Psalm 111 (KJV): He hath given meat to those who fear him

From Psalms

Psalm 111

¹Praise ye the LORD.
I will praise the LORD with my whole heart,
      in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

²The works of the LORD are great,
      sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
³His work is honourable and glorious:
      and his righteousness endureth for ever.
⁴He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered:
      the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
⁵He hath given meat unto them that fear him:
      he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
⁶He hath shewed his people the power of his works,
      that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.
⁷The works of his hands are verity and judgment;
      all his commandments are sure.
⁸They stand fast for ever and ever,
      and are done in truth and uprightness.
⁹He sent redemption unto his people:
      he hath commanded his covenant for ever:
      holy and reverend is his name.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:
      a good understanding have all they that do his commandments:
      his praise endureth for ever.

In the last several weeks, I obviously haven't been showing my devotion to recovery or to God in this blog.  It started out innocently enough in that I had a trip and some time away with my wife and kids.  Since then, however, work was busy, things hadn't settled down, I couldn't find my groove, there were so many things going on...we all know the story.  God, and thus my recovery, had taken a lower priority.

That was until last night.  He presented me a unique opportunity to help me find my way back to him.  A unique small group.  It was through that small group that He was able to remind me of His commitment to me - and my commitment to Him.  In this way, He gave meat to His servant, and was mindful of His covenant.

All of His works, large and small, are verity and judgment, sure, done in truth and uprightness, are powerful, and stand fast for ever and ever.  This recovering addict is one of those works.  There is nothing small about the miracle of turning a wretch into a treasure.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 110 (KJV): The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand

From Psalms

Psalm 110
(Of David. A psalm.)

¹The LORD said unto my Lord,
      Sit thou at my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

²The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion:
      rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
³Thy people shall be willing
      in the day of thy power,
in the beauties of holiness
      from the womb of the morning:
      thou hast the dew of thy youth.

⁴The LORD hath sworn,
      and will not repent,
Thou art a priest for ever
      after the order of Melchizedek.

⁵The Lord at thy right hand
      shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
⁶He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies;
      he shall wound the heads over many countries.
⁷He shall drink of the brook in the way:
      therefore shall he lift up the head.

When I first re-wrote psalm 110 I didn't see much of significance.  Especially as it relates my addiction, or recovery.  Then I shown a new perspective...a perspective that showed the significance far beyond my mere addiction...or recovery. This was probably part of God's plan.

I came to realize that Jesus quotes psalm 110 in Matthew 22:41-45:

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ?        whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 

This is vitally important in understanding Jesus and God because this quote demonstrates that our Lord, in prophecy, and God is both human and divine.  Not only that but many scholars have pointed out that this psalm is "more frequently cited by the New Testament writers than any other single portion of the ancient Scriptures."

So the lesson today is that before I judge something or someone for its importance - I need to make sure I've looked at that something from all angles and truly understand it's perspective.  Further, I will always keep an open mind, and will pray for an open mind, in order to continue to look for those perspectives before making a judgement.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 109:18-31 (KJV): I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth

From Psalms

Psalm 109 (cont.)

¹⁸As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment,
      so let it come into his bowels like water,
      and like oil into his bones.
¹⁹Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him,
      and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
²⁰Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD,
      and of them that speak evil against my soul.

²¹But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord,
      for thy name's sake:
      because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.
²²For I am poor and needy,
      and my heart is wounded within me.
²³I am gone like the shadow when it declineth:
      I am tossed up and down as the locust.
²⁴My knees are weak through fasting;
      and my flesh faileth of fatness.
²⁵I became also a reproach unto them:
      when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.

²⁶Help me, O LORD my God:
      O save me according to thy mercy:
²⁷That they may know that this is thy hand;
      that thou, LORD, hast done it.
²⁸Let them curse, but bless thou:
      when they arise, let them be ashamed;
      but let thy servant rejoice.
²⁹Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame,
      and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

³⁰I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth;
      yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
³¹For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor,
      to save him from those that condemn his soul.

