A Gracefull Place

 

Psalm 118

 

1 O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good:  because His mercy endureth for ever.

2 Let Israel now say, that His mercy endureth for ever.

3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that His mercy endureth for ever.

4 Let them now that fear the Lord say, that His mercy (lovingkindness) endureth for ever.

5 I called upon the Lord in distress:  the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.

6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear….

14 The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous:  the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.

16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted:  the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.

17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness:  I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:

20 This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.

21 I will praise Thee:  for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.

22The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

26 Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord:  we have blessed You out of the house of the Lord.

 

Psalm 147:3  "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds (sorrows)."

 

 

These verses really ministered to me yesterday.  It is so easy to give thanks to the Lord when things are going well and we feel blessed.  It is a "sacrifice of praise", to give thanks when things are NOT going well or we don’t necessarily feel His blessings.

 

And yet, if we keep our focus on Him, and all He has done, and what He went through to purchase our pardon AND to restore our fellowship with Him……

 

Then we can’t help but praise Him.  Yes, even in the midst of tears and sorrows, when our heart is breaking, yet we can still choose to rejoice (118:24). 

 

This is what I had to do yesterday.

 

I had started having some problems earlier in the week, so was on bedrest.   Thinking I had just overdone it a bit.   When things seemed to get a bit worse instead of better, my midwife and I agreed that I needed to know what was going on, as decisions needed to be made on what we were going to do this weekend.   (We have another family Thanksgiving today.)

 

We went to the hospital for an ultrasound, and found that the baby had died a few weeks ago.  Instead of being a solid 12 weeks, the baby was only 9 1/2 weeks.  And no heartbeat.

 

I am no stranger to losses–I have had a stillbirth and 12 miscarriages before this.   But none of the miscarriage babies had lived this long.   The doctor explained that I was going to have a bit more difficult time.  I know that’s his job, to inform me (and thank the Lord, he is a Christian man who is pro family!).  I am praying for as easy a passage as possible, with no need for medical intervention.  

 

As I had a few moments when the ultra sound technician went to find the doctor, I had a talk with the Lord.  It was my "surrender" time.   I had hoped that the Lord would do for me, like Job, and give me as many on Earth as He took to Heaven.   So I reminded Him that this didn’t even things out very well!  (I really believe the Lord can handle my weird sense of humor!  And I still have hope that we will have more, whether we "even up" down here or not!)  

 

And I told Him that He has seen me through far worse–I had to walk the same halls I walked yesterday a little over 4 years ago when my husband had a terrible accident that by all accounts, should have taken his life.   Losing our first son was hard, too, and up until that accident was the worst thing—but Dallas was with me then.

 

During his accident, I was alone.  Except for God.  I had lots of friends and family supporting me, but you know–the late night, when no one is around, it’s just you and God.  I was the one who had to make decisions–without the ability to ask my dear sweetie what he thought I should do.  I had to learn to "listen" to my Heavenly Father.  To let Him hold my hand, hold me when I cried in the night.

 

I know He will see me through the next days, weeks….months and even years, because I never forget the little "holes" in our family.  But I will see them all in Heaven–I have HOPE!   And I have the indwelling Holy Spirit and God’s Word to comfort and strengthen me.  

 

"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord."   I would have claimed that for this precious baby, who was so wanted by us all.   Yet the Lord speaks a different "interpretation" to my spirit:

 

"YOU will not die spiritually, wallowing in bitterness, but you will LIVE, and declare My works.   You will put your trust in ME, even when you don’t understand, for that is what true love and faith are—to trust the Beloved, that He only has your best in mind, no matter how it looks at the time. "

 

 

For my best and His glory.   That is what life on Earth is about.  NOT just about me.  NOT about feeling comfy and getting everything going my way.   If everything went wonderful for Christians, there wouldn’t be an empty church in the world!

 

But will we follow Him when things are hard?  Will we trust Him?

 

Psalm 119:34 "Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law;  yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart."

 

"The greatest understanding we can attain is knowing that we can trust God even though we cannot fully understand Him.  This is why Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."  We must realize there is a vast difference between our understanding and God’s.  When we consider the incomprehensible qualities of God, including His unfailing love, we begin to realize that God understands from a perspective we simply do not have, and will never have.

