Psalm 84:3-4 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars,

Psalm 84:3-4 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah

How lovely it is to be Your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! What joy there is to sing Your praises throughout the land. What peace floods my soul as life in your kingdom becomes a reality to me, as I learn to live in the Unseen.

Praise You, my LORD God Almighty.

Psalm 84:1-2 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!

Psalm 84:1-2 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Lord, You have created an intense desire within my heart to be fit, holy and pure, so that I may be Your dwelling place, Your temple, the place from which Your glory emanates in word and deed.

Luke 12:15 And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness,

Exodus 20:1-2,17
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

Luke 12:15 And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

How much of the Kingdom of Man's efforts is poured into appealing to covetousness, building covetousness, creating covetousness, insuring that no fleeting desire goes unsatisfied? And how often do I find that those desires quickly sour and turn rancid in my soul? The latest technical whizbang that will provide unparalleled capability quickly consumes countless precious hours to get it to operate as advertised, if it ever does. Teach me, Lord, to recognize covetousness before it consumes me, not after.

Psalm 119:144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

For Saturday, 27 June 2009
Psalm 119:144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

Lord, help me to see the scope; the integrity and coherence of your Law. To see that it is both unreduced and complete and that there is a logical, orderly and consistent relationship throughout. Help me to understand that I must not willfully disregard any portion of your Word for in so doing, I break the integrity and violate the coherence.

One of the beauteous parts of your Word is that there is no "law of unexpected consequences." Your promises are complete, your Word is sure and dependable. Sometimes, the completeness is beyond my comprehension for I only see in part and dimly, but I know that it is there and will be revealed at the proper time.

Psalm 83:9-18 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who were destroyed at En-dor,

Psalm 83:9-18 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, "Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God." O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane! Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

Lord, who are those enemies who conspire against me? Are they not named Pride? Anger? Depression? Lust? Rejection? Fear? Do they not work together to mar my relationship with You? Is not their goal to steal my Joy?

It is Your tempest, Your hurricane that destroys these enemies, not my efforts. It is You, Lord, only You that provides the firestorm.

I have Your promise, Lord, that You will go before me and surround me with countless numbers of Your angels. Your promise to never leave me or forsake me carries me through the onslaught and turns the dark nights of my soul into blazing fire.

Psalm 83:5-8 For they conspire with one accord;

Psalm 83:5-8 For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant--the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah

Those affections seek with one accord to draw me away from You. They take great joy in spoiling the testimony of Your saints and bringing dishonor to Your name.

Psalm 83:1- 4 A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, do not keep silence;

Psalm 83:1- 4 A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. They say, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!"

Lord, take me to task as I wander from Your path, as those affections that draw me away from You begin to interfere with our relationship. I cannot follow the narrow path without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I need Your constant course correction.

Psalm 82:5-8 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Psalm 82:5-8
They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince." Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!

Lord, You call me to lift the darkness, to bring Your light into the realms of injustice, weakness, abandonment, affliction and destitution. To bring the floodlight of Your love to hearts of darkness and despair, where Joy has never shone, where depression is lord and master.

Lord, I hear and accept the call but You must guide my every step.

Psalm 82:1-4 A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council;

Psalm 82:1-4 A Psalm of Asaph.
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

Lord, send us leaders, leaders with servant hearts to nourish and encourage the flock. Send us leaders with the wisdom and grace to hold the flock accountable to their walk before You. Send us leaders who lead lives that reflect Your glory for all to see. Leaders whom we cam emulate as we seek to grow closer to You.

Exodus 20:Exodus 20:1-2,16 . "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Exodus 20:1-2,16

And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

How often do I duck an issue rather than speak Truth in love? I'm bearing "false witness" if I refuse through cowardice to bring the Word of God into the conversation on matters of morals and ethics. I contribute to the weakening of the Christian voice in the marketplace of ideas when I behave so cravenly. Is not this a form of denying my Lord before men? I need to be quaking in my boots for fear that He will deny me before the Father.

