Month: January 2025

Praise be to the the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.  Psalm 144:1                                                                                                                                       

No king is saved by the size of his army, no warrior escapes by his great strength. Psalm 33:1

For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

David did not chose to be a warrior king. He was a shepherd, a musician and poet, in our modern language, a lover not a fighter. His position as Israel’s leader demanded he go to war, so, for wisdom and strength, he turned to the One who anointed him. God’s power would prevailed.

Psalm 144 is a battle hymn, a marching chant, who’s rhythm kept an army moving in unison formation, reminded and assured of their purpose and victory. Psalm 33 reflects David’s later humility, learned through total reliance on God.  After David conquered Jerusalem, he built a permanent residence within the fortress. This song was part of the dedication celebration, with mindfulness to the planned Temple his son Solomon would complete.

Every man’s journey is fraught with controversy, conflict and challenge. Our troubles are as unique as we are, therefore, our deliverance from despair is personal and intimate and deserving of a new, specific song of praise. God’s eternal and enduring love far exceeds today’s pain of sin. Joy comes in the morning! Praise be to God.

Happy Wednesday,

Gretchen

Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You are good, O LORD. Psalm 25:7 (Psalm 25, 29, 36, 65, 100)

The song of a sin sick soul. 

God chooses to forget our transgressions. For the One that matters, they never happened once they have been confessed and forgiven. If only our minds and hearts were so capable and forgetful. David reminds himself often that he is not known to God by his failures, but as a man with only one desire, to vigorously chase God’s heart.

God sees us are we are, not what we were, but thoroughly, transparently and truthfully, the person He created, His supreme design restored to its original glory.

Every fleeting dream, and each devastating loss is breathed in the presence of an Almighty Comforter. The world may misunderstand or misinterpret intent, and as much as they pretend that one’s best effort is good enough, we all know it is not so. But, in these things, where mankind disappoints, God is perfection. He gets you, and He’s got it right because He is good.

Love,

Gretchen

For You make me glad by Your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands. Psalm 92:4 (Psalms 2, 92, 61, 66)

The leading themes or ideas of the Psalms are trust, praise, rejoicing and mercy. At the center of these acts is the resting faith in God’s justice. These four Psalms are hymns of rejoicing.

Infinity is incomprehensible, as it is applies to the One True God. He forever was (infinite to the past) and is eternal to the future. Somewhere, out under the stars, David wrapped his mind around this truth and found peace. He Praised God for His creative power and authority, His present acts of protection and provision, and then He took his praise into forever. He lifted his talent, his words of art, and gave glory to that which he knew would come about, an earthly Messiah and eternal life.

Though our lives are just a minuscule wisp of vapor in time, we can do as David did, worship God through the ages. Eternity is more than just a very large concept, it is our single hope and joy.

Blessings,

Gretchen

I will lift my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of Heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 (Psalms 69, 120, 121, 9) 

The songs of ascent are a set of Psalms with a specific use and we know when and how they were employed. People gathered at the Temple, an important place of common ground where knowledge, strength and encouragement was gained. The Temple brought unity and life for the nation of Israel, as it was the essence of God’s presence among His people.

Jerusalem was set on a hill. It was a fortress, the capitol city of the strongest nation on earth at the time. The Temple set on a precipice within the hilltop megapolis. Whether people were climbing the stairs to enter its portals, or walking along the road from afar, meeting other sojourners on their way to celebrate and worship, eyes were lifted in the hope of Creator God, maker of all.

The primitive, ancient people did not understand that the moon’s light was reflective rather than radiant. They knew the effects of overexposure to the sun, and so they suspected the moon had a danger too, just less obvious. They were cautious and sought shade from its rays too. They were wrong, but the greater significance is their foundational knowledge that the weaver of night and day, of a cycle of life that needed sleep for productive wakefulness, never slept, never set aside His watchfulness over His creation. We are loved and cared for without ceasing.

Love,

Gretchen

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. Psalm 40:2 (Psalm 40, 70, 27)

David cut his teeth on God’s law. He was raised in a Godly household. Knowing God’s law enlightened David to the depth of his sin. His knowledge of drowning in a quicksand of one’s own making was first hand. He knew the panic, the horror, the lingering stench of self loathing! And then!!!! He was placed on solid ground and with a tether, anchoring his feet so they would never wander again.

