Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Week 26: Psalms 112-144

The book of Psalms continues this week with the following plan:

*  Weekend:  Psalms 112-118
*  Monday:  Psalms 119
*  Tuesday:  Psalms 120-127
*  Wednesday:  Psalms 128-135
*  Thursday:  Psalms 136-139
*  Friday:  Psalms 140-144

This is the last full week of reading the Psalms.  Last week, Dick shared some examples of how this book plays an integral part of his and his family's spiritual health.  The instruction Dick gave was "to make the Psalms your own."  This means that different Psalms will resonate more with you based on where you are in your spiritual walk.  There are Psalms of praise, of pain and of repentance among others.  As you read the Psalms and if one really grabs you, please print it out or write it out and post it in a prominent place.

Two Psalms stand out for me:  Psalm 25 and Psalm 119.  The first Psalm is a prayer for forgiveness.  This is posted above my desk in my work office.  It is my reminder to live a life with integrity, yet still humble myself to know that I sin repeatedly and am in constant need of forgiveness.  A reminder that I cannot do life without God.

The second Psalm is more about a verse as opposed to the whole chapter.  Psalm 119:105 is the first memory verse I was taught in church as a kid.  I remember it in the King James version and I suppose that is always how I will remember it:  "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Have you found a Psalm to own? 

Have a great week- sorry for the late posting!

-Mike

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Week 25: Psalms 78 - 111

This week we'll continue in the book of Psalms:
  • Weekend: Psalms 78 - 82
  • Monday: Psalms 83 - 89
  • Tuesday: Psalms 90 - 97
  • Wednesday: Psalms 98 - 103
  • Thursday: Psalms 104 - 106
  • Friday: Psalms 107 - 111
Over time, certain Psalms can become very personal and bring back strong memories. For me (Dick), Psalm 90 is such an example. When I grew up, every year on New Year's Eve we would gather with family and play games and eat Dutch dumplings all evening. But five minutes before midnight, we would stop all festivities. My uncle, the oldest brother on my mom's side, would get out his Bible and read this Psalm with his low voice. Then we would pray, usually interrupted by the fireworks that would burst out at 12a.m. Psalm 90 is one of those Psalms that shows the 'transitoriness' of mankind, his weakness and mortality. But it also shows his dependence on an eternal, immortal God.

Psalm 92 is another one of those memorable Psalms for me. On Sunday morning before church, we would all have breakfast together as a family. After breakfast, my dad would get out his Bible and read either Psalm 92 or Psalm 122. Both are Psalms of worship that exalt God and tell us how good it is to worship God in his temple. Very appropriate to read that before you go to church. As kids, we'd sometimes jokingly recite the whole Psalm to imitate my dad -- that's how familiar it had become to us.

Psalm 103 is a beautiful psalm about God's mercy and forgiveness. Jesus' work on the cross almost jumps off the pages if you read that. In the church I grew up in, we used to read that every single time after we had communion. Parts of Psalm 105 were read when we had baptisms as it talks about God's faithfulness with his people.

I encourage you to make the Psalms your own. They are expressions of all kinds of emotions, but most of all, they are expressions of worship of our great and awesome God. He is worthy of all our praise.

Dick

Friday, June 11, 2010

Week 24: Psalms 42-77

Welcome to week 24...just two weeks shy of the year's halfway mark, which means that we've read almost half the Bible!

If you've missed some reading, don't despair.  Jump right in here and resolve to finish the balance of the year on a strong note.  God has a way of speaking to us in timely ways whenever we open his word.

Here's our reading schedule for the week:

Weekend: Psalms 42-47
Monday: Psalms 48-53
Tuesday: Psalms 54-59
Wednesday: Psalms 60-66
Thursday: Psalms 67-72
Friday: Psalms 73-77

Students of Scripture call the Book of Psalms the "most New-Testament Old Testament book."  The Psalms are prayers, praises, petitions, reflections, and even complaints...voiced by people who are trying to sort out life in relationship with Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, says that the writers of the Psalms alternate between periods of "orientation," "disorientation," and "new orientation" (see his superb commentary, The Message of the Psalms).

This is our spiritual journey.  There are times in our lives when all is right with the world.  Songs and praises flow easily.  There are other times, however, in which dark clouds darken our days.  We are in a state of disorientation.  The Psalms help us through these periods by giving us vocabulary by which to articulate praise and thanksgiving during times of "orientation," and examples of how to express dismay, confusion, and even anger amid the periods of "disorientation."

The silver lining that the Book of Psalms reflects is that periods of disorientation are followed by seasons of "new orientation."  God will never leave or forsake us.  "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."  God says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:1-2, 10).

Monday, June 7, 2010

Week 23: Psalms 7 - 41

Happy Monday!  Hope you all are enjoying the Spring as much as possible!  Since the rain is keeping us a little more indoors these days, hopefully you are able to keep up on the reading plan a little better...

Here is the plan for this week:

*  Weekend:  Psalms 7-12
*  Monday:  Psalms 13-18
*  Tuesday:  Psalms 19-24
*  Wednesday:  Psalms 25-30
*  Thursday:  Psalms 31-36
*  Friday:  Psalms 37-41

Tuesday we will read the 23rd Psalm, probably the most known passage in the entire Bible.  How does this Psalm apply to your life?  Please post your thoughts if you would like and maybe even post how this reading plan has been a catalyst in your life (we hope it has been!).

Have a great week!!!

Mike