Psalm 119:133-136 Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Psalm 119:133-136 Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man's oppression, that I may keep your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.

The burden of my heart, laid upon me by your Spirit, is for the imprisoned, Lord, men whose disobedience to your law has put them into conflict with man's law. Oh, Lord, that you can use me to bring them to an understanding of how your Law must guide their lives as they live out the consequences of disobeying man's law. Many profess a "sinner's prayer" conversion but their lives do not reflect a transforming new birth. Transform and revive, Lord, as only you can do!

Psalm 119:129-130 Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.

Psalm 119:129-130 Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

For what can be known about You is plain to me, because You have shown it to me. For Your invisible attributes, namely, Your eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So I am without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20) Thank you, LORD, that I am without excuse. Thank you for that unfolding of your Word through Creation, for the unfolding this morning by the lightening as it laid the sheer immense beauty of the Creation before my eyes. Thank you for opening my eyes to the unfolding process.

The whiteness, the lightness, the blueness, the sharp details, the softness, the clearness, the pinkness of the dawn, are not these all hints of the glory of your Presence?

Psalm 81:13-16 Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

Psalm 81:13-16 Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Lord, when I seek You only, when my only desire is to walk in obedience to You, then my cup runs over, my joy is full, my life is complete.

Psalm 81:8-12 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

Psalm 81:8-12 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. "But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.

You are the Lord, my God, You have brought me out of a life of separation from You. That life of enslavement to self and sin centeredness. From a life of fear and worry into a life of Joy in Your presence. All You ask of me is to open my mouth and receive the blessing as You pour it in; You ask for my "Yes, Lord" to Your commands and the blessings flow into me.

Psalm 81:6-7 "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.

Psalm 81:6-7 "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

Lord, You allow tests and trials, You allow me to be brought into secret places where no one else knows of the agonies I face, where You can teach me to turn to You, to cry out to You, to seek Your wisdom and strength, abandoning my own devices and schemes. Then You relieve my burden, You carry the load, You are my strength and hope.

Psalm 81:1-5 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!

Psalm 81:1-5 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob. He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known:

Rejoice, again I say rejoice. Praise the Lord for the joy with which He has filled us. Let our singing be enthusiastic, our melodies filled with harmony and rhythm, our voices reflect beauty and tonality. Let the voices of our instruments blend together to raise an anthem to the glories of the Lord.

James 3:5-6 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

Exodus 20:1-2, 15 And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not steal."

James 3:5-6 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

How often is the tongue used thoughtlessly and carelessly to steal the Shalom of a community or to break the joy of a relationship? It burglarizes joy, peace, contentment, justice, and righteousness from among Your people. Teach me, Lord, to always make my tongue submissive to the oversight of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 119:126 It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken.

Psalm 119:126 It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken.

I am surrounded by the strong bulls of Bashan, snorting, trampling Your good creation. Lord, bring revival to those who profess Your Name but do not walk in Your Way. Bring repentance and remorse to those who sing empty praises on Sunday morning but follow the gods of the age during the week. Let those praises turn to bitter ashes in their mouths until they awaken to Your call to repent and turn to You.

Psalm 80: 14-19 Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,

Psalm 80: 14-19 Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face! But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name! Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

We, even we in our weakened state, are Your church, we are the vine You planted, we are the flock of Your pasture, we are the people that You died for. Restore us, oh Lord, return us to that live and vibrant voice carrying once again, a message of reconciliation into the darkest reaches of the culture. Let Your face shine, that we may be saved.

Psalm 80:8-13 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

Psalm 80:8-13 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. (The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.

What happened, Lord, Your church was vibrant, speaking in full voice to the needs and emptiness of the world, bringing the message of mercy, grace and transformation to all? Where did we begin to drift from our calling to make disciples of all the world? We became flaccid and weak, wrapped in our rituals and self-absorbency, no longer caring that the world around us recognizes that we are impotent and sterile.

Psalm 80:4-7 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?

