1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

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Didn’t mean to skip yesterday, sorry! But here’s thoughts on Psalm 2. So before I begin I just wanted to highlight verse 4 where he states “He who sits in the heavens laughs;”. I always wondered if sometimes God sits in heaven amused by some of my arrogant decrees that go against him and now I know that He does! haha j/p. Seriously though I love this chapter because of how awesome God is. Here he’s talking about the strongest most powerful humans in the world and God is still SO much bigger than they are. It really makes those verses in the Bible that talk about if He is for us who can be against us stand out so much more. Seriously, if God is on your side, what do you have to be afraid of? Absolutely nothing! The Messeniac tone is palpable in this chapter as well. It is  Christ who takes the throne as ruler and judge of all. But it is only through Christ that the nations are saved and gentiles, of which I am included, blessed. There’s more that I want to write about but I might end it at that as I need to get some sleep tonight.

In accordance with the speak of nations and ends of the earth in this chapter. I will switch gears and begin to blog about some different countries beginning from tomorrow!

1 O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah

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So one of my small group leaders called me out on not actually putting my thoughts to words yesterday and so I’ll attempt to combine my thoughts into one blog entry. I was also kinda half joking today with some people that all of these Psalms have been very similar in their structure these past couple days. And to a certain extent it’s kinda true. But that’s also one of the amazing things about all of this. David went through so much in his life time and yet his faith never seemed to waver. There always seemed to be somebody out there trying to take his life and yet he is always able to have faith in God that He will provide. He’s still able to sleep at night and rest. One of the ways that is noticed in these passages is that he is able to draw back on his past experiences for comfort in God’s faithfulness. This is also something that has been so helpful for me to utilize as well. There are many moments in my life when I feel at a loss and it’s only when I look and think back to his previous faithfulness that I’m brought back to remember how faithful God truly is. God not only this but he also knows who God is in his character. Knowing of God’s sovereignty, “Salvation belongs to the Lord,” “I woke again for the Lord sustained me,” allows David to be able to “not be afraid” and “in peace … lie down and sleep.
I also need to learn how to preach to myself like it seems as if he’s doing to remind himself of God. As he is comforted by God’s faithfulness and character he’s able pretty much preach to his own soul. To “not sin” and “offer right sacrifices” and to what appears to be words of nightly meditation. In the midst of the craziness of life I don’t think I do this nearly enough. “ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent.” I’m always doing what I see in the beginning aspects of these Psalms and listing off to God what needs to be done. And then I’m too busy trying to think of ways to improve the situation or change things. I don’t take the time to just be still and listen. To focus on God and just “put your trust in the Lord.”.
The last aspect of these verses I want to focus on are “How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?” and “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound”. When looking from an outsiders perspective it could seem as if David has everything going against him and that his enemies are the ones that are blessed. David’s the one being persecuted and chased. David’s the one who is crying out for saving. When in actuality at the end of the day, David is the one filled with joy. David is the one who is abel to sleep in peace knowing that God is in full control and that he will wake again as long as the Lord desires and there is nothing that man can do to change that. I can too look at the worldly things and seek what this world tells me is joy and comfort in their abounding grains and wines. I need to continue to remind myself of the infinitely greater joy and comfort that is found in God. “The Lord has set apart the godly for himself…” Now live like it.

“I want to learn to pray
The way that David prayed
I want my soul to burn when I hear Your name
I want to feel like new
I want to hunger for you
Bring me back to life like only You can do
Cause I don’t want to stay the same

You told me
Look for You and I will find
So I’m here
Like I’m searching for the first time
Revive me, Jesus
Make this cold heart start to move
Help me rediscover You”

1 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!

2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.

4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.

6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety
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oops… please see the Psalm 3 post for thoughts on both Psalm 3 & 4.

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7 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.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

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God hates sin. God loves righteousness. He hates his enemies. He loves his children. God’s desire is that his children walk in his righteousness. God will protect his people from these evil-doers. Such basic truths but so easily forgotten. Sometimes just looking around the world it definitely doesn’t seem that way. Sometimes it feels like everything is the opposite and things are stacked against you. Just gotta remember to actually start off every single day, “in the morning”, learning to trust, lean, depend on God to provide for us this path of righteousness to walk down. It’s God who enables and we are then able to exult Him.