Psalm 109 takes an interesting turn today.  The psalmist turns things around and realizes in spite of all of the people who cause him grief he still needs to rejoice in the love and mercy of God.  In spite of his weakness.  In spite of all of his problems God's mercy is good - and outweighs all of his problems.  God's mercy, and for that matter all of God's gifts, are all we need.  In this second part of psalm 109 the psalmist's tone turns from one of resentment to one of trust and praise.

This is an important shift because, and I may be misreading this but, this is the process of "letting go and letting God."  This is a common saying in 12 step meetings - and it's often much easier said than done.  It takes a lot of practice...I've been working on it for about 16 months and I still have much work to do.

Letting Go and Letting God, for me goes something like this.  I'm facing a problem.  Things are not going according to my plan.  I kind of wish I had a specific example, but I'm sure we've all had situations that for one reason or another don't go as we expect.  When I "let go and let God" I choose not to "fix" the, or add some level of control, this not always my first instinct.  This requires the following steps: I step back, take a breath, say a prayer, and ask God to help me accept the situation, ask God to help me find the beauty and positive in the situation, go with the flow of God's plan, and realize that God's plan will turn out better than what I had in mind anyway.

This has been a big part of my recovery - and I'm glad I can see this in psalm 109.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 109:1-17 (KJV): But I give myself unto prayer

From Psalms

Psalm 109
(For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.)

¹Hold not thy peace,
      O God of my praise;
²For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful
      are opened against me:
      they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
³They compassed me about also with words of hatred;
      and fought against me without a cause.
⁴For my love they are my adversaries:
      but I give myself unto prayer.
⁵And they have rewarded me evil for good,
      and hatred for my love.

⁶Set thou a wicked man over him:
      and let Satan stand at his right hand.
⁷When he shall be judged, let him be condemned:
      and let his prayer become sin.
⁸Let his days be few;
      and let another take his office.
⁹Let his children be fatherless,
      and his wife a widow.
¹⁰Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg:
      let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
¹¹Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;
      and let the strangers spoil his labour.
¹²Let there be none to extend mercy unto him:
      neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
¹³Let his posterity be cut off;
      and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
¹⁴Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD;
      and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
¹⁵Let them be before the LORD continually,
      that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁶Because that he remembered not to shew mercy,
      but persecuted the poor and needy man,
      that he might even slay the broken in heart.
¹⁷As he loved cursing,
      so let it come unto him:
as he delighted not in blessing,
      so let it be far from him.

But I give myself unto prayer, because I hold resentments.  As I read the first seventeen verses of Psalm 109 I am reminded of those resentments.  Because clearly the psalmist here has some resentments that need to be dealt with.  Like this psalmist it is not uncommon for addicts to also harbor resentments.  However, unlike the psalmist in psalm 109 I have learned not to pray for the subject of my resentment's downfall, rather inspect the source of my resentment.  This is a big part of the fourth step.

The process of the fourth step looked something like this for me.  From Jaywalker, I downloaded this fourth step template, paying close attention to pages 3 and 5 where I dived into my resentments.  Once I understood each in detail I could take my personal inventories.  In this process I learned what I truly feared.  I learned that many of my resentments had recurring themes of insecurity.  I learned most of all my role in these resentments...that I played a role in the way the people or groups behaved towards me.

So, in step 4 I learned to give myself unto prayer.  However, unlike in psalm 109 where the psalmist prays for the downfall of our resentments but for us to see the truth.  Please God help me see the truth.  Please God don't let my perspective blind me to the real situation.  That I should be able to see around my pride, which prevents me from seeing the full picture.  That I should truly understand the situations that baffle me that I can learn from them to create a better situations.  Situations without triggers for my addiction - and thus a life free of the chains that have kept me down.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 108 (KJV): Save with thy right hand, and answer me

From Psalms

Psalm 108
(A Song. A Psalm of David.)

