Nurice

30 years ago I read some of Tim Lahaye's books and learned that the sure cure for depression is thankfulness, because depression and thankfulness cannot co-exist. That concept changed my life, but in recent years I have realized that praise is probably what makes thankfulness so effective. Praise takes thankfulness to a higher plane, because true thankfulness blossoms into praise. Psalm 22:3 says that God actually lives in our praise! As I look at Pastor Ralph's teaching on Psalm 150, I see even more in this concept. I love his breakdown of the meaning of "hallelujah." Even the word itself is a command to praise God. To me, that word sums up the whole Psalm: What? -- Praise Who should praise? -- You Who should you praise? -- God Praise is not optional. Praise is a command. As Pastor Ralph points out, this mighty Psalm 150 begins and ends by echoing the hallelujah command: "Praise ye the Lord!" When I get "down and under," I know I have not followed this command as I should. God is not down and under, he is always on top, and he loves and watches over me! Just thinking about that starts my praise again and puts a smile on my face. Lois

Wow, you all have written some beautiful thoughts for this week's activity. I'm blessed to read them I am thinking of Pastor Ralph who he is leaving for Kenya tomorrow morning. The Psalm about brothers living together in unity fits what he will be doing so well. These men will be coming from many different churches and communities to learn from Pastor Ralph and take what they receive at the conference back home to their communities and beyond. They will be spending a great deal of time together. Let's pray that these precious brothers will not only be renewed and challenged during these five days, but that they will also experience a special fellowship and unity together in Christ. Let's pray that Pastor Ralph will be renewed and blessed as well and that their hearts would be bonded together in one accord as Pastor Ralph helps equip these men to reach their communities for Christ. Let's pray that God will watch over their way (Psalm 1) as they travel. Lord, we ask you to do something special in Kenya this week, beyond anything that even Pastor Ralph can imagine. In Jesus' name, Amen.

For me a key word in this passage is "brothers." There are groups that call themselves a church that do not even profess to be born into the family of God through Christ, they have no concept of the brotherhood of believers because they have never experienced it. So we can't expect to live in any sort of Christian unity with them. But for God's family, true brothers (and sisters too!) it is still hard to get along sometimes, isn't it? It is hard because it requires sacrifice. We'd rather win the argument, or make a scene because we are slighted, or refuse to do some unnecessary thing in order to keep another brother or sister from stumbling. But Jesus died to reconcile us to himself, and through that reconciliation he reconciled us to each other also. When we refuse to humble ourselves and esteem each other better than ourselves as the Bible teaches, we are acting in direct opposition to thereconciliation Jesus made possible for us, and to the example he gave us.

How would you use this psalm in your family to instruct your children? What topics of right living does it cover? "He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart." (15:2) This is a pretty humbling Psalm. How many of us can say that we qualify for verse 2 continually? Not me! I have to soul-search again as I read it, and be reminded that I don't measure up. Thankfully that is why Jesus paid that awful price on the cross for me. That alone makes me not want to fail him, but I also realize that it is only as I look to him and allow him to live through me that I can blameless and righteous. I like Pastor Ralph's quote of Mat. 22:39, "Love your neighbor as yourself" That covers the biggest part of it. Of course the motive behind even loving our neighbor is in verse 37 and 38 of Mat. 22: "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." There is no way I can make this real in my life apart from loving God foremost. But because I love him, I want very much for my life to be like Psalm 15 for him. He can be that through me, but I must do my part which is to surrender to him. That's what I would teach my family also.

1. This short psalm seems to reaffirm what we already know: the righteous will succeed and the wicked will perish. Why do we need to be reminded of this? We need to be reminded because all around us we see the wicked seemingly successful. But like that tree by the water, whose roots grow deep to take in water and nourishment, so we are nourished in his Word. God will bless our lives with his prosperity as we stay rooted in him. He will use our leaves and fruit to be a blessing to those around us also. 2. From an emotional standpoint, what lines in this psalm stand out to you. Why do you think you like them? I've always loved the part that says, "For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous." To know he is watching over my way is worth everything to me. When I choose my own path he lets me go there, and that's a scary place to be. But staying near him, knowing he is watching my way is restful.

Verse 9: 'I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?"' My paraphrase: "Why me? Why me? Why me?" Then he changes to "Why you?": "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." He remembers how God has always been there for him and thinks, "How foolish of me to doubt him." Pastor Ralph asks, Have you ever felt this way? Many times. The last time just a couple weeks ago. But God always reminds me of who he is, and I fuss at me a little and ask myself, who am I to be discouraged when I have such a faithful God who is always there for me? As verse 8 says: "By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me

I was blessed to hear Pastor Ralph explain that "The verb qāwā means "to wait or look for with eager expectation." I remembered those exact words in another Psalm: In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. That's Psalm 5:3 from the NIV. I'm also reminded of 2 Cor. 1:18-20 says, 'But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.' I went back and looked at some notes I had made on these two verses during my Bible study time several years ago, because I needed to be reminded again. The summary of what I'd written is that God's answer is always "yes," that his "yes" is always the very best, but that it may not be what we expect it to be. That waiting is not fretting while we wait, but rather resting in God's "yes." And that expectation is not jumping at everything that happens to see if it's what WE asked for or wanted, but rather calm assurance that God's "yes" (which is far better than anything we could ever dream up) will come to pass at the very best time as we wait for him. I thought about this some more today and decided that I can wait for his "yes" because I already have it in 1 Cor. We're just living out the play now, and we'll get to that line when our Director God puts it in the script. Meanwhile I'm in his "yes" throughout the whole play anyway because he is always "yes" for us. So there's not really much for me to fret about! (Oh, the fleshly nature that pulls me so quickly from the things the Lord shows me. Lord, remind me of this when I start fretting!!) Lois

