Psalm 46: He makes wars cease to the end of the earth

From Psalms

Psalm 46
(For the Director of Music.  Of the sons of Korah.  According to alamoth.  A song.)


¹God is our refuge and strength,
      a very present help in trouble.
²Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
      and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
³Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
      though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.        Selah

⁴There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
      the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
⁵God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:
      God shall help her, and that right early.
⁶The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved:
      he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

⁷The LORD of hosts is with us;
      the God of Jacob is our refuge.                                           Selah

⁸Come, behold the works of the LORD,
      what desolations he hath made in the earth.
⁹He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;
      he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;
      he burneth the chariot in the fire.
¹⁰Be still, and know that I am God:
      I will be exalted among the heathen,
      I will be exalted in the earth.

¹¹The LORD of hosts is with us;
      the God of Jacob is our refuge.                                            Selah

Today I wanted to capture the first part of verse 9 because to me the ability to make wars cease is pretty powerful.  In order for wars to cease people need to change.  People need to be awakened to something that is flawed in their beliefs.  Often these beliefs have been formed over a long period of time and are deep rooted.  This makes letting go of them a very difficult thing to do.  Not only that but at a certain point in time it requires admitting a wrong or specific mistake and admitting the flawed belief.  Then to take it one step further both sides usually need to make that step to find some middle ground.

As I walk through all of this it becomes apparent that this work that God does to end wars is present in other areas of our lives not quite so dramatic as wars.  This change and shift in thinking is part of recovery from addiction.  It is part of families restoring broken relationships.  It's the same as normal course of relations with neighbors and co-workers.

Today I will be praying to God to help me see areas where I have been wrong and where I need to patch things up and seek forgiveness of my mistakes.  On the flip side, I will also be praying for areas where I have been wronged and for the strength to be open about that and to ask for what I need to make things better.  I will also pray the same for your life.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 45:17: I will make thy name remembered in all generations

From Psalms

Psalm 45:17

¹⁷I will make thy name to be remembered
      in all generations:
therefore shall the people praise thee
      for ever and ever.

There's really no reason to procrastinate on a one verse entry is there?

But this one verse kind of says what this blog is about.  Praising the name of the Lord for the whole world to see how it was that I could conquer my addictions.  That people can see that my victory over my addictions may bear witness of Thy Power, Thy Love and Thy way of life.  If that line sounds familiar it's from the last half of the third step prayer.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 45:1-16:Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children

From Psalms

Psalm 45
(For the director of music.  To the tune of "Lilies," Of the Sons of Korah.  A maskil.  A wedding song.)

¹My heart is inditing a good matter:
      I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:
      my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

²Thou art fairer than the children of men:
      grace is poured into thy lips:
      therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
³Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty,
      with thy glory and thy majesty.
⁴And in thy majesty ride prosperously
      because of truth and meekness and righteousness;
      and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
⁵Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies;
      whereby the people fall under thee.
⁶Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
      the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
⁷Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:
      therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
      with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
⁸All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,
      out of the ivory palaces,
      whereby they have made thee glad.

⁹Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women:
      upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
      forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;
¹¹So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty:
      for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.
¹²And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;
      even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.

¹³The king's daughter is all glorious within:
      her clothing is of wrought gold.
¹⁴She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework:
      the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
¹⁵With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought:
      they shall enter into the king's palace.

¹⁶Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,
      whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

Quite a different theme than Psalm 44's prayer of lamentation from my last post.  This is the joy and splendor of the Lord, the gift of wedding and marriage.  It's all quite beautiful and appeals to all the senses.

I've been procrastinating on this psalm for a while, not quite sure what to say or how to say it.  So, I'll just cut to the chase.  In this Psalm, the closing verse, which says that Children will replace their parents stands out for me.  It reminds of a saying my sponsor once told me.  The day we become sober from our addiction is the day our children become sober as well.  They learn from us - and if we can be free from alcohol, drugs, gambling and porn; and have healthy behaviors towards sex, love and food they can learn that, too.

Be sober for your children or else they will grow up to be addicts - as a son of an alcoholic I know this.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 44:16-26: For he knoweth the secrets of the heart

From Psalms

Psalm 44 verses 16-26

¹⁶For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth;
      by reason of the enemy and avenger.