 

"Mrs. Albert Einstein was once asked to explain her husband’s ‘Theory of Relativity.’  After pondering the question for a moment she stated, ‘I cannot explain his theory at all, but I know Albert, and he can be trusted.’  In a similar way, the parent-child relationship requires the same development of trust over time.  There are times when a parent  will ask a young child to simply obey them.  The child may reply, ‘I don’t understand why I should obey.’  The parent responds with , ‘You don’t need to understand, you just need to obey!’  There are some things parents cannot explain to their children and children cannot understand because they lack the experience and maturity of the parent.  However, if a child will simply trust and obey, it will work to his benefit.  The songwriter had it right when he wrote, ‘Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.’

 

"As you meditate on this verse, consider whether you trust God’s understanding and simply obey, or whether you require Him to first explain according to your undestanding before you obey."

 

(taken from The Heart of the King by Ron Auch, bold emphasis mine)

 

 

The Lord has given me many comforting Scriptures, and I’d like to take the risk of this becoming a book in itself and share a few more with you.  (I know some may say I’m in danger of prooftexting, but I’m not basing my doctrine on these, they are just what stood out to me as I was reading, and I believe the Word is living and active and He can use any portion to comfort our hearts, as long as we’re not so twisting it to make it mean what we want so we can then do what we want.  For me, for now, this is His Word to me, to comfort my heart.)

 

 

Isaiah 30:29, 30   "Ye shall have a song, as in the night…..and gladness of heart…..And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard…"

 

 

I truly believe that as we surrender to His sovereign will, and trust Him even when we don’t understand, we will hear "His glorious voice" speaking to us through His Spirit and His Word.

 

 

Isaiah 51:3  "For the Lord shall comfort Zion:  He will comfort all her waste places;  and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody."

 

 

At first our thanksgiving may be a choice more than a feeling.   More of a duty than a delight.  But as we continue to seek His heart, seek Him with our WHOLE heart, I believe He gives the joy, the gladness, and the voice of melody–He gives us a song!  Even in a sad song, we can give Him the glory by saying, "Lord, I will trust You, no matter what, whether I understand or not!  I will declare to all who will listen that ‘Thou art good, and doest good’ (Psalm 119:68).  ‘I will love You, O Lord, my Strength!’ (Psalm 18:1)"

 

 

 

I hope this blesses and encourages you, whether you are going through a death in your family, death of a vision, or even something less traumatic–yet it’s still major to you.  Through your tears, may you look up and gather strength from your Rock, your Fortress, your Mighty Redeemer, and let Him carry you.

 

 

God can be trusted

 

 

Even when you don’t understand.

 

 

Will you simply obey?

 

 

Remember His unfailing love.  All is for your ultimate good and His glory.

 

 

Yes, even when our hearts are breaking–there’s Glory on the other side!!!

 

 

 

May you be blessed by His love besetting you behind and before, His hand laid upon you, and underneath His everlasting arms upholding you.

 

 

It Is Well

(Horatio G. Spafford, 1828-1888)

 

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

"It is well, it is well with my soul."

 

It is well (It is well)

With my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well

With my soul.

 

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

 

It is well (It is well)

With my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well

With my soul.

 

My sin– O the bliss of this glorious thought,

My sin– not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

 

It is well (It is well)

With my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well

With my soul.

 

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,

"Even so"– it is well with my soul.

 

It is well (It is well)

With my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well

With my soul.

 

 

Yes, Lord.  Even so–it is well with my soul.

 

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I’m doing a little different take on Jacque’s Saturday Psalm and Praise!   I had a busy weekend, and Saturday I was trying to sort through all those partially started and such projects, then Dallas and I had a nice long afternoon/evening together!  We went to Ft.  Wayne and did some "shopping"–for free!!!   We had a gift card for Sears and got some things there, then went to Texas Roadhouse (actually, he would say we came for Texas Roadhouse, and just happened to do some shopping!   )  YUM!

 

Soooo…I didn’t get my Saturday Psalm and Praise done.  But what I want to share will fit quite nicely with Thanksgiving (including the "song", as you will see!).

 

I have been reading a wonderful book entitled The Heart of the King by Ron Auch.   (Be sure to peek inside!!)    It is a verse by verse "devotional" of sorts on Psalm 119.   It is just a beautiful jewel of a book!

 

From the back flap, this might give you a glimpse of his heart for this book:

 

"Pray-Tell Ministries’ sole pupose is to challenge the Church back to prayer.  However, odd as it may seem, prayer is not the ultimate goal of this ministry.  Ron’s desire is to get people to want God.  The lack of prayer comes from the lack of desire for God.  You cannot have great desires for God and remain prayerless."

 

From his commentary on verse 2, "Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart." :

 

"Whether self is an idol or not is determined by our prayer life.  If we spend relatively small amounts of time in prayer, it’s because we are not God-centered, we are self-centered.  We cannot just have prayer in our life.  All Christians have some type of prayer in their lives.  We must have a prayer life, which, when defined, means someone whose very life comes from their time of prayer.  That life is centered around prayer."

