In our Church we are reading through the Bible in a year. One year. Entire Bible. Yes, it’s a lot of material to cover, especially when we have so many TV shows to watch and sports events to attend, not to mention vacations and family reunions; but what a great read!
It’s now July, and we are in The Psalms. Here we have King David, mostly, writing poems to be sung as songs of praise, or Hymns of Worship, to his God. We can picture him with a musical instrument of some kind working his way through the creative process. But our picture shouldn’t be a scene of complete peace and meditative praise, with the poetry flowing from a contented heart. David isn’t on a tropical island basking in the tranquility of uninterrupted nature. Perhaps some of the time he is at peace, but much of the time he is in full-blown crisis!
I find as I read Psalms that every possible human emotion is not only revealed, but explored. It’s almost as if God were showing us HOW to talk to Him. With honesty and transparency. If you were writing a love letter you would probably use different language and a different approach than if you were writing to some business or other entity. You would probably be more intimate, more personal, and, if wise, more honest about things, especially feelings and perceptions.
You see, we cannot approach God Almighty and act as if things inside us were somehow hidden or secret. He knows everything. We can’t con Him and we can’t manipulate Him with clever speech. God knows it all. I think He waits, patiently, for us to come to Him with openness and honesty about how we feel, even if it is sometimes a rant or a scream. Even if it’s a rant or a scream about Him!
Prayer seems to be a hard thing for many people to do. I’ve heard folks say they don’t “know how to pray.” I’ve witnessed, so many times, folks who defer to others, almost ANY other, when asked to pray. It’s like they don’t feel competent somehow; not trained; unable to “do it right.”
Have we forgotten to Whom we pray? Is that why we are timid? Is it really just better to NOT talk to God? Or is it that we just don’t want to do so in public where others may get an idea about our real life? I’m sure there are lots of reasons, each one personal and valid, yet each one missing the point.
You see, I believe God wants you to open up to Him and tell Him what’s on YOUR mind. If it’s thanksgiving, wonderful! If it’s a call to help someone else, terrific! If it’s just the stated understanding of how Great God is, that’s amazing! But also, if you’re hurting or scared or confused or panicking….whatever, tell Him. By getting honest with God you show that you understand the situation, and by asking Him for help you begin the process of yielding, which, you see, is the deal.
Nice! That final line is good, and so hard for us humans. How we hate hate hate to yield.
However, there’s no yield (as in a crop) if we don’t first yield to The Master.
Yes – His Word is always good. I’m reading through the Bible again – there’s an app called Lamp Unto that lets you set up a group, and divide the Bible into sections to read each day. My daughter and I are doing the read through in 2 year plan. But you can do it anyway you want, including chronologically, or whatever. It tracks the progress of everyone in the group for accountability and encouragement. It automagically brings up the right passages, and tracks progress.
In the process, even though this is about my 10th or 11th trip through the complete Bible, I’m seeing little things that I haven’t noticed or remembered. It’s like the difference between taking a nature walk with a guide that points things out, and just doing an exercise walk on the same path.
In Psalms, it’s interesting to just look at the Psalm and see what it reveals about the personality, character, and struggles of the author, forgetting for a minute what you know from 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. Then go back, and try to synch each Psalm to a time in David’s life from those other books. You get a real impression – you might think – who is this guy that God trusted with His people? But then, who are we, with whom God has trusted His kingdom message? Good thing His Holy Spirit is the one leading, not me. Blessings from Kansas