⁴O LORD God of hosts,
      how long wilt thou be angry
      against the prayer of thy people?
⁵Thou feedest them with the bread of tears;
      and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
⁶Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours:
      and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷Turn us again, O God of hosts,
      and cause thy face to shine;
      and we shall be saved.

⁸Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt:
      thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
⁹Thou preparedst room before it,
      and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
¹⁰The hills were covered with the shadow of it,
      and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
¹¹She sent out her boughs unto the sea,
      and her branches unto the river.

¹²Why hast thou then broken down her hedges,
      so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
¹³The boar out of the wood doth waste it,
      and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
¹⁴Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts:
      look down from heaven, and behold,
and visit this vine;
¹⁵And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted,
      and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

¹⁶It is burned with fire, it is cut down:
      they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
¹⁷Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,
      upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
¹⁸So will not we go back from thee:
      quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

¹⁹Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts,
      cause thy face to shine;
      and we shall be saved.

O Lord, please give me another day of sobriety.  Deliver me not into the temptation of my addictions sex, alcohol, or drugs.  Help me focus on your way and focus on your will and let me not be distracted by the empty idols that we are bombarded with everyday.  Cause thy face to shine on me that I may saved, and can be an example for those around me of thy power.  Help me seek to understand rather than to be understood.  That where there is wrong, that I may bring the spirit forgiveness.  That where there is error, I may bring truth. That where there is doubt, I may bring faith.

Let your word be a light for me as I journey down step 8 of the twelve steps.  That I will truly see those who I have hurt with my addictions, and how that's effected them.  Help me be open, honest and completely truthful in this search.  That you can show me how best to make amends to those people and prepare for step 9.

Indeed cause thy face to shine, so that all of us addicts can be saved.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.