Psalm 17

Now we move onto the next Psalm. I have used the versions from The Message by Eugene Petersen and the ASV. Lets read and pray about this chapter and write what God reveals.

Psalm 17 from the Message


A David prayer. Listen while I build my case, GOD, the most honest prayer you'll ever hear.
Show the world I'm innocent-- in your heart you know I am.

Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night-- You'll find I'm just what I say I am. My words don't run loose.

I'm not trying to get my way in the world's way. I'm trying to get your way, your Word's way.
I'm staying on your trail; I'm putting one foot In front of the other. I'm not giving up.

I call to you, God, because I'm sure of an answer. So--answer! bend your ear! listen sharp!
Paint grace-graffiti on the fences; take in your frightened children who Are running from the neighborhood bullies straight to you.

Keep your eye on me; hide me under your cool wing feathers
From the wicked who are out to get me, from mortal enemies closing in.
Their hearts are hard as nails, their mouths blast hot air.
They are after me, nipping my heels, determined to bring me down,
Lions ready to rip me apart, young lions poised to pounce.

Up, GOD: beard them! break them! By your sword, free me from their clutches;
Barehanded, GOD, break these mortals, these flat-earth people who can't think beyond today.

I'd like to see their bellies swollen with famine food, The weeds they've sown harvested and baked into famine bread, With second helpings for their children and crusts for their babies to chew on.
And me? I plan on looking you full in the face. When I get up, I'll see your full stature and live heaven on earth.


Psalm 17 from ASV

Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; Let thine eyes look upon equity.

Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.

My steps have held fast to thy paths, My feet have not slipped.

I have called upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God: Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that take refuge in thee From those that rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

From the wicked that oppress me, My deadly enemies, that compass me about.

They are inclosed in their own fat: With their mouth they speak proudly.

They have now compassed us in our steps; They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.

He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Arise, O Jehovah, Confront him, cast him down: Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword;

From men by thy hand, O Jehovah, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly thou fillest with thy treasure: They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.

What do you think of this passage?

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (KJV)
1Jo 5:3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. (Message)

I am studying the book of 1 John this month and came upon this verse which has been on my mind for several reasons. For now, let me talk of the foremost thought.
This is the idea that the commandments of God are not burdensome, troublesome or grievous. That is not and idea I have ever heard espoused, nor have I really ever taught that. But since it is in the Word, then I must deal with it. The word 'grevious' means weighty, heavy, burdensome. Notice, though, that the verse states that the commands are not burdensome themselves. Keeping them may be grevious though. I think we all view rules as bad, as something to be opposed to and to try to get around. Here we are told that the commands are actually the way of demonstrating love of God, and if we can show we love God by obeying His commands then the commands would be a relief, a joy, a final answer to the "How" of loving God. What do you all think?

Back to Ps 16

Welcome Kato,
I read and reread your post, trying to get a feel for what you were saying. Glad you liked the psalm. Sorry to hear of your distant feeling from God. That coupled with your discontent reminds me of a time in my life when God seemed so far away and all I had to hold onto was the truth that He loved me and had rescued me. That particular time was several years long and in the end I was more certain of Him and His work in my life, but in a way that was different than before. So don't give up, hang in there and keep on listening to Him, reading His revelation of Himself and praying to Him (but not at the Church of the really shy person).

The discontent may also be from God leading you to a deeper place with Him. If we are satisfied, how will we desire more of Him? I, too, am feeling the dissatisfaction with my life, my church and the people around me. I know that "this" is not all there is, but am unsure at this point of how to find the rest...but I am doing what I know is good-studying and reading God's Word, talking to Him, obeying what I know to be His commands....and trusting Him. He loves me and I know He will direct me.
From Ps 16: have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. If I keep God firmly in the forefront of my vision, I will not move off the path, nor will I become so unglued as to bail on the faith. This is a comfort to me, knowing I can question, argue and fuss about what is happening but God will remain faithful so long as I do not move from Him...Keeping Him at my right hand denotes being close, at a place I can hear Him clearly, see His face and be in His presence.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life; He has made known-HE has given us the knowledge-not wishes, feelings, hopes, but knowledge, which is certain. To the path of life...that is what we know now....in the future is the joy in His presence as indicated in the rest of the sentence. you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Our life is here and in the future, the now and the not yet....perfection comes after death, after time here (unless we remain till He comes again). The most difficult aspect of the walk of faith is the faith part....waiting, holding firm, hoping, gritting my teeth while evil is celebrated and goodness is bashed. We will always see glimpses of the future reality, but now we hold it by faith. There remains the TRUTH that is more reliable than the earth on which we stand, the sun we see in the sky and the sensations we feel, with our fingers. Truth remains and will never fail us, that is my relief, rest and secure place.

