SELAH

SELAH- Psalm 29

STOP Are you scared of storms? Do you ever get that anxious feeling when there is a storm? Why do you think that is?  Does the power of a storm surface up for you a comparison of God’s power?  In this psalm, the voice of the Lord is described as powerful, majestic, and thundering over the mighty waters.  It says that, “the voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.”  The Lord, our God, is indeed powerful, just his words can have such an effect.  Rest in this: the same power that is in a storm is the same power that is protecting you, loving you, giving strength, and blessing you with peace.   Try starting with this:     * Lastly, all of what’s on your mind: your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, the expectations, your agendas, your to-do lists. Imagine all of them as whispers.  They are nothing compared to the voice of the Lord.  As you hear the difference, use this time to listen to His voice, His leading and not your own.  His can be louder than the whisperings in your own mind.  EXHALE Next, breathe.  Breath in and out. Close your eyes to everything around you. God is as close to you right now as the breath in your lungs.  Find peace in Christ. When you are ready, pray this simple prayer a few times while still focusing on your breathing.   As you inhale pray, “Ascribe to the Lord”  As you exhale, pray, “Glory and strength”(vs.1b) LOOK Let’s look at the word of God today. When God speaks, it’s important for us to pay attention. Read these words slowly and carefully “Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.  THe voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic [....] The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.  The voice of the Lord shakes the desert [....]The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.  The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace (Psalm 29 NIV)    ASK What stood out to you? Highlight/mark it in your bible. David starts our this psalm by using the word: ascribe. It’s not a common word and it means to attribute to or to regard a quality to someone.  It’s commonly translated as “to Give” This first section tells us to give to the Lord glory and strength, due to his name.  The Lord already has the strength and the Glory, but it is important for us to recognize his glory and his power. How do you personally recognize the glory and power that the Lord has?  David compares it to a lightning storm, that the voice of the Lord is as powerful as the flood, a true judgment of the righteous.  What storms blow through your life right now?  When the storms pass, what then?  Are you responding like the people by giving glory to God for riding over the storms?  Or are you like nature, in an uproar over the storms?  Would you find peace by recognizing the Lord of the storm?  Do you feel that you have the same strength as the Lord by calling on his name?   HEAR What is God saying to you?  Quiet your mind and search your heart.  Now pray: “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.”  You are waiting to hear from the Holy Spirit, still your heart and mind. Based on the scripture you read today, God’s words to you, is there anything God is asking you to do?  To finish up your quiet time, consider the four verbs that describe the Lord.  He sits enthroned; he is enthroned as King forever; He gives strength and he blesses his people.  Have you gone from seeing Him as enthroned as king to knowing He wants to give you strength.  Have you seen Him as not only powerful and deserving of glory, but also wanting to bless His people with peace?  Let His blessings lead you to peace.

SELAH: Psalm 28

STOP Do you ever have this situation: You’re talking to someone.  You can see that they are hearing you, but they aren’t responding.  You ask a question and there is no response.  There are times that this is how we feel about prayer.  We talk to God and we just want that audible answer back.  But God usually answers with action instead of words.  David starts out his psalm asking for the Lord to hear him, not to “turn a deaf ear.”  The Lord hears you.  Take a few minutes to talk to God, he will not remain silent forever. Just talk to him and hear his words back to you.   Try starting with this:   * First, notice the thoughts playing through your head. What’s on your mind? Put it aside for a few minutes, table them for another time.    * Second, notice your body.  How does it feel?  Hot, cold, uncomfortable, sick, relaxed?   * Third, notice your feelings.  How do you feel this morning?  Anxious, tired, excited, happy, overwhelmed?   * Lastly, all of what’s on your mind: your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, the expectations, your agendas, your to-do lists. Imagine all of them as being able to live in silence, being able to not have a response and that be okay.  Just as David was waiting on the Lord’s response, those things can wait while you spend time with God.   EXHALE Next, breathe.  Breath in and out. Close your eyes to everything around you. God is as close to you right now as the breath in your lungs.  Find peace in Christ. When you are ready, pray this simple prayer a few times while still focusing on your breathing.   As you inhale pray, “Hear my cry for mercy”  As you exhale, pray, “As I call to you for help”(vs.2) LOOK Let’s look at the word of God today. When God speaks, it’s important for us to pay attention. Read these words slowly and carefully.  Read it a few times. Notice which words or phrases stick out to you. “To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me.  For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.  Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place [....]Praise be to the Lord for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; and my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.  The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.  Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.” (Psalm 28 NIV)    ASK What stood out to you? Highlight/mark it in your bible. At the beginning of this psalm, David calls God his rock, but yet still is crying out to the Lord.  He cries out for mercy and help.  When have you felt that same way?  God is your rock, but yet, because of your sin, because of our failings, we cry out for mercy and help. But his response is that he will “lift up [his] hands toward the Most Holy Place (2).”  Is our response lifting up our hands in praise, even when the Lord is silent?  David’s response is the same at the end of the psalm.  He pleads to the Lord to see him differently than the wicked. Are we praying for that?  As the Lord answers his prayer, he once again turns to praise.  His heart trusts in him and his heart leaps for joy.  He gives thanks to the Lord in song.  When times are hard, when you feel that God is silent, when you cry out for help, for mercy, is your response to the Lord praise?   HEAR What is God saying to you?  Listen to hear his still small voice. Quiet your mind and search your heart.  Now pray: “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.”  You are waiting to hear from the Holy Spirit, still your heart and mind. Based on the scripture you read today, God’s words to you, is there anything God is asking you to do?  To finish up your quiet time, look at how David describes the Lord in this psalm. What is he to you? Rock, strength, shield, fortress of salvation, shepherd?  How do you respond in telling him what he is to you?