1O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
2Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal dme, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
3My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long?

4Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

6I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
7My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.
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Simple lesson. One part just really stuck out to me today. “…save me for the sake of your steadfast love.” Even in what seems like an utter dire situation, David appeals for God to save him for His (God’s) sake. Yes, I’m sure he wanted saving for his own sake, but also that God would be glorified. I look back to all the different requests I’ve had for God over the 27 years of my life and so many times it’s just for me. And there’s the end of the psalm where David states that “the Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.” I started to wonder how David knew this. Was he able to personally hear the voice of God so well that he answered him during this brief lament? Maybe, but another thing that I thought was that David’s request was for God’s sake. Why wouldn’t God provide for something that would be glorifying onto Him? The key was also that there appears to be a genuine desire for God’s glory to be had. Not just some twisted glorifying of oneself in the name of God, like in the example of the Pharisee’s. For Your sake. 3 simple words. So much more depth.

1O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

3O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
4if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause,
5let 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

6Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.

8The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
9Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!
10My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
11God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.

12If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;
13he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
14Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.
15He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made.
16His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.

17I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

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It’s been kind of a long day and so I’m just going to write off the cuff here. I love the Psalms because of how passionate David gets with some of his writings, especially when he’s lamenting something and turning to God as his shield. Sometimes though I have a hard time completely understanding it because we don’t often hear of or see/feel this aspect of God these days. I don’t often pray prayers regarding this military-esque aspect of God. There were a few things that were just striking when reading this psalm though. The first was how well David understood God’s righteousness. The just and righteous aspect of God are often overlooked compared to his loving and grace giving nature. He pretty much drives it home almost the entire psalm, especially in the verses regarding what awaits those who do not repent. What’s amazing is that even when talking about this, that loving nature comes through too because it seems like the flip side of that is what happens with repentance is rest and refuge with our God. It’s so comforting that our loving God is also a righteous God in times of hardship. At the same time, however, this Psalm also kinda is terrifying because I’m not sure I can quite say all of the things that David is praying here. It’s amazing that despite what seems like intimately knowing the righteousness of God, he’s still able to say to judge him and act accordingly! He knows that God knows everything about our minds and hearts and yet he is able to pray these prayers. How God-centered must you live your life to pray this? Whenever I think of this I grow more and more thankful for the cross that God would see the righteousness of Christ when he looks upon me. To strive towards that righteousness, though, does need to be a greater desire. Lastly, despite how horrible things appear to be going for David, I love how almost all of his psalms end with such thankfulness and praise.  I don’t think I do this nearly enough. I so often appeal to God for various things and it often just ends there. David appeals to the righteousness of God and thanks him for it and will sing praise to His name. Nothing’s been done yet. He hasn’t even finished praying. No answer’s been given. But he still ends it all with songs of praise just because of who God is. Not because of what he’s done or will do or anything else. That’s awesome. Simply well put. I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

On a somewhat other thought. I think community is pretty awesome! Looking back towards the pictures of this past weekend I just got reminded of Bruno Mars’ “Count on Me” and didn’t think a whole lot of people knew about it so I thought I’d share!

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

[http://www.mlkonline.net/dream.html]

Once again, I want to preface this entry by saying that I have not decided yet who my vote is going to be going for. Granted I live in Illinois and my vote is pretty much not going to matter as Obama is gonna win Illinois in a landslide. I still feel it’s important to go out and vote for who I feel would be the better president.

Before show the clip, I wanted to encourage everyone to go out and do a little bit of research to find out what they stand for. This is the guy that’s going to be running our country. Whoever our next president is gonna be, he’s going to be making foreign policies that will affect our relationship with this world. He’s gonna be making social policies that will affect our society. And if you could care less about these things, remember that he’s gonna be making economic policies that will affect your pocketbooks, as well as making healthcare policies that can affect your possible future well-being. So go out and see who you agree with more and base your decision on that, not just the raw emotions that this clip might bring out in you please. I have to say all of this because I do think that this ending of his speech was pretty dang sick.

It doesn’t actually follow the order of how the speech was given, but I’ll give the parts of the transcript according to how they show up on the video.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can…

…We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope…

…the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.