July 14 - Psalm 128 | Psalm 129 | Psalm 130 | Psalm 132 | Psalm 134 | Psalm 135

Good morning everyone,

Well, today we have five more songs of ascent starting with Psalm 128 which describes the blessings of a man who walks with God, a man who has a high respect and admiration for  Yahweh. It begins with, “Blessed.” Now, I really love this word, it always makes me smile and I’ll tell you why. To me “blessed” is a word that sounds so, oh I don’t know …… perhaps spiritual or holy. What do you hear when you see the word? The word “blessed,” however, is a plural word and when literally translated means “happy, happy, happy.” Is that great or what? “Happy, happy, happy are all who fear the Lord,” and isn’t that the truth. When we live our lives in accordance with the Bible, when we let Jesus guide our paths, everything just seems to fall into place and we are so happy. It is true that we all have unexpected hardships and trials, like the psalmist of 129, but after all, life is a continual process of getting use to the things we never planned, right? But the question is; how are you going to handle them? Are you going to let the trials make you bitter or better? May I suggest you choose better and be “happy, happy, happy” in Christ who totally just wants to bless you. Right on?

Psalm 130:3, ”If you, Lord, kept a record of sins.” Okay, did anyone besides me just shudder? I would hate to see the account of all the sins I have committed over the course of my life time. Am I alone here? I think not, but no matter how many they number it only takes one lone sin to keep you rom getting into heaven. The good news is Hebrews 9:26 tells us, “But he (Christ) has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” because, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That verse has become a bit of a cliche, I would encourage you to take just a moment to rest on it and hear the power that is in it, the true sacrifice that was made on your behalf, on my behalf, and what it means for our future.

Now, bear with me please, this has absolutely nothing to do with anything about the psalms or a devotional, aside from the fact that it is such a special gift from God, but I am so loving it that I am compelled to share. Where I sit on summer mornings to do my writing is in the living room, on my sofa in front of window that is wide open. I typically begin my mornings at 4:30 and I have discovered that this is the most precious time of the day. I love, love, love hearing everyone (or would that be everything?), wake up. The birds begin their mornings at this hour chatting to one another, singing their songs of “Wake up Cinderella” while doing whatever it is birds do in the mornings, their songs delight me. The roosters too, start their conversations at this time of the morning. Stretching out their necks while cock-a-doodle-doing at the hens to get busy laying eggs. I will also hear Ray, our old man of a horse, snorting the slumber from his head while he lumbers towards an early morning snack of dew moist grass. Patches, the baby of our two goats, will also chime in with his, “h-e-e-y’ing t-h-e r-r-r-e” though I actually think he is telling everyone else to hush so he can sleep a bit longer. My absolute favorite of the morning though, is not, as beautiful as they are, a sound but the amazing fragrance that wafts in from my mock-orange shrub that is planted along the boarder of the yard. It is not constant, oh no, just every so often, each morning, the bouquet will will find its way into my space. It will swirl about, drifting through silently, and each time I will give pause to appreciate just how beautiful it is and be grateful for it all the wonders of God’s great earth. You know, we all get so busy in life it is easy to get swept up into routine, simply going through the motions, seeing only what immediately demands our attention, forgetting all of the good, all the beauty, all the joy that God has allowed us. In Genesis we are told “God created ….. and God saw that it was good.” Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world." May I suggest we all take time to, as my dearly departed grandmother would say, “smell the roses.” Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …