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Back, as promised!! Still kinda crazy, but finding some calm in the storm; as it were. So here I am and there you all are, so at least there's that...
Just want to share with you real quick about my birthday. First of all, my youngest stayed over after my parent's brought her to my friend's party on Saturday evening. (it had already been postponed twice) Rob had already ordered my cake, so we picked it up and shared it with whomever wanted some. It was Black Forest with chocolate whipped cream icing, of course, there were sunflowers on the corners, and the text in pink. :) I'll post a pic later from my phone. (Hopefully) So anyway, Jasmine stayed over Sat., we (Jasmine, Rob, and I) went to Church in the morning, then hung out at my place until my parents joined us for an early supper. Then it was a trek to take Jazzy home (20 mins east) before heading to an evening service 40 minutes north!! Thank God for cross-over roads!! So we ended up an hour early for Church (same location as the Patriotic presentation, except at the Chapel rather than the Tabernacle) and went for ice cream and a quick toe-dip in the lake first. (just by me in the lake) LOL Wonderful time over all, and there was a break in the rain most of the day, so thank you, Lord!!
We had a guest speaker this week as our regular Pastor was on vacation. Nate Parks is an amazing man and wonderful speaker. You'll find him on here fairly frequently, as he is a regularly featured guest. Pray for our Church as the Board deliberates among options for a new Assistant Pastor. The previous one stepped down late last year, actually.
So, also as promised, we are not reading Every. Single. Psalm. Btw, have you been doing your HW from last week?? Ooopsy... Me neither... totally forgot amidst all the other stuff... But I've read all of them at least once in my life, so that should count for something, right?? ;p
As you would notice if you've been reading prior posts, Nate is a "go-to" guest speaker on Prayer.* This week's message focuses first on Psalm 8, and he had us "cold, unresponsive New Englanders" do something that may have made some a tad uncomfortable. LOL He read through the chapter, but instructed us prior to say the words, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth" out loud with him. He did this for a couple of reasons. First, he brought out the point that while a cognitive understanding of God is important, He also gave us 5 physical senses with which to recognize and worship Him. Secondly, he brought out how perfectly the Psalms can help us do this. Ps. 34:8 reads, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." The Psalms are deep and visceral. They serve well to orient our spirits toward God. Nate's "side-story" involved a chair on the platform and description of a Southern Baptist service he had once attended. As the preacher built the momentum of the message, Nate noticed certain men scattered through the congregation who were turning and looking those around them in the eye while shouting "Amen", or "that's right", or what have you in the way of agreement. Finally, they were standing up and looking at people. He realized these were the Elders of the Church making sure those around them understood the preacher's words clearly and without question.* While spirituality may be personal, God intends worship to be in community.
Psalm 8[a]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e] and crowned them[f] with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their[g] feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
As we know, many of the Psalms were written by King David. Now if anybody in the Bible deserved to be angry with God, it was certainly him!! I mean, seriously, think about it --
He was the youngest in his family.
He was a shepherd (lowest rung on the societal ladder of healthy people)
The King wanted him dead because he realized that if a young boy could slay a giant, what was stopping him from killing him??
While he was King, David's own son wanted to kill him!!
So yeah... more than enough reason... but notice what David does in Psalm 18:1-2 --
"I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Rather than focusing on his deep and desperate troubles, He focuses on the attributes of God that can help. David brought all of himself to all of God.* Nate made a really poignant point about how David handled things in these verses. He compared the aspects of God named here like paperweights placed on the problems so that David could leave them there and walk away peaceful, knowing God would fix everything!! Isn't that just so cool??!!
After all of that amazingness, Nate had us interact in another exercise. It was based off the Southern Baptist story, but with a twist of King David. He had those with special prayer needs stand up and give an attribute of God that could help their need. Then he had the rest of us agree with them and repeat the word given. It was meant to help us bring all of ourselves to all of who God is. An excellent reference for this also comes from Matt. 18:19-20 where Jesus is speaking of the power of agreement. It basically went as follows:
Person 1 - "faithful"
Congregation - "we agree that God is faithful"
all-knowing
Savior
wing-man
deliverer
strength
power
eternal
light to path
love
hope
Nate then ended the service by using Psalm 20 as a benediction --
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. 3 May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.[b] 4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
6 Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. 9 Lord, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!
I agree with all of you who have a special need right now, in Jesus' Name -- Amen!!
Footnotes --
As the head of 3 locations of Christian Campgrounds/Conference Centers, he has a lot to pray about!!
Those living or having grown up in the South would be used to this. New Englanders, not so much!! Personally, my only real experience of it was on a Youth Group trip to New Jersey just after 10th grade. That was in a Methodist Church, but as the only 6 Caucasians present. we were fairly obvious to the rest... LOL
Literally the theme of this current message series.
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