Introductions lacking biblical insight

Oh well.......here goes nothing. I suppose i should just publish this...................................

Before the vast readership disavows my existence, or my mom and sisters get annoyed, [which in reality they wouldn't] I think it's time to jump in and at least introduce myself as another contributer to this blog.

It's midevening monday. I figured I could stop looking for cheap land on realtor.com where I'd like to build eco housing for the masses. "Masses" is an overstatement as there is currently about 1/2 an acre of land for sale in los angeles. Maybe just an eco friendly garage for a hybrid hummer....but this is besides the point for this blog.

I am the youngest of the contributers. Living in on the west coast, I am currently in school studying Traditional Chinese Medicine. I don't really work right now. I have been spending the summer hanging with my 6 year old step-son who currently has a mohawk and wants to be a singer or dirtbiker when he grows up. I've been married for just over two years to a man who, to steal a phrase from my friend, is a passionate "save the world junkie." He's really cool and does things like play the guitar and sing Oasis and Pink Floyd songs to our 6 year old while he takes a bath. He does it really loudly so the neighbors can hear. He also does laundry which i hate.

I am interested in things like permaculture, sustainability and learning about ways to conserve energy and resources. (Hence the above reference to eco housing building). Also, by nature of what i'm studying I'm very interested in alternative cures instead of things like drugs and surgery, except when absolutely necessary. Lately I've been doing a lot of reading about childbirth and alternatives to using hospitals. I think I might want to be a Doula (birth coach, labor and delivery assistant etc...) when I grow up.

So this a bible study type blog.

I like Jesus.

I recently told one of my sisters that I haven't written anything yet because I tend to write a lot of "I feel" stuff and this isn't necessarily the place to do it. I continued to tell her that I came to a place a while back where i wasn't going to feign spirituality anymore just to fill space or make an awkward moment less awkward. (you know the feeling, you're in church or some place and some person with the microphone says, "Break into groups and pray." So you're there with two or three people. Maybe you ended up with the three shyest people in the entire place. Nobody is talking. All eyes are closed. You're wondering how much longer you have to sit there until microphone person says something to end the corporate prayer. You think "If i was in Africa I wouldn't be feeling this way because everyone prays in Africa...and loudly...and all together." But not here at church of the shy person. SO you break down. YOu say something. Maybe it was fitting. Maybe it was God led...but maybe you just felt so ....reeh...that you had to pray.)

...yeah. so I don't do that anymore. That was my long way of saying that.

I read Psalm 16. I read it in the NASV and The Message. I read it over and over and over. I like the message. But then, I"ve been told i'm just a victim of postmodernism.

Keep me safe oh God, I've run for dear life to you. I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you nothing makes sense. And these God Chosen lives all around--what splendid friends they make! Don't just go shopping for a God. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names. My choice is you, God, first and only. ANd now i find I'm your choice. You set me up with a house and a yard. And then you made me your heir! The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go. I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell--that's not my destination! Now you've got my fee on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

.....it is now 11:14 pm. not that i've been sitting in front of the computer for hours. I just came back. Don't have much to say. I could highlight vs. 5 where David realizes that he's also God's choice and mention how I questioned a while back if I just wasn't God's choice. I got over that sentiment rather quickly but it occassionaly lingers back into my mind. I've been on earth for the last few years and God has felt rather removed. And no matter how many times i think of the Footprints in the sand poem do I feel comfort. Sometimes I feel like I'm looking and looking and looking and then I seek him in the silence of my heart. ThenI look in the wanderings of my footsteps. And then I look for Him in these great stories of the bible where people like David could watch Bathsheba bathe, knock her up, kill off her husband, and forgive himself and ask forgiveness of God in the end...yet it all seems so removed from me. I've spent years asking the question, Where am I going wrong? Is it just that I'm not chosen? I know this walk with Jesus is hard and challenging, but for the love, throw me a bone here.