¹O God, my heart is fixed;
      I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
²Awake, psaltery and harp:
      I myself will awake early.
³I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people:
      and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
⁴For thy mercy is great above the heavens:
      and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
⁵Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens:
      and thy glory above all the earth;

⁶That thy beloved may be delivered:
      save with thy right hand, and answer me.
⁷God hath spoken in his holiness;
      I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem,
      and mete out the valley of Succoth.
⁸Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
      Ephraim also is the strength of mine head;
      Judah is my lawgiver;
⁹Moab is my washpot;
      over Edom will I cast out my shoe;
      over Philistia will I triumph.

¹⁰Who will bring me into the strong city?
      who will lead me into Edom?
¹¹Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off?
      and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
¹²Give us help from trouble:
      for vain is the help of man.
¹³Through God we shall do valiantly:
      for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

It's been said that, "Praying is asking God for help, meditating is listening for God's response."  It's hard to believe that in 1 week it will have been 18 months since my last drink.  In that 18 months I have gotten much better at asking God for help...and much better in listening for God's response.  God has spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice (verse 7).

This is much more effective than the approach I was using before. The approach of filling in my own answers - or trying to fix things on my own...and failing miserably.  For vain is the help of man (verse 12).  This has made all the difference - for great is His mercy above the heavens (verse 4).

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 107:25-43 (KJV): He maketh the storm a calm

From Psalms

²⁵For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind,
      which lifteth up the waves thereof.
²⁶They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths:
      their soul is melted because of trouble.
²⁷They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
      and are at their wit's end.
²⁸Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble,
      and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
²⁹He maketh the storm a calm,
      so that the waves thereof are still.
³⁰Then are they glad because they be quiet;
      so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
³¹Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness,
      and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
³²Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people,
      and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

³³He turneth rivers into a wilderness,
      and the watersprings into dry ground;
³⁴A fruitful land into barrenness,
      for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
³⁵He turneth the wilderness into a standing water,
      and dry ground into watersprings.
³⁶And there he maketh the hungry to dwell,
      that they may prepare a city for habitation;
³⁷And sow the fields, and plant vineyards,
      which may yield fruits of increase.
³⁸He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly;
      and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

³⁹Again, they are minished and brought low through
      oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
⁴⁰He poureth contempt upon princes,
      and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
⁴¹Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction,
      and maketh him families like a flock.
⁴²The righteous shall see it, and rejoice:
      and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

⁴³Whoso is wise, and will observe these things,
       even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

I find it kind of amazing how God gives us what we need exactly when we need it.  Now that's not to say he gives a winning lottery ticket combination, or the career of our dreams, or the perfect partner.  What he gives, at least what I've seen in the last few days is more like a message...or a teaching if you will.

Tonight I was watching Bridesmaids - the story itself isn't that important, but in it one of the characters keeps running into people she's met in AA.  Then I started to think about it.  Could this really happen?  Could there really be that many people in AA?  How is it that there are, like, 10 meetings a day all just within 10 minutes of my house?  Because there are many people with the same problems as me - of course.  I've met them at the meetings go to.  It's not like there's only 2 or 3 people at these meetings.  No there are dozens of us.  I got so caught up in the way I retreated into my addiction that I failed to ever believe that alcoholism could ever be something that happens to other people.  However, God is showing me that I'm not alone and I don't have to be alone.  I still need to be reminded of that.  God reminded me of that today.

He also shows us that even change that appears to be bad on the surface can instead be a the opportunity of a lifetime.  My mother always said that the Lord works in mysterious ways.  But never doubt that this mystery is part of a plan, His plan.  Today I needed to be reminded of the power of faith and hope - and he reminded me.  When I observe such things I will rejoice and understand the loving kindness of the Lord.  For I do believe that He has the power to maketh the storm calm.  I have seen it before - and I expect I will see it, again.  Can I have an Amen?

Thanks for letting me share.