183 - "Give Us This Day A Settled Peace of Conscience---let me listen with my eyes" Psalm 40-45

                                          

He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
Psalm 40:2

My foot stands on level ground when I am forgiven. 

There are no "big' people and "little" people in this world.

That's not what the world tells you. 

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,

    and put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:1-4

Some seasons, we can't work ourselves out of what we are in.  All we can do is wait patiently---never in vain.  We know God hears us.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Give us this day a "settled peace of conscience" that we may wait rightly.  And how did the Hebrews do it?  Through a metaphor. Psalm 40:7 - God dug out their ears. (God's Word Translation). They listened with both their ears and eyes --- I come to Your Word.  It is written of me.  

God's Kindness and Truth is David's comfort on his sickbed as he faces unkindness and treachery of family and friends. Psalm 41:1 do I fear in times of trouble? The sin of those who cheat me surrounds me. I am afraid that they won't change soon enough. I am afraid that they will get off without any verdict. They'll be passed over while I'm diligently working. My situation shouts to the cheaters whose sins bump up against mine this day. Maybe, they have wealth and can ease their way through. Blessed are those whose strength is in God, not in their wealth or position or ease. Where is my own heart this day? A highway to God? The psalmist's heart was set on God, set on a pilgrimage. "The very map to Jerusalem was written on that heart. His Love for God and for His house helped him make right decisions in life so that he did not go astray. ...The Valley of Baca is a name for any difficult and painful place in life, where everything seems hopeless and you feel helpless, like the pit of despair." W. Wiersbe. The people who love God expect to pass through this valley and not remain there. "They dig a well...They pray down the rain...They go from strength to strength." W.W. Trusting God no matter what coup de grace befalls. Psalm 45: 1 My heart bursts its banks, spilling beauty and goodness. I pour it out in a poem to the king, shaping the river into words. Psalm 45: 10-12 With dazzling dresses and a procession of unbridled joy and wedding gifts pouring in, piling high; may the upcoming brides not miss a word. Forget your country, put your home behind you. Be here---the King is wild for you. 

 PHOTO: It's the street where they live.  Bob's dad. Bob's sister and family. Knock-dead view of Mount Rainier. Where you don't have to pray the rain down. It falls just about every day. Where you live from strength to strength.