Psalm 87

Psalm 87:7 As they make music they will sing,
"All my fountains are in you."

Apparently, I am not thinking up too many interesting things to talk about in the Psalms! I am at 87 now. I think they are very good for me. Maybe they have contributed to me getting the songs in my head back. I think the Psalms really wash your soul. They seem to be a mix of praise, prayer and emotion. I am enjoying them. Hopefully, I will be able to write more as my work should be letting up a bit at this time.

slug

Psalm 58:8 Like a slug melting away as it moves along...

I love the imagery in that and I feel this way too sometimes!

Psalm 29

Reading Psalm 29 brought great comfort and good focus. God is in control and knows what He is doing. Even though the current physical world we live in looks out of control and chaotic, we need to look to God's world- to see things His way.

Psalms

I have now started into the Psalms. I remember as a 5th grader getting the gideon bible in my class. It was my first Bible that I remember. I think I read it- I remember singing the Psalms- and I'm not a singer. I'm not sure why I knew to do that. I guess they said they were songs at the top and I thought that it only did them justice to sing them. I also remember using the 'resource' list at the back- there were scriptures that you could read if you were feeling lonely or hurt or so and I tried the read the scripture corresponding to my mood!

25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

26 to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

This scripture seems to indicate that the aspects that you see of God are the ones that are most like you!

Suffering

Well, I finished Job but I'm not sure that I understand it any better. Job doesn't curse God after all he goes through, so I guess he passes. But God does bring him up short at the end, which Job agrees with and then everything is fine and dandy. I wasn't sure what to make of Job repeating multiple times that he was sinless, when it says in the New Testament that all have sinned. (well, minus Jesus) And I don't think that God particularly cared if he was sinless or not, just that his heart was right towards Him.

Job

When I first became a Christian, my friends encouraged me to read the Bible. But they qualified it. They said read the Bible, but skip Job. They implied that Job was really complicated. It probably is good advice to a new Christian to start in the New Testament.
I have read Job a number of times since being a Christian but have never got a lot out of it. I think this is the first time I have read it and really tried to understand the characters. Do I know people like this? From hearing other people discussing Job, I went into it thinking that Job is right and the 'friends' are wrong. But in reading it, I am not sure who is right and who is wrong and if it really matters. I think they both have interesting points on suffering. I am only about halfway through- we'll see how things go in the next half!

Esther

Reading Esther is always like a breathe of fresh air. I got through it quickly. My favorite quote is:

4:14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

It is quite possible that God had Esther in this position so that He could bring deliverance through her. But if she didn't go along with it, God would bring deliverance another way.

A quote from Helen Keller seems to fit here:

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks,