3Trust in the Lord and do good;…4Take delight in
the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of
your heart. Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
trust in him and he will do this:
7Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in
their ways,…
8Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
8Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
16Better the little that the
righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;
It really surprises me what this
devotional ends up being by the time Saturday rolls around. I start my week
with a daily reading starting in the chapter and the following chapter or so [depending
how long they are]. I read the same thing every single day through the week and
then shift to the next psalm on the following Monday. I start trying to think
about it on Monday, you know, like what it will turn out to be. More often than
not, things in my week kind of culminate to a place where I need this. This
week is no exception. With work, house and relationship stuff looming, it has
been really hard to see other people succeed. This morning I literally typed to
a friend of mine “I just really need a win….like sometimes.” And really what I meant
by it is that I don’t feel like anything really has landed and been a success
in a while. It’s really hard for me to admit that I am just not being content
because it almost feels like a surrender to those that I feel like are abusive
of my relationship or work, or really that I need to be satisfied with the
material things that I have. I need to know in my heart that because I feel
like I am being taken advantage of, doesn’t mean that I am not. I likely, in
the past and present, have/am and those people, systems, and thing really ought
to change, because they aren’t right. The thing though is that I, likewise,
ought to not be discontented. Though that may read like license and complacency
to those people and things to continue to do that to me, I need to grow in my
contentment.
Verse 8 really hits home because I have been responding in anger. Anger, pretty exclusively, is the product of discontentment. It is a tell. My anger rats me out and should be screaming to me that my heart is missing something. Peace of mind and a contented heart is like a table. Everyone’s mind is like this. We all have a table….with 4 legs….that aren’t all the same length. When you put it down in the wrong place, the place it has not been designed to be, it will rock back and forth diagonally. It isn’t settled. I think we have all had the experience of eating at a table where one leg is too short. Someone else leans of the opposite corner and it startles you while you are trying to eat. By the end of a meal you are trying to stiff arm your corner down but are on pins and needles. It is not fun. We were designed to be some place…one would say on a firm foundation. Our solution is usually in our own power.
Verse 8 really hits home because I have been responding in anger. Anger, pretty exclusively, is the product of discontentment. It is a tell. My anger rats me out and should be screaming to me that my heart is missing something. Peace of mind and a contented heart is like a table. Everyone’s mind is like this. We all have a table….with 4 legs….that aren’t all the same length. When you put it down in the wrong place, the place it has not been designed to be, it will rock back and forth diagonally. It isn’t settled. I think we have all had the experience of eating at a table where one leg is too short. Someone else leans of the opposite corner and it startles you while you are trying to eat. By the end of a meal you are trying to stiff arm your corner down but are on pins and needles. It is not fun. We were designed to be some place…one would say on a firm foundation. Our solution is usually in our own power.
“everyone
who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a
foolish man who built his house on sand.”
We try
and level out our table by placing it on sand. Sure it will level easy. It will
look good just sitting there but should you attempt to use it for its purpose
you will find it sinking. Someone across form you leans on it and down it goes…so
you push your side down and it is level again. The problem is before the meal
would be done you are lying down on your stomach. It has ceased to be a useful
table; it has ceased to do what it was intended to do. Likewise if we place it
on the Rock half way or in a place it was not designed to be, it will not be
even still. The right orientation to Him, where He has made you to be, will
make your table level. Even when I am in the right spot but I have faced away
from Him, my table is not level and is uneven again. Do not attempt to level
your table in your own power. Seek Jesus, and draw near Him. Be content though
those around you abuse, distrust and take you for granted. Let the Lord take
care of them.
16Better the little that the
righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;
In Christ,
paulmusic for the week (as usual: no claim of being not "offensive" but it is really good):
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