Psalm 55 The Message
55 1-3 Open your ears, God, to my prayer;
don’t pretend you don’t hear me knocking.
Come close and whisper your answer.
I really need you.
I shudder at the mean voice,
quail before the evil eye,
As they pile on the guilt,
stockpile angry slander.
4-8 My insides are turned inside out;
specters of death have me down.
I shake with fear,
I shudder from head to foot.
“Who will give me wings,” I ask—
“wings like a dove?”
Get me out of here on dove wings;
I want some peace and quiet.
I want a walk in the country,
I want a cabin in the woods.
I’m desperate for a change
from rage and stormy weather.
9-11 Come down hard, Lord—slit their tongues.
I’m appalled how they’ve split the city
Into rival gangs
prowling the alleys
Day and night spoiling for a fight,
trash piled in the streets,
Even shopkeepers gouging and cheating
in broad daylight.
12-14 This isn’t the neighborhood bully
mocking me—I could take that.
This isn’t a foreign devil spitting
invective—I could tune that out.
It’s you! We grew up together!
You! My best friend!
Those long hours of leisure as we walked
arm in arm, God a third party to our conversation.
15 Haul my betrayers off alive to hell—let them
experience the horror, let them
feel every desolate detail of a damned life.
16-19 I call to God;
God will help me.
At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh
deep sighs—he hears, he rescues.
My life is well and whole, secure
in the middle of danger
Even while thousands
are lined up against me.
God hears it all, and from his judge’s bench
puts them in their place.
But, set in their ways, they won’t change;
they pay him no mind.
20-21 And this, my best friend, betrayed his best friends;
his life betrayed his word.
All my life I’ve been charmed by his speech,
never dreaming he’d turn on me.
His words, which were music to my ears,
turned to daggers in my heart.
22-23 Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—
he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out.
He’ll never let good people
topple into ruin.
But you, God, will throw the others
into a muddy bog,
Cut the lifespan of assassins
and traitors in half.
And I trust in you.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
REST! Is it really a lost commodity in our culture?
In our hurried, never-sitting-still-society-for-fear-of-being-run-over-by-society, you would think it is.
That speaks of physical rest, but what of the rest of one’s soul?
A time when one can enjoy a respite of peace and quiet on the inside instead of always feeling like their world is in turmoil.
I think many of us can really relate to that need for rest.
Sometimes, we wish we could do like Jesus and stand before the storm and say, “Peace, be still,” and literally make every wave of adversity shut its mouth!
I know you want to. I do, too!
It just becomes too much to deal with at times, and the need for space to breathe, to come out from under all this mess, becomes an overwhelming factor.
God bless you if you can’t relate to what I am saying here.
For most of us, the challenge of dealing with daily schedules, mess, and problems leaves us feeling totally surrounded.
As if, no matter what direction we turn, there is something there to prevent us from really enjoying that rest.
Oh, but if I had two wings!
I would fly!
The idea of rising above every problem and adverse circumstance is very tantalizing.
Right there, I form a mental picture of myself soaring.
Below me is everything that tries to come against me.
All those problems and schedules are trying to reach up and grab hold of me, but they can’t!
I have risen too high for them.
I have learned how to fly above it all!
The problem with that is that it is a fantasy.
Oh, that it was real.
While we are living on this side of glory, we are always going to have something to deal with, but that still doesn’t mean we can’t fly.
Isaiah 40:31 emphatically declares,
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles . . .”
God never promised to remove every problem from our lives but, what He did say, is He will renew the strength of those who turn to Him in the midst of it all.
God is strong in power, and there is none like Him (Isaiah 40:25-26).
We recognize today that though I may not have suddenly sprouted two wings out of my back, when I rely on God’s power, it is as if I am already soaring!
And, that my friends, is real rest!
It is a confidence that fills my heart and lets me know that I don’t have to feel beaten down and worn out.
God’s got this!
He sees what I am going through.
Psalms 5:11-12 “Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.”
I may not have two physical wings on the outside, but on the inside, I’m flying higher than it all.
Why?
Because though it may seem at times I am totally surrounded, I serve the Lord God Almighty who is ready, willing able to “encompass” me “as with a shield.”
Therefore, today, I can fly!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Praying …
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 
