Today's bit of Davidiatic poetry is all about justice; it centres on the theme of people getting what is coming to them. David encourages God to smite him, should he be found wanting, and also warns in verse 7:15 that any of his enemies who dig themselves a pit may well fall into it. The first line to stand out to me the end of verse 5: Let the ( Read more... )

Psalm 6:6 has some very vivid imagery: I am weary with my groaning, all night I make my bed swim, I drench my coach with my tears. I have not had a big cry like that in a while, not even when I was feeling drained yesterday. Despite that, last night I did make my bed swim. We are just beginning a heat wave, which seems to be magnified at the Aerie ( Read more... )

Today's psalm hits me quite hard. I am in a semidepressed mood; it seems like there is a short-circuit in my ability to be happy. I had a very pleasent day, yet the fact that it was good makes me sigh now. This all has its roots in a few days ago ( Read more... )

The passage from Psalm Four which stands out most to me is verse four. That is pretty easy to remember, 4:4! Anyway, it instructs us, somewhat cryptically, to "Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still". Mose interesting to me is the part about meditating on one's bed. Presumably, we are to meditate with our ( Read more... )

The third psalm is the first one which is a lament. At least, it begins in a lamentive mood. That makes sense; I recall hearing that a third of them were laments... Or maybe it was two thirds... In any case, this is the first, and more are on the way. We Humans like to lament quite a bit. We like to rehash our troubles and beg for divine ( Read more... )

There is an advertisment to the side of the screen as I am typing this, a link attempting to sell me a smartphone locked to a network. Such things are all over the place. The interesting thing about this one is that the date shown on the phone happens to be my birthday. While it is theoretically possible that the advert could pull the birthday from ( Read more... )

In Church we have been treated to a sermon series on sowing, reaping, and fruitfulness. The analogy of one's life as a field, tree, or vine is one of the most common in the Bible, and I find one of the most beautiful. It pops up in the very first psalm, at verse 1:3, which describes what it is to be righteous: He shall be like a tree planted in the ( Read more... )

I plan on starting a new journalling-series on the Psalms, one a day, but before heading back to the poetic and musical praise and prayers of 1410 BC, I am going to hop only as far back as 1096 AD, with a pit-stop in 1917 AD. Today, I will be looking at the final verse of the hymn The Love Of God, which we sang at Church on Sunday. The song as we ( Read more... )

What would be different about your life if God's love completely filled you and guided all your actions?

Love is a funny thing. It takes many forms. Sometimes it is difficult to know which form of love one should express. For example, I often ask myself how I can best love my friends: Is it more loving to have times of fellowship which drain my ( Read more... )

What fears can you release to God today?

I feel quite peaceful in this moment. So far today I have had a quiet and relaxing time. I made a tasty breakfast, a parmesan-seasoned ham, cheese, and spinach sandwich made with olive-oil mayonnaise on an onion-bun, served warm and with milk. Then I listened to some fascinating Quirks And Quarks podcasts. ( Read more... )