¹⁷All this is come upon us;
      yet have we not forgotten thee,
      neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
¹⁸Our heart is not turned back,
      neither have our steps declined from thy way;
¹⁹Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons,
      and covered us with the shadow of death.

²⁰If we have forgotten the name of our God,
      or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
²¹Shall not God search this out?
      for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
²²Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long;
      we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?
      arise, cast us not off for ever.
²⁴Wherefore hidest thou thy face,
      and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?

²⁵For our soul is bowed down to the dust:
      our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
²⁶Arise for our help,
      and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.

After meditating on these verses, reading and re-reading, the title verse from verse from verse 21 stands out to me.  God does know the secrets of our hearts.  He knows when we are being honest and when we are not.  He knows when we are not being true and when we are dealt falsely in thy covenant.

I have written in these blogs previously that when I feel like God has forgotten me, it turns out that it is I who have forgotten God.  However, in today's psalm the writer swears that is absolutely not the case.  Could that be?  Ins't God is always near us?  Under what circumstances would God punish a person who keeps God and his laws close to him?  To answer this, I'd like to look at Job, which just happens to be right ahead of psalms in the bible.

Job is extremely devout and blessed, prosperous with a large family of 10 children.  Satan convinces God that Job is only devout because of his blessings, and that without his possessions and children he would curse God.  So God allows Satan to test his loyalty and destroys his possessions and kills all children.  Instead of cursing God, Job seems to become more devoted to God.  So Satan steps it up with more personal afflictions in hopes of turning Job against God.  Job does not respond with a typical prayer of lamentation but rather asks for trial from God.  God finds him innocent and blameless, because he knows Job's heart, and allows him to return to a normal life without turmoil.

Why is this important?  Because this story teaches us that we should always trust in God.  Trust in the plan he has for us.  Whether our lives are prosperous or whether they are in turmoil.  In our problems, God may be testing us or may be teaching us but we should never forget him because in doing so he will never forget us.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 44:1-15 (KJV): I will not trust in my bow

From Psalms

Psalm 44
(For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil)

¹We have heard with our ears, O God,
      our fathers have told us,
what work thou didst in their days,
      in the times of old.
²How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand,
      and plantedst them;
how thou didst afflict the people,
      and cast them out.
³For they got not the land in possession
      by their own sword,
      neither did their own arm save them:
but thy right hand, and thine arm,
      and the light of thy countenance,
      because thou hadst a favour unto them.

⁴Thou art my King, O God:
command deliverances for Jacob.
⁵Through thee will we push down our enemies:
      through thy name will we tread them under
      that rise up against us.
⁶For I will not trust in my bow,
      neither shall my sword save me.
⁷But thou hast saved us from our enemies,
      and hast put them to shame that hated us.
⁸In God we boast all the day long,
      and praise thy name for ever.                                   Selah.

⁹But thou hast cast off,
and put us to shame;
      and goest not forth with our armies.
¹⁰Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy:
      and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
¹¹Thou hast given us like sheep
      appointed for meat;
and hast scattered us
      among the heathen.
¹²Thou sellest thy people for nought,
      and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.

¹³Thou makest us a reproach
      to our neighbours,
a scorn and a derision
      to them that are round about us.
¹⁴Thou makest us a byword
      among the heathen,
a shaking of the head among the people.
¹⁵My confusion is continually before me,
      and the shame of my face hath covered me,

This is a deeply honest psalm.  Clearly written when God had turned the Isrealites over to their enemies.  A time when the people were not doing God's will.  So, it seems, God would let the people fail while doing things by their own will.  In verses 8-15 we see what happens when we follow our own will.  "My confusion is continually before me,"  and "Thou makest reproach to our neighbors."  These feeling are not uncommon for addicts and alcoholics.  In fact, these are daily occurrences in the lives of addicts.  So, we learn, as most of did in step three, to hand our lives over to the will of God.

Additionally, I think its important to note what got us to this point.  For me, it was trusting in things, idols, that have no place to be trusted.  Like, the bow in this psalm, I trust not in money, titles, houses, or any other object.  Those things will not protect me.  I need to trust in the Lord and that he will work in my life in the people around me.  When I have problems I need to stop trying to fix it myself.  When I have a problem I need to pray, I need to share my problem with those around me, and trust that the lord will guide me in an answer.

Thanks for letting me share.