Psalms for Life

p>The Path of Life You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11) The psalmist has found the path of life and joy in God’s presence. He has found eternal pleasures at God’s right hand. How can I find what the psalmist found? How can I know this joy? How can I find the path of life of which the psalmist speaks? Where can I find his presence? If I want what the psalmist found, then I need to seek. I need to ask God to show me. I need to ask the Holy Spirit to help me. I know I cannot find what the psalmist found on my own. I have tried and failed. Father, I am encouraged by this verse today. I find hope in knowing that you promise in your Word to make the path of life known to me. You promise to fill me with joy in your presence. Oh God, I long to know you more. I need the life you promise in these words. I am so weary and filled with sorrow. Will you help me seek? Will you help me find this kind of joy? Amen Food for Thought Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:8-10) Psalm thirty-four is a good way to begin a new year. I, like many people making resolutions for the coming year, have made a goal to lose weight. I remember this being a goal last year too, but I didn’t succeed. Failure is a poor motivator! Besides making this a goal, I have to consider why I failed and what I can do differently this year to succeed. A lot of people have suggestions for how to lose weight, and many of them are good, but for me, the battle of losing weight (or any other bad habit) always begins in my heart and mind. My thoughts and attitudes about this issue will dictate whether I succeed. The Lord reminded me that my thoughts are a key to the solution. There are a number of lies that can sabotage my weight loss. This is too hard! I can’t do it! I’ll just have this today and start again tomorrow. I don’t have time to exercise. I could go on and on with the lies and excuses that get in my way. However, God reminds me to take every thought captive unto Christ. In Christ, I can do all things. Nothing is impossible with God. Next, I have to shift my focus. The more I focus on food, the more I tend to eat. Go figure! Instead, I need to refocus on the Lord. Why? Because when I am overeating, it isn’t usually because I am hungry for food. Often it is a spiritual hunger that is not being satisfied. When my spirit is empty, I often go to food instead of to God. However, food will never satisfy my craving for God. If I begin to practice the words in this Psalm, “taste and see that the Lord is good,” the Lord will satisfy my spiritual hunger, and I will not need to go to food. I have to trust God to lead me moment by moment through the battle. Whatever your goal this year, let’s ask the Lord to help us know the victory that is ours through Christ, and let us seek him with all our hearts. The Glory of the Lord May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. (Psalm 104:31-34) What is the glory of the Lord exactly? I think it is difficult for us to really comprehend the glory of God completely, but if we were to put an image to it, I think the image would be Moses standing before the burning bush. That day Moses saw the glory of God. When Moses went to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, he came back looking different because he had experienced the glory of God. Only when we get to heaven will we fully comprehend the glory of the Lord, but for now we have a small glimpse. We see the glory of the Lord with our eyes in the mighty things he does like the earth he created, the great volcanic eruptions, the mighty earthquakes that shake the earth, or the devastating winds of a hurricane. Yet God’s glory is more than any of those. We can experience the glory of God when we sense the nearness of his presence during a time of worship or that wondrous time when we surrender our lives to him as he makes himself known to us. For this we sing. For this we praise him. For this we rejoice. Let our meditation be pleasing to the Lord today as we consider his glory, and let’s praise him because his glory will indeed last forever!