In joy and sorrow, David spells out the things he has learned about God. He created infinite wonders. He is love, truth, protector, light, a stronghold, and faithful to those who seek mercy, and rest their hope in grace. There is nothing on this earth that secures like God’s majesty, wisdom and strength.

We must never lose our consciousness of need. God’s hand reached down, because David asked, and lifted (not pulled, there’s a difference) David up. God did not send a demolition crew, an aluminum extension ladder or a bulleted list of trouble shooting suggestions. He moved and David found a new song to add to the thousands of others he was already singing. 

Sing Loud! Sing Proud!

Gretchen

Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you are a shield around me, O LORD; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. Psalm 3:2-3 (Psalm 3, 14, 28, 71)

The entire spectrum of emotions are felt throughout the Psalms. From the joy of salvation to the devastation of sin and grief, these hymns speak to every human, mental state. Psalms 3, 28 and 71 voice a “Peaceful trust,”  a sense of God holding you as a father securely and tenderly holds a helpless, infant child.

Contrasting peaceful trust would be violent, or turbulent trust.  Indeed, I have found myself drawn to faith, kicking and screaming, not wanting any part of life that demands a certainty beyond my immediate control, therefore, voiding the need for true, untethered faith. David’s survival depended on a faith that allowed him to go to the edge of reason and still make righteous decisions, daily.

Paul uses Psalm 14:1-3 to argue that no human is sinless, but God hears every plea for mercy and justice. Every prayer becomes a praise, every praise evolves into hope, hope becomes faith, faith leads to assurance that God hears and answers, EVERYTIME. The future is full for those who seek God’s glory and rest in His arms. In this, David rested in peace. So should we.

Love,

Gretchen

“I have had enough LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” I Kings 19:4b (I Kings 18-22:40) This is a story worth reading!

Baal and Ashtoreth were the gods of Jezebel. Her weak husband Ahab, king of Israel, saw no problem with the One True God sharing a little space in the temples, just to keep peace in his household. These two gods were believed to have power over fertility, land, and the weather. It is not random that God chose a drought as the consequence for Israel’s great sin. This adulterous worship involved temple prostitution among all genders and ages. Infant sacrifice was common. After God brought rain and ended the drought in Israel and the surrounding areas, Elijah had all 900 prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth, who were child molesters and murderers, killed.

Elijah lived on the run, surviving on God’s miraculous power and provision. He was fed by ravens and later, a jar of oil and flour that did not empty. He raised the dead, called down thunder and lightning from Heaven, and brought rain to a barren land. All of this failed to turn Ahab and Jezebel toward correct behavior. Jezebel’s anger sent Elijah running once again. He fell exhausted, under a broom tree. There, angels ministered to him with rest and food.

When Elijah was able, God called him to the same mountain top where Moses had received the Law. There, Elijah confessed, “I’ve done no good, Israel still doesn’t believe. Now I’m all alone and they want me dead.”  Instead of declaring Elijah washed up and worthless, God gave him a higher calling, a hope for the future. He sent him to anoint, not only the next king of Israel, but the king of a neighboring country as well. And best of all, Elijah ordained his successor, Elisha.

Don’t ask more of yourself than God does. He knows your limits and doesn’t exploit them or your resources. Being tired doesn’t mean done. Lacking spiritual vision doesn’t imply the absence of a call. God would say, “Get some rest, let’s talk in the morning, for the best is yet to come!”

Love,

Gretchen

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

Jesus’ Jerusalem was a tumultuous place. Subject to the Roman Ceasar and his idolatry and self obsession, Jesus’ time and place on earth was rampant with prejudice and injustice, both by Jew and Gentile. Things were about to get a lot worse, and yet, Jesus spoke peace. 

God created a perfect world of tranquility and then sin entered and interrupted the plan. However, it didn’t ruin it or destroy it! Turn you hearts and minds to peace, the reason the King of kings came into the world as the child of a poor maiden, betrothed to a common laborer, born in a cattle stall…….so you could live in peace, not that the world provides, but custom made, straight from the Throne of God, to your heart.

Blessings in 2025,

Gretchen