When one has lived in the wilderness one acquires a quality of stillness, and one learns to listen.”
–Louis L’Amour (The Broken Gun)
“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.”
–Isaiah 51:1 (NKJV)
“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.”
–Isaiah 51:1 (NKJV)
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It seems like it’s been a month of Sundays since we looked at the Psalms. I want to finish some thoughts on Psalm 65 before I take off again on another little trip. The second portion of this Psalm shows the sustaining power, goodness, and faithfulness of God. We serve a good and great God. He has given us a wonderful world and yet so much of the time we worry about the weather, whether we should go out with a mask or not, making us a prisoner of our own homes.
Too often we are in awe with the spectacular things that happen. A storm, a catastrophe will catch our attention and we watch and we wonder what is going to happen. We forget to look at the wonder of the day-to-day things. Just think of how God has blessed you this day, how He has kept you, how He has given you grace and mercy, how He is faithful. Look at the leaves on the trees and how they are changing color and beginning to fall. Awesome, spectacular, not really, but they were made to do this by the Creator.
6 — Who established the mountains by His strength, being clothed with power;
7 — You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves.
8 — They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.
9 — You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it.
10 — You water its ridges abundantly; You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.
11 — You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.
12 — They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 — The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing. (NKJV)
This is a good Psalm to read if you are going through troubles and trials. There may be difficulties, but God is always there and He reminds us when we look at His creation. We read this Psalm and we celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God. He is the God of nature, of the universe, and He is also the God of our personal lives. He controls nature, He controls the nations, so there should be little doubt that He can rule over the difficulties in your life. I think of the words of that great hymn:
“Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”
–T.O. Chisholm
We may have famine in our lives. We may face the storms and tempests of life. There may be pestilence and terror around us, but we know–we know that God is faithful. We know that He cares for us no matter the situation that may come our way. Rejoice in the sunrise of a new day that He has given you. Rejoice in the sunset of a day completed knowing that God was there with you each moment.
“The joy of the Lord is the strength for life’s trials,
And lifts the crushed heart above sorrow and care.
Like the nightingale’s notes, it can sing in the darkness,
And rejoice when the fig tree is fruitless and bare.”
–A.B. Simpson
It seems like it’s been a month of Sundays since we looked at the Psalms. I want to finish some thoughts on Psalm 65 before I take off again on another little trip. The second portion of this Psalm shows the sustaining power, goodness, and faithfulness of God. We serve a good and great God. He has given us a wonderful world and yet so much of the time we worry about the weather, whether we should go out with a mask or not, making us a prisoner of our own homes.
Too often we are in awe with the spectacular things that happen. A storm, a catastrophe will catch our attention and we watch and we wonder what is going to happen. We forget to look at the wonder of the day-to-day things. Just think of how God has blessed you this day, how He has kept you, how He has given you grace and mercy, how He is faithful. Look at the leaves on the trees and how they are changing color and beginning to fall. Awesome, spectacular, not really, but they were made to do this by the Creator.
6 — Who established the mountains by His strength, being clothed with power;
7 — You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves.
8 — They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.
9 — You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it.
10 — You water its ridges abundantly; You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.
11 — You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.
12 — They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 — The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing. (NKJV)
This is a good Psalm to read if you are going through troubles and trials. There may be difficulties, but God is always there and He reminds us when we look at His creation. We read this Psalm and we celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God. He is the God of nature, of the universe, and He is also the God of our personal lives. He controls nature, He controls the nations, so there should be little doubt that He can rule over the difficulties in your life. I think of the words of that great hymn:
“Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”
–T.O. Chisholm
We may have famine in our lives. We may face the storms and tempests of life. There may be pestilence and terror around us, but we know–we know that God is faithful. We know that He cares for us no matter the situation that may come our way. Rejoice in the sunrise of a new day that He has given you. Rejoice in the sunset of a day completed knowing that God was there with you each moment.
“The joy of the Lord is the strength for life’s trials,
And lifts the crushed heart above sorrow and care.
Like the nightingale’s notes, it can sing in the darkness,
And rejoice when the fig tree is fruitless and bare.”
–A.B. Simpson