Vs. 2 BE MY LORD, w/o you nothing makes sense! This is the true sentiment of my heart. If there is one thing I hold cemented into the psyche of my being it is that this life and all its entrails make no sense without God. I truly "have no good without thee." (NASV) I could expound on these innerworkings of my mind but this isn't really the place. Perhaps it should just be known, this being my introduction and all, that I've finally come to a place of peace where if "this" is all there is then I will still continue to bless the Lord and follow. He has died for me. And while I'm not worthy, like Spin said, we would be wise to ponder the more lasting gifts God has given, and learn to just shut-up and say thank you--no strings of "you really shouldn't have" attached.

While I'm at peace. I'm not content. Because I want more. It's like a scene from the wedding singer where Adam Sandler goes in for a bank loan and says to the loan officer,

"I like money. I keep it in a jar on my fridge. I'd like to put more in there. That's where you come..."

I find myself saying to God sometimes:

I like Jesus. I keep looking around for him to infilatrate my life. I'd like to learn more about him. That's where you can help me....

I have no interest in other gods. I live in a city that is innundated with people latching on to whatever new form of faith is popularized by Hollywood. I am learning a profession which attracts a lot of spiritual people and their personalized hooey. I am not interest in the crap. Just give me Jesus.

Context

What a wonderful chapter to discuss! The book of Deuteronomy is a great book to instuct and encourage. When looking at a book or chapter in a book it is important to see the context of the book in the whole of scripture and in the history of God's people. This is to ask of the text, "What are you saying to the original hearers" Deuteronomy is the last of Moses' five books. He recorded it shortly before his death and spoke these words to the Israelites "forty years after the Israelites left Mount Sinai, on a day in midwinter." (1:3) These words were spoken to the people, in a real time and place. (I really love how the time of year is even mentioned...) The people were east of the Jordan, camped in the wilderness. This is the speech (really a series of speeches) that would instruct them how to live in the LAND, to no longer wander in the wilderness. Think, if you will, about living as a nomad, carrying all you own, having only the necessities of life. Your life is slim...perhaps monotonous, routine in that you get up, eat, find more food to eat, pack, walk, set up the tent, cook the food, feed and care for the animals, talk to the family and go to sleep, ready to do the same the next day. But now, the LORD is taking you to a place to settle down, to be in one place to have, perhaps, more than the bare necessities. The entire journey of 40 years has been both a consequence of sin and a lesson in Theology. Moses wants the people to remember all the journey, all the events, all the good and the bad. Only in that way will they not repeat the same sins as their fathers and mothers.
As Kellie noted, remembering is very important to learning the lessons available in each event in our lives. If we look at our times and events in our life with the 'mind of Christ' we become in tune with God's plan and do not hold onto our plan. It was God's plan that got the Israelites to the Promised Land. Their plan got them killed and made them wanderers. (1:26-end of chpt)
Chapter 8 begins with the command to obey and ends with the warning to always remember God. If I am striving to obey God, I must know what He has said, hence the need to listen to Him in His word, in prayer and through the ministry of His Spirit. This requires discipline! Oh boy, the favorite pastime of this day and age is spontaneous life without any pattern or plan, so we fight our own flesh and fight the spirit of the age. I sometimes feel free if I don't pick up my bible for a day...but from what am I free? Free from God, the one who loves me, who owns me, who died in my place? And I am free to whom? Myself, the flesh of my self which wants its own way...the world's free wheeling spirit which does tend to waste rather than improve time spent, and the devil who hates me, who wants to enslave me, who wants to kill me....Not much of a choice when looked at that way.
Kellie has spoken well of remembering God and all He has done. It is far to easy to skip God in our memories and recollections. I have recently begun to keep a journal...Not an easy thing for me to do, but I want to remember and recall and make sense of the life God has given me. To do less it to treat this gift with disdain as though not a gift and of my own doing....something Chapter 8 warns us about in no uncertain terms.
Proverbs 1:7 "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipine. " We are on a journey that is counter the culture and counter the flesh. Expect it to be work, expect it to be arduous at times, but "For wisdom will enter you heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy." Proverbs 2:10

Deuteronomy 8 - Life Verses

Billy and I adopted Deut. 8 as one of our family verses very early on. Jennifer and Rob S. had made help make this verse significant to Billy and he later brought it to me. Our time living in Oregon brought some of this home to us about trusting in the Lord. No time was it ever more present to me than the time between our paychecks from graduate school ending (May 1999) and Billy getting his first paycheck from Habitat (late September 1999).

