137th Week, Psalms Chapters 39-41 (Click on Title for Video Intro)

 

Click on Title for Video Introduction

Monday, Psalm Chapter 39

Theme:  Apart from God, life is fleeting and empty.  This is an appeal for God's mercy because life is so brief.  

Author:  David

Psalm 39

Verse 1

Tanya Ruden

Verse 1:  I’m determined to watch steps and tongue so they won’t land me in trouble.

THOUGHT

AMEN!!  I think I say this every morning, and usually I have sinned several times before the girls and I are out the door.  I know each of us have experienced a time when our mouth got us in trouble. I also know there are times we have bit our tongue and not said what we felt at the moment.  Then later we talked about it in different company.  Is this really better? 

I encourage each of us to watch what we say.  May it always be kind and sweet, never mean spirited.  Isn’t it amazing how ‘ugly’ a person looks when they begin saying bad things?  Right now ‘stupid head’ is a big bad word at our house, and it is amazing to me how ‘ugly’ it makes sweet little Crystal look each time she says it.  May our words never be used to defame a person we love.  Oh how that lands us in trouble.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, may all of the words we speak out loud and even think in our minds be kind. May they never be bad or disrespectful to another person, especially You. May we bite our tongues when appropriate and may our words be witnesses for You. AMEN

Tuesday, Psalm Chapter 40

Theme:  Doing God's will sometimes means waiting patiently.  While we wait, we can love God, serve others, and tell others about Him. 

Author:  David

Psalm 40

Verse 8

Jeanie Boldt

Verse 8:  I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

THOUGHT

I feel very blessed at the moment to feel like I am right where God wants me. My prayer group at work is growing and being strengthened; I have ladies in our city that I serve, pray for and try to be Jesus with skin on. Our marriage Life Group is becoming stronger and growing with each passing week, and my marriage and family grow closer with Heather and David’s wedding and with more love to share since the little girls joined us. I also feel blessed to have my brother and sister and their children.  I love sharing with my nephews and nieces and their children and love learning and growing from them. 

I guess I am very much in the Will of the Lord.  I need to be on the alert because that is when the Lord usually shakes us up and invites us to step out with a leap of faith.  However, if we pray for the Will of the Lord in our lives and believe He answers, we are right where we should be.

The message Bart sent after he took the examination was a perfect example of what I am saying.  He left the outcome to God.  He will study, work or do both depending on the outcome.  He has so turned it over to the Lord and will do as the Lord directs. There is no right or wrong; there is just the Lord’s Will in our lives or our will in our lives.  Which will it be for you?

PRAYER

Thank You for prayer. May our thoughts and words this week be spoken as Your Will in our lives.  May we not question it but praise You in all things. Instill in us the attitude of obeying and serving God.  May we proclaim the Good News to all.  If we delight in His Word, we will delight in His Will. Thank You that we Salt Shakers are in the Word together delighting in You each day.  Help us this week to shine for You. AMEN

Wednesday, Psalm Chapter 41A (Verses 1-6)

Theme:  A prayer for God's mercy when feeling sick or abandoned.  When we're sick or when everyone deserts us, God remains at our side.

Author:  David

Psalm 41A

Verses 3 & 4

Delores Little

Verses 3 & 4:  The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from the bed of illness.  I said, “O Lord, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against You.”

THOUGHT

I claim in verse 3 for the ill daily, and it means a lot to me.  But we also can look at these verses in a new way, and maybe some of you have already. The sickness can also be us who walk daily without our Lord Jesus.  It would be us in a spiritual illness.  We need our Lord to bring us up out of it too.  We can ask for healing, but above all, we need to come before Him and ask forgiveness.  

We need to have prayed to God before we gave our hearts to Him.  One night I truly emptied myself out to Him by confessing my sins.  He spoke to me in His Word, and my life was different.  Funny, I thought it would be a really smooth walk with Him. WRONG!!! It was through the ups and downs that I was drawn closer to Him.  Like the song says, “One day at a time sweet Jesus,” and that is how it is.

I have a dear friend who was on his deathbed, and I prayed in verse 3 daily for him.  God has brought him back, not to a complete healing but he is living longer than the doctors thought he would. God’s Word is so powerful and alive and active for us today as it was back then.

I close with the last verse of the chapter, verse 13, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.”

PRAYER

We all know friends and family members who are suffering from disease or are struggling with healing from surgery or injury today.  Father, we claim this verse in for each and every one of them.  Please meet them at their point of need.  We love You and claim You as the Great Healer.  AMEN 

Thursday, Psalm Chapter 41B (Verses 7-13)

Psalm 41B

Verse 12

Jeanie Boldt

Verse 12:  In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.

THOUGHT

Book I of Psalms has taken us on a journey through suffering, sorrow, and great joy.  It has taught us much about God’s eternal love and care for us and how we should trust him even in the day-to-day experiences of life. That is why I have chosen the above verse to end the reading of  Book I, the first part of Psalms.  

The Lord is with us each day and has actually set us in His presence. What better Caregiver would you want? In my brokenness He was there. It was because He set me in His presence that I feel secure in His love today. He is our mighty healer, provider, protector, unconditional friend and the messenger of JOY and HOPE.

PRAYER

Father God, thank You for loving us so much that You promise to be by our side hour by hour and day by day. We are so glad that we are forever in Your presence. Help us never to isolate ourselves from You and think that we can do it on our own.  Help us to understand that no matter what our condition is, You want us by Your side.  Thank You for that reassurance.  We pray this prayer for the missionaries and for our service men and women. Help them realize they have been given a special place in Your household. We love You and honor You. We Thank You for being with us yesterday. We Praise You for leading the way today.  And we Honor You for giving us peace for what will come tomorrow. AMEN

Friday, A Little About David

Taken form NIV Life Application Bible

Jeanie Boldt

When we think of David, we think: shepherd, poet, musician, warrior, giant-killer, king, ancestor of Jesus - in short, one of the greatest men in the Old Testament.  But alongside that list stands another:  betrayer, liar, adulterer, murderer.  The first list gives qualities we all might like to have; the second, qualities that might be true of any one of us.  The Bible makes no effort to hide David's failures.  Yet he is remembered and respected for his heart for God.  

David, more than anything else, had an unchangeable belief in the faithful and forgiving nature of God.  He was a man who lived with great zest.  He loved to dance, sing and celebrate.  He sinned many times but he was quick to confess his sins.  His confessions were from the heart, and his repentance was genuine.  David never took God's forgiveness lightly or his blessing for granted.  In return, God never held back from David either his forgiveness or the consequences of his actions.  

David, an ancestor of Christ, was the greatest king of Israel.  He was an amazing warrior who could also be a 'best friend', as with Jonathan.  He loved music and was the author of many of the Psalms that we have been reading.  

David learned that willingly admitting our mistakes is the first step in dealing with them and that forgiveness does not remove the consequences of the wrong.  David knew that God greatly desires our complete trust and worship.  You see the close relationship that David had with God as you read the Psalms.  God referred to him as "A man after my own heart".