Psalm 19 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. [a] 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. As I thought about Molly and her friend, I thought about these 4 verses. Molly was faithful to share with her mouth what God has already shared to her friend with his creation. What a shame if we allow the heavens God created to be a greater witness than he has commissioned us to be. So for my exercise this week, I wrote this. Lord, help me declare the glory of God and proclaim your work. Help me to be as faithful to witness in the place you have set me as the heavens are in their place. The voice of the heavens reaches the ends of the world. Yet this is the very thing you commissioned us to do in Acts 1:8. You said, "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." In Romans 1:8 you said that your heavens are enough so that men are without excuse. But in your love, you sent us too. The heavens may be able to convict us of our unworthiness and sinfulness before such a mighty God. But you knew that they are helpless to tell of the Saviour who paid the price to set us free from our sin, so you sent us. Thank you for saving me and letting me have a part in your work. Please help me to not let the heavens put me to shame. Help me be faithful to share the Saviour with those in the ends of the earth that you have sent me to touch. Amen. Molly, I also read your response to my note. When we're convicted of our sin it is hard. We want to run. God knows how to bring your friend home. We'll keep praying. I'm glad the Lord warmed your heart and encouraged you. Lois

What did you do? You allowed God to witness through you. You did what God told you to do, and as you did, he did his part. He brought conviction in her heart. What do you do next? You pray for her, and watch and listen for God to show you the next step. Lord, thank you for how you have used Molly in this way. Thank you for her obedience. Thank you for the conviction you have brought to her friend's heart through this. Please continue to shine your light into her friends heart. Water the seeds that were planted. Help her friend to see that the God who created all the splendor of heaven came to earth and died on a cross so she could be forgiven for all her transgression against this great God. Help her hear and see you speaking to her everywhere she turns and to feel your gentle love drawing her to yourself. Every time she looks out the window at the sky, help her remember our creator, and what she and Molly talked about. Help her to realize that she can never be good enough to earn eternal life, that you sent your Son to the cross to pay the price to free her from her sin that keeps her from you. Help her to say yes to you, to ask you to forgive her sin, and to trust you to to be her Lord and Saviour. Amen. Molly, I have some vision problems and have skimmed through and not read many of the posts here. But yours caught my eye, and I want to encourage you here. Perhaps at some point you can visit her in the way you usually do, to take food or whatever. Give God time to work, but keep the door open. I'll continue to pray for her and you also. Hugs to you, Lois

For me it doesn't seem frustrating at all that God searches me out and knows my every move. It's the most comforting thought I can think of. It's intimidating when I think of my sinfulness. But so comforting to realize that he knows my sin and weakness, yet he still watches over me and doesn't give up on me. David realized he was created unique and special, as are you and I. As he considered how God had so tenderly designed his being, David also realized that God's creation in him was not finished yet. He was overcome with a prayer that God would continue to search and test him, removing that which displeased his Creator, and forming him into the completion of that which he was created to be.

Psalm 19 reminds me of Psalm 119 which, the long Psalm which expresses in so many different ways the indescribable riches of God's Word. It almost seems that David writes here a preamble to that great and mighty Psalm 119 that he would later write. God's Word is perfect, trustworthy, right. In a world where there are so many wrongs, I love having this one thing that is right. His Word is pure. How we need a pure standard that we can measure ourselves by in our corrupt world! Best of all, it is sure. All else will fail, but we can rest. Because we have this one thing that is sure. The sun is magnificient, but it can't hold a candle to the God who lives in his Word. God's creation can't revive us, or make us wise. The sun may give us temporal joy an light. But the light of God's living Word will be our joy throught eternity! How much of God's Word did David have when he wrote these Words? Yet from what he had, he saw so much! In today's world we have so much...yet so often we see so little. God's Word brings us to our knees, as it did the Psalmist, and it picks us up again.

Earlier this evening, before I had a chance to get to today's lesson, my 8 yr old grandson said something that brought up a discussion of how Jesus holds everything together. I took him to Colossians 1: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." We talked about eclipses and other things that happen in the sky, and how if Jesus were to let go control over these things, everything would be destroyed because "in him all things hold together." We also read from Genesis 1 where God said "Let us make man," showing that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all involved in creation. After he went to bed, I read this glorious Psalm, and listened to Pastor Ralph talk about it. For me, this Psalm expresses what I was feeling after reading Colossians and Genesis, so that is what I wanted to share. Lois

Hi, I'm Lois. I've done a couple of these forum studies in the past but it's been awhile. I was involved in one of the earliest JesusWalk studies in 2000 (we did them via group email back then), and I still enjoy having an opportunity to learn from Pastor Ralph. I think everyone loves the Psalms, and I look forward to studying with you all. I'm 60 and reading has become more of a challenge to me as I've gotten older. I especially appreciate Pastor Ralph taking time to read the study in audio format. I have an audible reader, but it sounds so much better when a person reads it, especially the author. I enlarge the print and follow along as I am able but the audio really helps.