During this time the Lord really showed us how he sustains us even when their is no logical explanation for that sustaining. Our clothes did not wear out, we had a home, health care and food. We were well cared for and we felt very close to the Lord. Even during those 4 months when we were unsure how we were going to make ends meet or if Billy would ever find a job. During the time our first child was born and we were so uncertain of our future we found ourselves leaning so heavily on the Lord and seeing his provision in very real ways.

Then we move to Georgia and it was like the Israelites after a long time walking somehow we can lose sight of God and the way he is working in our lives. We can become so disgruntled and grumbling about our circumstances that it is hard to acknowledge God's hand in all we do.

Retrospect of course is easier. Now I see how God protected K and me when we got held up at the store and gas station so we were not home when our neighbor was murdered by our other neighbor. How God put the right women in my life to teach me about being a truly submissive and God fearing wife and a godly mother. How God taught us to rely on him for our comfort and our safety and not the terrible health care there. How God used us in small ways to make differences in the perpetual racism and sexism of the area. How God taught us that these things still exist. It is easy now to see it but it wasn't then. I was grumbling, I was unhappy and I wanted it to change. Now I know that was an important growing season for us.

Of course we saw God immediately the day he signed our release papers (that's really what it felt like to me) from Southwest Georgia and we headed up to Minnesota! It was easy to acknowledge that the good came from Him when that good was so obvious.

The other part of this chapter that always strikes me is the importance of verses 10-12, emphasis mine:

"10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

It can be all too easy to overlook the Lord when our lives are going well. We make a conscious effort each day to remember that it is God who gives us all we have. It is the Lord who has led us through all the difficult seasons and into the plentiful season we are in now. Billy and I are truly in a plentiful season and we acknowledge and thank God for that every day. I make it a habit so much that it has become second nature to me to always acknowledge His role in all the good.

When Billy gets a raise or a promotion at work. My first reaction is "Praise God for his faithfulness, provision and answered prayers" My immediate follow-up is "Thank you Billy for all the hard work and commitment you put forth to make it possible. First we acknowledge God and then the work he has made possible but we choose to follow through with. The constant act of thankfulness and acknowledgement of God has become a second nature to us.

We start each nights prayers with "Thank you Lord for...." and C's prayer is almost always "Thank you God for all things good" - at first I thought this was a bit route and simplified but then I tried to look at it from C's perspective and even from what little I can deduce about God's perspective. Then I realized C has it right - how good it is to acknowledge and thank God for ALL things good. C does this every day and he means it. He loves all that is around him and acknowledges that it comes from God. He has a spirit of thankfulness and a spirit of continual acknowledgment of the Lord. This is what I want to cultivate in myself and in my kids which is why Duet 8 is such a good reminder to us daily.

Our oldest K has this in her personality. She praises God for parking spaces, meals, friends and nearly anything good in her life. This is something they see modeled in their home and was modeled in their grandparents home before ours. This is a true legacy to pass on through the generations. Thanks Mom for starting it!

It is good to be proud of the work that we are our spouses accomplish. It is important to acknowledge that to them, ourselves and others. Yet more important than even that is taking the time to always remind ourselves each day (emphasis mine again):

..17 "You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God."

We have a truly amazing God and he is with us always through the good and the bad. It is important to always acknowledge Him and His role in our lives. That provision may not always be obvious to the world around us that it is the hand of God at work in our lives but to those of us who truly know Him with practice we too can make it our nature to always see His role and always remember that it was Him who brought us through the dessert and it is Him (not us) that makes our successes possible. Sure we have to work hard and make good choices - yet in the end it is God who provides the opportunities, skills and tools for us to succeed.

The combination of Deuteronomy 8 and our family verse Joshua 24: 15 has been the stronghold and foundation for our family and they are verses we come back to time and time again. I leave you with our family verse:

"15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Love,
Kellie-Ann

Deuteronomy 8

Do Not Forget the LORD
1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.

