Psalm 13 – Purposefully changing my negative attitude

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

But I have trusted in Your loving kindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

When I read this Psalm it is almost as if David is saying the last two sentences grudgingly. He has spent the whole prayer asking where God is and why God is allowing the enemy to succeed. Then the Psalm ends with a week couple of lines about the Lord’s dealings with David in the past. I read this as David convincing himself that God is still there and will continue to love and care for David.

I see this as a very healthy thing to do. If we are confused about the seeming absence of God in our lives we need to go directly to God and ask why? Then we need to begin to refocus ourselves on what God has done, what God is continuing to do, and what God has promised to do in the future.

For the most part we each control our own attitude. If I am aware of my heart being in a wrong place then I need to work on correcting my heart. Are you self aware enough to realize when you are thinking negative thoughts? When you realize it do you take the initiative to correct your attitude without involving other people? Attitude correction is best done between me and God.

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Psalm 10 – Afar from God

Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

Have you ever been in that place? It’s okay to be in that place, it’s not okay to stop talking to God about it. The times we feel furthest from God are the times we need to spend time telling God how far away we feel. Sometimes we forget how amazing it is that we get to live in a communal relationship with the creator, the lover, the redeemer, and the ruler of all. I get to spend time with God; when I feel far from God its okay to mourn the emptiness we experience.

Whenever I’m away from my family for a week or so I can go about 36 hours without somehow letting them now that I miss them. Sometimes I just sit on the phone or in front of a webcam and listen to them breath or watch them type. When we are far apart it troubles my soul and I tell them and it makes all of us feel a little better for a while. The same is true when we are far from God.

The LORD is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land. O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart

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Weekly Meanderings

It’s been a quiet week, but here’s some stuff I came across…

Have a great weekend!

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