February 12, 2011
"I waited patiently for the LORD; 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.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
and put their trust in him.
Blessed is the one
who trusts in the LORD,
who trusts in the LORD,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods
Many, LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare."
-Psalm 40:1-5-
As I write this blog entry, I find myself unable to manage my time well. Even setting aside a moment to write this took me over 3 days, and much self-forcing to accomplish. But alas, I find myself with a free moment, an open mind and an even more open heart to what God is trying to show me.
Psalm 40 vs. 1 has long been an inspiration to me as I pursue music, as I love life, as I fellowship with friends, as I glorify God. I was always struck by David's honesty. "I waited patiently for the Lord." How hard that is to do! In this hectic society we get distracted so easily from the Lord and forget to acknowledge HIS hand at work in our lives. I firmly believe that this Psalm is not necessarily a song for troubled times so much as it is a reminder of WHO God is and WHAT he has done.
The firm rock that David mentions is Christ. I am sure that you are familiar with these lyrics "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." That is the truth that we see understood by David, hundreds of years before the Messiah's arrival. David, like Abraham simply believed God's promises, and that was counted to them as righteousness. We so often try and speed up God's will for our lives by making human attempts at human goals, and fall flat on our faces.
My Spirit cries within me "Wait patiently for the Lord".
I struggle and I fight, because we are imperfect, impatient people.
I try to control my life.
"Be Still and know that I AM God" my Abba Father says.
I must be still and prostrate before the Lord, for He knows what I need most. Him.
It is so easy to get turned astray by our own pride, by our own will, by our own MIND but the truth is this...
"Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods." I am blessed by the Creator by the opportunity to hand over my life to Him. Who am I to assume I know anything about the way my life, much less the Universe, works?!
"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." - Proverbs 16:9
"A person's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?" - Proverbs 20:24
"I wait patiently for the Lord, He TURNED TO ME AND HEARD ME CRY."
The nations say where is your God? He is on His throne and does whatever He pleases. BUT he is also Immanuel. God With Us. He is God in heaven AND God on earth. He is both creator of ALL THINGS and dwelling within me here. That truth is what I can hold fast to when the storms of life come my way.
"He is before all things, and IN HIM all things hold together." - Colossians 1:17
So why do we fear? Do we not know that He cares for us? Do we not realize that our Father only wants us to trust him? Instead of falling on our faces from stumbling, we should be falling on our faces in humility! "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."
- 1 Peter 5:6
Therefore dear Brothers and Sisters, "Cast all your anxiety on HIM because he cares for you!"
- 1 Peter 5:7
Psalm 40 vs. 1 has long been an inspiration to me as I pursue music, as I love life, as I fellowship with friends, as I glorify God. I was always struck by David's honesty. "I waited patiently for the Lord." How hard that is to do! In this hectic society we get distracted so easily from the Lord and forget to acknowledge HIS hand at work in our lives. I firmly believe that this Psalm is not necessarily a song for troubled times so much as it is a reminder of WHO God is and WHAT he has done.
The firm rock that David mentions is Christ. I am sure that you are familiar with these lyrics "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." That is the truth that we see understood by David, hundreds of years before the Messiah's arrival. David, like Abraham simply believed God's promises, and that was counted to them as righteousness. We so often try and speed up God's will for our lives by making human attempts at human goals, and fall flat on our faces.
My Spirit cries within me "Wait patiently for the Lord".
I struggle and I fight, because we are imperfect, impatient people.
I try to control my life.
"Be Still and know that I AM God" my Abba Father says.
I must be still and prostrate before the Lord, for He knows what I need most. Him.
It is so easy to get turned astray by our own pride, by our own will, by our own MIND but the truth is this...
"Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods." I am blessed by the Creator by the opportunity to hand over my life to Him. Who am I to assume I know anything about the way my life, much less the Universe, works?!
"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." - Proverbs 16:9
"A person's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?" - Proverbs 20:24
"I wait patiently for the Lord, He TURNED TO ME AND HEARD ME CRY."
The nations say where is your God? He is on His throne and does whatever He pleases. BUT he is also Immanuel. God With Us. He is God in heaven AND God on earth. He is both creator of ALL THINGS and dwelling within me here. That truth is what I can hold fast to when the storms of life come my way.
"He is before all things, and IN HIM all things hold together." - Colossians 1:17
So why do we fear? Do we not know that He cares for us? Do we not realize that our Father only wants us to trust him? Instead of falling on our faces from stumbling, we should be falling on our faces in humility! "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."
- 1 Peter 5:6
Therefore dear Brothers and Sisters, "Cast all your anxiety on HIM because he cares for you!"
- 1 Peter 5:7
If this encouraged you at all, please leave a comment! It would be encouraging to me to know that my time doing this is not being wasted and is in fact reaching people. Thanks.
Walking alongside you in life, The REAL Bowman
Thanks Steveo! Patience, and trusting...good
ReplyDelete(and sometimes tricky!)things to remember.
Steven- this hit home. Exactly what the Lord has been teaching me. Was really encouraged by this. Glad you shared this. Keep on waiting, brother!
ReplyDeleteJolly good! Righty-O!
ReplyDeleteoooooooh, Steven. I am proud to call you a brother(!),... and that is an understatement. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteI happened to stumble across your blog when the link appeared on my fb news wall. I was interested in your Guatemala trip, and continued to read your blog. Once I got to this old post, it seemed God really wanted me to slow down and deliberately read... and I'm so glad I did. The remarkable thing is that nearly all of the Scripture you included has been on my heart a LOT lately. As in,... just minutes before I read your post, I was soaking Ps. 46:10 in.
And then I had to chuckle over everything you wrote about patience... cause gosh, wouldn't you know that's a lesson He's continually taught me this last semester. This comment is getting a bit lengthy, so I might just have to write you an email and tell you a little more of how your post hit me in a wonderful way. Thanks for "walking alongside in life."
-Katie Vest