SELAH - Psalm 27

STOP Waiting is hard. We don’t like to wait. How we are when we are “in waiting” defines who we are.  Whether that is waiting for school to let out, whether that is for some weekend plans that you are excited for, or whether that is for answered prayers.  It may feel like it will never come.  One of my favorite scriptures is for us to “wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” As you stop and reflect on this devotion today, reflect on areas that you have to wait. How are you in the waiting?  Be strong and take heart while you wait.     Try starting with this:  * Lastly, all of what’s on your mind: your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, the expectations, your agendas, your to-do lists. Imagine all of them with the buffering circle over it.  These things can all be waiting and loading while you spend time with the Lord. Just like waiting on the internet sometimes, pause and be with the Lord and let everything else buffer while you spend more quality time with Him.    EXHALE Next, breathe.  Breath in and out. Close your eyes to everything around you. When you are ready, pray this simple prayer a few times while still focusing on your breathing.   As you inhale pray, “The Lord is my light and my salvation” As you exhale, pray, “Whom shall I fear?”(vs.1) LOOK Let’s look at the word of God today. Read these words slowly and carefully.  Read it a few times. Notice which words or phrases stick out to you. “The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?  When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.  One things I ask of the lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.  For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacles and set me high upon a rock. [...]at his tabernacles will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.  Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says to you, “Seek his face! Your face, Lord, I will seek.  Do not hide your face from me [....]I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord”    ” (Psalm 27 NIV)    ASK What stood out to you? Highlight/mark it in your bible.  Confidence.  David’s confidence in the Lord is amazing.  Not only does he see God as his light, his salvation, and his stronghold, but even “though war break out against [him] even then will [he] be confident.” I’d like to have that kind of confidence in the Lord.  He also says that he is confident that he will “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  What gives you confidence?  What are you confident in?  How do you increase your confidence if it is lacking? Sometimes confidence can be hard.  How do we know in order to feel sure? That’s where your faith comes in. Throughout your life, the more “waiting” on the Lord and seeing how the Lord works, the more confidence grows. It’s important we study how the Lord has been faithful so that we can be faithful. Wait and see how the Lord works.   HEAR What is God saying to you?  Quiet your mind and search your heart.  Now pray: “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.”  You are waiting to hear from the Holy Spirit, still your heart and mind. Based on the scripture you read today, God’s words to you, is there anything God is asking you to do?  To finish up your quiet time, look at all the ways David is “seeking” out the Lord, all the times he craves to be in the Lord’s house, in his dwelling.  In what ways are we seeking him in order to hear from him?