Feeling Worthy

I reread Psalm 16 in The New Living Translation to get another take on it and the portion that stood out to me is where David says "No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praise." (v.9a) Prior to saying this David has recounted the good things God has given him and done for him--naturally in light of such blessing it is easy to praise God. But David had his share of hardship throughout his life, so his praising God here though it appears to be in the midst of a time of blessing should not be easily dismissed. It is easy to be thankful when things are good, it is not when things aren't. Here, it seems David is choosing to focus on and recount the positive things is his life rather than dwelling on the negative things--that in and of itself is something worth learning.

But beyond this first observation, I realized that David does not come to God with feelings of unworthiness and false humility. I think we tend to forget how truly humble his origins were, and thus what it must have been like for him to sit as King over Israel and ponder all he had been given and how far he had come in worldy terms. He is clearly grateful and thankful for the blessings God bestowed on him, but he is most moved by the things God promises everyone who trusts in Him: life, confidence in his presence and care, an eternal inheritance. Again we can learn from him in this as well.

What really struck me tonight though was the fact that rather than wasting time lamenting how unworthy he is of such blessing, David just skips right to thanking and praising God. I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing, but I have found myself so much lately feeling that I don't deserve the goodness in my life, the blessings God has continued to pour down on me, that I can't help but wonder after reading this Psalm if perhaps that isn't taking the focus off of God and placing it on me. Without intending to, I am reversing my role with that of God. We know from other writings of David that he was well aware of his unworthiness and the utter unfairness of God's love for people as pitiful as us--and yet he does not dwell on this--he just uses the knowledge as a springboard for praise--which is truly what God desires of us.

The beauty of God's love for us is precisely that we don't deserve it--even on our best days. We don't deserve his blessing, we don't deserve anything, and yet like a father, he delights is giving us good gifts--the least of which are the material things that we tend to notice the most. Like David, we would be wise to ponder the more lasting gifts God has given, and learn to just shut-up and say thank you--no strings of "you really shouldn't have" attached.

Ramblings on Psalm 16

This psalm is such an encouraging one for me. It always reminds me of where I was and how far I have come in the Lord. Having made life choices that kept me apart from God for so long I truly experienced many of the sorrows of running after other gods. During that time in my life especially high school and college I experienced many things but looking back on them few were what I would consider good things. I certainly did not feel secure or safe and I was always looking to fill some hole that I felt acutely. I was worried and lived much of my life in fear. Fear of harm, fear of rejection, fear of people finding out who I really was inside and knowing how weak and scared I was.

After finding the Lord I have a very clear before and after moment in my life and I can say with honesty that my feelings of security and safety began in the after mark. In God I can find refuge and safety even when the world and circumstances around me are crazy. I recall the way that I reacted to the crisis of September 11th. Two small children at home, a husband traveling in the East Coast and so much of my family in New York City. I think I would have crumbled without the strength the Lord gave me. Without his refuge and the confidence of his peace I can not imagine how I might have handled or rather not handled things.

All of this is easy for me to see and acknowledge what is hard is living out the verses:

"LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

During times of trial or even day to day drudgery it can be hard for me to be thankful for my portion and my cup. It is hard when the world seems to crumble around us through the choices our culture and others make. It is hard to remember that we are secure, even if not from bodily harm surely we are secure in what truly matters. Our inheritance is secure and our eternal life with God is what I should care about. I do care about it - yet at times it is easy to get caught up in all the details of life and lose sight of the bigger picture. In realizing how blessed my life is and how truly pleasant God has made this life for me, nevermind how much more wonderful eternity will be.

I know I need to remember to always set the Lord before me and then take confidence in that. I know when I live my life with "God-confidence" the confidence that I am putting him first and trying my best to follow his will than I can take confidence in my decisions even when the world around me doesn't understand or agree with it.

Having kids and wanting to pass this on to them makes me want to live my life this way all the more. I truly want my kids to know that they need always to put God first and then have confidence in His promises and his word. Using that confidence we can face anything without being shaken for we know that God is at our side.

Knowing that and living it are two different things though. It begins with a knowledge of this but it must be implemented with daily small and big choices. So I carry on and try to do my best each day.

For me the heart of this psalm lays in the understanding and accepting and living out that I need to take refuge in the Lord, accept the path and portion he has set before me and live that out with the confidence that my eternal inheritance is secure and I will rejoice and be filled with joy in Him.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Kellie-Ann