Psalm 80:4-7 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers? You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Repentance, Lord, repentance. That the Holy Spirit would come to us as to Moses and cause us to throw ourselves face down in the dirt, weeping, fasting and repenting for the sins of the church. Have we so turned our ears from hearing Your word that our prayers have become an abomination to You? Restore us, Lord, that we may hear Your word, repent of our indifference and seek Your face.

Psalm 80:1-3 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!

Psalm 80:1-3 To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Lord, Your church is moribund, ineffectual and otiose. It would rather assimilate the culture than engage it. Oh, there is a weakly glowing ember here, a spark and a flash there, but by and large, submission to the demands of secularism to not allow its voice to be raised in the marketplace of society. Come to us, Holy Spirit with the flame of Pentecost that we once again may blaze with Your glory.

Psalm 80:3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalm 80:3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Psalms 80:7, 19 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Lord, as this verse is repeated three times in this psalm, I am reminded that You have saved me, a completed feat, not to be repeated in me. Then I am reminded of the many ways that you are saving me, those many and varied ways in which Your Holy Spirit moves to strip the old man from me. And in the final repetition, You hold out the hope, an awareness of the certainty of the life to come, a life in Your presence, fulfilling Your purpose for me, a purpose set by You before I was formed.

Praise You, LORD God Almighty!

Exodus 20:1-2, 14 And God spoke all these words, saying, "You shall not commit adultery."

Exodus 20:1-2, 14 And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not commit adultery."

Faithful in relationships, in all relationships, modeling your faithfulness to all whom I have contact with. It does not matter what their relationship is with You, I am to reflect You to them. A part of being a man of Your word, my yea is to be yea, my nay, nay.

Psalm 119:116 Uphold me according to Your promise, that I may live,

Psalm 119:116 Uphold me according to Your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!

Lord, so often I fear the ridicule of my family, friends, and neighbors that it would appear that You have not answered a prayer and my faith has been misplaced. it is the ridicule that I fear, not the results of the apparent lack of answer. Uphold me Lord, to be firm in my faith and to testify that You do answer in Your time and in Your way.

Psalm 119:113 I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law.

Psalm 119:113 I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law.

I hate the double-mindedness that You reveal in me, Lord. Transform me into a single-minded follower after Your law; a man of fixed determination to walk in Your ways always and in every aspect of my life; that Your word would be permanently stored in my heart so that I would not sin against You.

Psalm 79:11-13 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!

Psalm 79:11-13 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die! Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord! But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Lord, I lift up the Persecuted Church, both here and abroad. Here we duck and bob and weave, avoiding any semblance of criticism or censure. Give us the backbone to face the world and challenge the Lie. Be with our brothers and sisters who face daily threats to their lives; thank You for their willingness to be called to account for Your name and to be faithful to Your Word.

Psalm 79:8-10 Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.

Psalm 79:8-10 Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake! Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes!

Our sins are legion; we have not confronted the culture; we have allowed the self-driven mores of the society around us to seep into our lives as we accept the standards of greed, lust, sexual iniquity, covetousness, slander, gossip, murder that are rampant. Bring us to our knees, LORD God Almighty, in repentance and seeking Your forgiveness.

Psalm 79:5-7 How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?

Psalm 79:5-7 How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name! For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.

Lord, restore Your Church, bring her again into that place of witness to You. Give her a hunger and a thirst for Your presence, restore her as Your Bride shining in the reflection of Your glory. Let Your mercy and grace pour over her as she once again steps into her rightful place as Your people on earth.

Psalm 79:1-4 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple;

Psalm 79:1-4 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.

And we, Your people, have allowed it, this invasion and have acquiesced to the lies of the culture around us.

I, Lord, have embraced the lies of the age; accepted the promises; made the priorities of the age, my priorities. I have not kept Your Word ever before me to seek You and Your righteousness first.

I repent, Lord, for I have forgotten/ignored/not followed Your righteous Law and call to be an ambassador of reconciliation to the age. Help me to keep that before me today -- that I am the bearer of the Good News -- not the beneficiary of the wares of the age.