SELAH - Psalm 26

STOP Level ground. I wouldn’t label myself as a clumsy person, but I have certainly had some clumsy times.  I think that I could probably trip over my own feet whether I am on level ground or rocky soil.  David, in this psalm, proclaims that his “feet stand on level ground (vs.12).”  And it is on level ground that he will praise the Lord.  He will not trip, slip or fall away from the Lord.  There is such confidence in this.  I wish I could confidently say that there is nothing that would trip me up, but I cannot.  My rest, however, comes from knowing that when I get tripped up, Jesus is there, that there is forgiveness when I come to him.  He will help me get back up when I have found myself on uneven ground, fallen facedown again and again.   Try starting with this:    * Lastly, all of what’s on your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, the expectations, your agendas, your to-do lists, imagine them all along a level, the tool that is used to help us see if pictures, shelves are equally on a horizontal plane. What’s tipping your level?  Where are you seeing unevenness when it compares to time with God? EXHALE Next, breathe.  Breath in and out. Close your eyes to everything around you. Find peace in Christ. When you are ready, pray this simple prayer a few times while still focusing on your breathing.  As you inhale pray, “I love the house where you live, O Lord”  As you exhale, pray, “the place where your glory dwell”(vs.8) LOOK Let’s look at the word of God today. When God speaks, it’s important for us to pay attention. Read these words slowly and carefully.  Read it a few times. Notice which words or phrases stick out to you. “Vindicate me, I Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.  I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites; I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.  I wash my hands in innocence and go about your altar, O Lord, proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds.  I love the house where you live, O Lord, the place where your glory dwells.  Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are wicked schemes whose right hands are full of bribes.  But I lead a blameless life; redeem me and be merciful to me.  My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the Lord.  ” (Psalm 26 NIV)    ASK What stood out to you? Highlight/mark it in your bible. Throughout Psalm 26, David has complete confidence in his trust for the Lord, his integrity, and how he has walked in the the Lord’s truth.  Because of his blameless life, he asks that the Lord, “redeem [him] and be merciful to [him] (vs.11). Do you feel the same as David?  Do you feel that you can ask the Lord to test you and try you?  That you could ask him to examine your heart and mind?  Do you feel that you could go about His altar proclaiming aloud his praise?  What about proclaiming that you have trusted in the Lord without wavering?  However, despite our failure, we know that in Hebrews 4:16, it says that we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”     HEAR What is God saying to you? You are waiting to hear from the Holy Spirit, still your heart and mind. Based on the scripture you read today, God’s words to you, is there anything God is asking you to do?  Read the scripture again if you need to. God is speaking to you through it. To finish up your quiet time, ask yourselves who you associate with.  David confessed that he walked continually in truth and that he didn’t sit with deceitful me, consort with hypocrites, or sit with the wicked.  How can who we are around help us in our daily walk, so that we won’t trip.

SELAH - Psalm 25

STOP Have you ever been lost? Your heart rate increases, panic ensues, you get nervous. It’s in these moments that you just find yourself wanting desperately to know the way.  Either the way that you need to go forward, the way back to where you took the wrong turn, or the way you’re supposed to be going. You may even feel similar about life. You want direction. David felt the same in this psalm: “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.” Whenever you are feeling that you don’t know where to turn, take comfort in the path, in the way that he is leading you.   * Lastly, all of what’s on your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, the expectations, your agendas, your to-do lists, imagine them as distractions along the path way. Will you stop and dwell on them as you make your way forward or will they take you off of the way that they Lord wants you to go? EXHALE Find peace in Christ. When you are ready, pray this simple prayer a few times while still focusing on your breathing.   As you inhale pray, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul”  As you exhale, pray, “in you I trust, O my God”(vs.1-2) LOOK Read these words slowly and carefully.  Read it a few times. Notice which words or phrases stick out to you. “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.  Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from old.  Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me for you are good, O Lord.  Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.  He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.  All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.  For the sake of your name, O lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.  Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?  He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. [....]Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish[...] May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you” (Psalm 25:4-12, 16-17, 21  NIV)    ASK What stood out to you? Highlight/mark it in your bible. As I read through and meditate on Psalm 25, I see repeated the word “Way” several times.  His way is challenging, it’s hard to follow.  We are going to veer off the path at some point.  However, as David says, “Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from old.  Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.”  We all have rebellious ways where we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  David continues to say, “For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.”  Is your sin great and heavy upon you?  Have you strayed from the path?  Do you need to hear and cry out for the Lord to remember his great mercy and love and not your rebellious ways? HEAR What is God saying to you?  Listen to hear his still small voice. Quiet your mind and search your heart.  Now pray: “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.”  You are waiting to hear from the Holy Spirit, still your heart and mind. Based on the scripture you read today, God’s words to you, is there anything God is asking you to do?  Read the scripture again if you need to. God is speaking to you through it. To finish up your quiet time, meditate on where you find your hope?  David says hope three times in this psalm.  He says that, “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame (3),” he says that his, “hope is in you all day long (5),” and lastly, he requests that, “integrity and uprightness protect [him] because my hope is in you (21).” Do you find hope in the Lord all day long?  Because of your hope in the Lord and what he will do, are you asking protection through your integrity and uprightness?  Hoping in the Lord will never put you to shame.