Tag Archives: the book of Psalms

January 25
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“I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.”  (Psalm 119:100, NIV)

Most people gain knowledge through the so-called “school of hard knocks,” and they obtain understanding through trial and error.   However, there is an easier, faster, and less painful way to acquire the wisdom of the sages: Obedience to God’s word.

It feeds our ego to “be in charge,” but we must resist this Sirens call.  None of us are clever enough, often enough, to consider all of the angles in a decision; but, through simple obedience to even the most mundane of God’s commandments, the grace, the peace, and the life we seek will come to us.  – Luther

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January 6
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“I know the greatness of the LORD — that our Lord is greater than any other god.  The LORD does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths.  He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth.  He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.”  (Psalm 135:5-7, NLT)

More than forty years ago, J. B. Phillips wrote a book (which is still in print, by the way) titled, “Your God is Too Small.”  The title alone provokes the question: How big is your God?

The psalmist, as we see in today’s selection, had a big God.  There is a direct relationship between the size of our problems and the size of our God.  As I heard related several years ago in a sermon by Austin, Texas pastor Gerald Mann: “Big God, small problems.  Small God, big problems.”

Having a God that cannot be bossed, because He is all-powerful; that cannot be bought, because he has infinite resources; is a comfort, a joy, and an arsenal for whatever problems life presents!  – Luther

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December 30
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“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. . .”  (Psalm 1:1a, KJV)

There is a lot of bad advice out there.  Some of it is “conventional wisdom.”  Some of it is based on superstition.  Some of it is based on half-truths.  All of it is beneath the disciple of Jesus.

The children of God have a higher, truer, more enduring counsel: The word of God.

Obtaining the counsel (advice) that blesses us, and those around us, is not hard to obtain; but it challenges our resolve to spend time in the presence of God’s Holy Word.

Like an attentive father to his child, the Lord God will guide our steps toward everlasting life, peace, and joy; the things that ungodly counsel promises, but never delivers.  – Luther

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