 

Yes, I was very convicted by those words!!!  And a few days before I read and meditated on those words,  our pastor had challenged us on…..you guessed it!  Our prayer lives!  Many Godly men and women have said that they "have so much to do, I must spend 2 hours in prayer daily".   Ah.   Where are my priorities?!

 

From commentary on verse 15, "I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways.":

 

"No wonder God said David was a man after His own heart.  David was absorbed with his God.  He would meditate and consider the precepts of God."

 

"Without the daily practice of being in the presence of God and meditating on His Word to us, we tend to lose the reality of who God is.  We don’t lose our theological definition of God, we simply lose a real living sense of who He is.  There is a great difference between the God we know in our head and the God we know in our heart.  The head is full of rationale while the heart is full of emotion.  The head takes a very legal look at God and bases its obedience on that.  The heart takes a very loving look at God and bases obedience on that.  The head cannot change the heart but the heart can change the head.

 

"It’s the heart that is changed through prayer and meditation.  When we give ourself over to time in the presence of God, we are making ourself a living sacrifice.  Through that, our heart begins to conform to the character of  God.  As the heart changes, the head follows suit.  Eventually we are transformed by the renewing of the mind.  Ultimately we take on the mind of Christ because we have taken Christ into the heart.

 

"When we know God in the heart we tend to be more obedient to Him."

 

 

Many times I’ve met Christians who have more of  a "head knowledge" of Christ than a "heart knowledge".   They are sincere, but I feel they are missing the most important part of our salvation in Christ–our relationship with Him!

 

On another verse, he shares this gem that really spoke to my heart:

 

"When we follow God in His decisions we walk with Him.  God rarely asks us to go do something for Him.  He primarily asks us to go with Him.  The work of God is not something we do on our own.  It is something we do with God." (emphasis mine)

 

Isn’t that profound?!  How many times have I found myself trying harder, to do something for Him (whether some good deed or trying to pray more or be more righteous…) when what He is asking is that I walk with Him?!   As I walk with Him, He is my strength, my guidance, and He will not allow me to go off on my tangents–nor will I want to!–because I am walking side by side with my Heavenly Bridegroom and Lover of my soul!  But when I get farther away, dropping my "Daddy’s hand" as it were, looking down those seemingly lovely "bunny trails"…..well, my eyes are no longer on Him, my heart’s desire is no longer wholly for Him, and now I’m not walking with Him.  

 

 

For Thankgiving, the MOST important blessing is our relationship with Him!  I leave you with this final commentary on verse 12, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord:  teach me Thy statutes.":

 

 

"In essence the Psalmist is saying, ‘Through praise I learn Your decrees (statutes or decisions) because I am bringing myself under You.’  Bringing ourself ‘under’ is what submission means.  It means we are giving our will to God.  We can now pray with Jesus, ‘Not my will but Thine.’

 

"Through submission, we gain a teachable spirit.  Praise makes us teachable because of the submissive spirit we must be in, in order to worship God.  The true worshipers not only worship in spirit but also in truth.  We come into truth through being teachable.  God does not force feed us.  He waits for our spirit to open to Him so that He can gently teach us of Himself.  Matthew 15:8-9 syas, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain.’  They worshiped God, but it was futile because their hearts were not pliable.

 

"’The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him’ (Ps. 25:14;KJV).  The secret of the Lord Himself cannot be learned through study, but through submission.  There is no way our limited minds can understand the Lord.  A person’s spirit must commune with His Spirit.  This is done through true worship of God.  As we worship Him and lay our lives in His hands, we begin to understand things about God that cannot be understood any other way.   We learn more about God through submission than we do through self-exaltation.  Pride is a lifting up of ourselves.  Submission is a lifting up of God.  When we bring ourselves down and worship from a position of lowliness He is exalted."  (emphasis mine)

 

I pray that will minister to your spirit as greatly as it did/does mine!   This book is well worth the price!  He suggests taking an hour to go through a section of Psalm 119 (8 verses), and pray and meditate on the verses.  I find that is too big of a "bite"!   I usually take 1-2 verses at a time, and maybe get through 4 in a day.  I did get in 8 today because I spent some extra time I don’t usually have during the weekdays.

 

I leave you with the beautiful piano duet my daughters have been practicing:

 For the Beauty of the Earth (with Fairest Lord Jesus).

(arrangement in Partners in Praise by Marilyn Ham with Meryl Ham)

Be Blessed!