Something Greater

Milt Reynolds | Last updated: January 15, 2022 Image by Gary Cassel from Pixabay - https://pixabay.com/images/id-3481791/ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD? There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. (Psalm 14:1–7, ESV) If there is no one who does good, not even one...no one who understand nor even seek to un...

Psalm 3 | Shield, Sustain and Satisfy Me! Milt Reynolds | Last updated: January 9, 2022 O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah (Psalm 3:1–8, ESV) Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay Lord, how many are the things that are disturbing...or threaten to disturb...my peace right now! How many are the foes which threaten my security and satisfaction in life! How loud are my thoughts which do n...

Psalm 119:1-8 | Aleph Milt Reynolds | Last updated: January 27, 2022 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me! - Psalm 119:1–8, ESV Image by Harut Movsisyan from Pixabay The Terrible Reality of Being Forsaken by God The entire life of Aleph, all hopes and joys and emotions, are connected closely to God's Word. Most striking is the desire to avoid shame and to be forsaken by God. Doing and delighting in God's Word promises a life of no shame. Here are some sources of shame: Blame for doi...

Psalm 119 | The Word of God Milt Reynolds | Last updated: May 22, 2022 This work by Milt Reynolds is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 Meditations on Psalm 119 One could live a lifetime meditating on Psalm 119. For the past year or so I've a small bit of this poem daily, as one of the first things I do after waking. Nearly every line of Psalm 119 directs praise or prayer toward all that God has said. This makes Psalm 119 a consistent encouragement to trust and delight in all of The Holy Bible, as Scripture containing all that God has declared to all people. As I read, consider and pray through each stanza of Psalm 119, I find it helpful to handwrite my thoughts. It helps me to slow down as I read. It helps me clarify and communicate my thoughts later. I write on scratch paper (leftover from finished crossword puzzles that we've printed out!). At the end of each week I spend an hour or two transferring my handwritten meditations to my computer, formatted for posting to thi...

Psalm 13: Consider And Answer Me To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. What do you think? David felt as if God had forgotten him - as if God had mislaid him, or was oblivious of him. In this emotional song, David says that he feels this way because of enemies and foes (hateful people; crushing, crowding things). What circumstances have recently made you feel this way? David begs God to "consider" (to look ...

Psalm 12: The Godly One Is Gone To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?" "Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the Lord; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs." The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell about a time when you felt alone in...

Psalm 11: The Lord Is In His Holy Temple (To the choirmaster. Of David.) In the Lord I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. Psalms 11:1-7 (ESV) WHAT DO YOU THINK? To whom is David speaking when he says, "You"? A person? A devil? A circumstance? What modern foundations of or life, speaking politically a...

Psalm 10: Standing Far Away "Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. "For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, There is no God. "His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity. "His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; "He lurks in ambush like a lion in hi...

Psalm 9: Forever Enthroned "To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. "When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. "You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;   you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out;   the very memory of them has perished. "But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,   and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. "The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put t...

Psalm 8: How Majestic Is Your Name! To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalms 8:1-9 (ESV) What do y...

Psalm 7: My Shield Is With God A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite. O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establ...

Psalm 6: How Long? To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord - how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. Psalms 6:1-...

Psalm 5: Give ear to my words, O Lord To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O ...

Psalm 4 God Of My Righteousness To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.   Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, "Who will show us some good?" Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!" You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalms 4:1-8 (ESV) WHAT DO YOU THINK? How does prayer depend upon grace? Da...

Psalm 3: Arise, O Lord! A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; Many are saying of my soul, "There is no salvation for him in God." Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, And he answered me from his holy hill. Selah I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be on your people! Selah Psalms 3:1-8 (ESV) WHAT DO YOU THINK? What range of emotions does David describe in this psalm? Is there a progression, or do David's feelings seem random? David was a warrior...he had bravely faced many situations, some even more threatening ...

Why Do The Nations Rage? Psalm 2 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in th...

Legalistic Duty or Delightful Devotion? Psalm 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Psalms 1:1-6 (ESV) What do you think? God, through this psalm of David, promises blessed prosperity ("happy pushing forward") for all who delight ("find pleasure or value") in His law. Why do the wicked reject this happiness? What is the difference between legalistic duty...

My Psalm 51 Bend low, God. How dare I even think of saying that to You? Nothing I see around me is of my creation. Even the breath and the blood in my body that enables me to see and think is not of my making. You are Creator, and I am as dust in comparison to You , in all ways. Bend low, God. I am without any power or authority to command you to stoop to my level, to listen to my heart, to hope for favor, to depend upon mercy . Bend low, God. You are the Only Source and the Only God, and I can't reach You. You must come near to me . God, my sin is fresh before my eyes. And behind the sin of today is the sin of yesterday, and the sin of last week, and the sin of last year, and the sin of all my past . I depend upon Your mercy , Your kindly, undeserved favor and Your tenderloving touch. Please take away the guilt of my sin. Erase my debt of rebellion against You. I know You have mercy on those who do not deserve mercy. I know that You provide forgiveness through...

f(x) = x Line Equation of Suffering and Joy As x increases, so increases y. Let x = suffering Let y = joy This is true only as the suffering, and the joy, are in Christ. Psalm 91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place - the Most High, who is ...

Paul Tripp: Learn to Accept Reality From an article posted by Paul Trip: http://www.paultrippministries.org/survivalskill2 Have you ever been reading the Bible and suddenly you are shocked, embarrassed, or confused by something that you're reading? What shocks you as you read God's Word? I want to look with you at the most shocking place in the entire Bible. Paul Tripp writes about the most shocking place in the entire Bible. I needed this... I think YOU need to read this , so here are some extracts and teasers: God's Grace God's grace is bigger and more powerful than anything that we could ever face, than any of our brokenness and our failures. Modern Christianity tends to deal with brokeness and failure by blurring the memory or comparing ourselves with others. Affirmation without honest self-criticism is like aspirin for cancer. Building self-esteem without recognizing, and exulting in, the depths from which God has rescued us is like reuphols...