missio

This Psalm, of TobyMac fame (blegh), is pretty awesome. Here’s my thoughts on it:

• The Lord has brought us out of destruction!
• How long do we wait on God? How impatient are we with He who knows the future!
• This goes back to Pablo’s thoughts on Psalm 51…that the Lord Himself puts a song of praise and worship into our mouths.
• Don’t live to please people! I cannot say this enough to the people around me, and to myself. Live to please Jesus. Everything else will then fall into place.
• We can tell our story, but never fully!
• God does not delight in our sacrifice or offerings, but in our delight in Him! How often do we “offer up” church attendance and religious sacrifices, and neglect the Person for whom the church exists!
• Let us speak boldly of the Grace given to us by God!
• He has not restrained His mercy upon His people. He has held us in His hands by the gracious blood of His Saving Son.
• We are blind not only to our sins, but because of them. They have surrounded us.
• We do what we hate doing, and we don’t do what we wish to do….our hearts fail us.
• But God saves us…even from ourselves.
• Let us not seek Jesus for His salvation and gifts. Let us seek the Giver instead!

This week’s topic is grace. The first psalm we’re going through is Psalm 32.

• It’s so satisfying to know that we can be brutally honest before the Lord, and that, though there is iniquity, He does not count it against us.
• Our strength is sapped by covering and hiding our sins. As long as we are honest before a holy God, we are no longer wasting away.
• He forgives those who cry out to Him!
• God surrounds us with shouts of deliverance.  Halleujah, we have been saved! Let that cry comfort me in times of trouble and despair.
• Instruct me, God. Guide me in my daily walk to be closer to you at the end of the day than when I began it.
• Let us take joy in the Lord!

So, I’ve been slack the last couple of days, I admit it. I’ve been reading it, but having been posting my notes ( been really busy ’round here…) So here you go, Harmonizers. Psalm 12, Psalm 13, and Psalm 14.

Psalm 12

• “The faithful have vanished” – this is God’s sentiments from Noah’s day until now: that the thoughts of man are all evil, all the time. Am I any different?
• How many times do we/I/you lie to someone else? How many times do we exaggerate the truth, or speak with a double heart?
• May the Lord humble us. Yet another dangerous prayer from David.
• The words of the Lord are purer than pure. Seven is a number of perfection in Hebrew. His Word is pure and perfect: whiter than white.
• Vileness is exalted in Greenville. Our city is no different than Nineveh: Great, but it needs to be called out against. There is great evil in our city in the sight of the Lord.

Psalm 14

• See my notes on Psalm 53 (link). It’s the same Psalm with minor wording differences. Don’t believe me? Look ‘em up.

Psalm 13

• First of all, Shane and Shane have written an awesome song based on this psalm. It’s awesome.
• Will the Lord forget us? No. But it may seem that way from where we’re standing.
• A lot of timesit seems as if my enemies are better than I. They have more blessing, more success, more prosperity. But I must remember: my standing with God is not dependent on my standing with man.
• God, let me trust in Your steadfast Love, the person of Jesus Christ. Let my heart sing with gladness because You have saved me, in spite of my woes. I will sing to You, because of Your grace on my life. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.