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“Blessed is the person who honors the Lord, who finds great delight in His word.” Psalm 112:1

Psalm 22- Maybe prophetic utterances from David predicting the suffering of Christ, or maybe evidence that Christ had read the psalms and was familiar with David’s suffering, using his words to express His pain. I don’t know. but I did see a parallel and a lesson for my life this morning as I read this song again. Life can be a series of ups and downs; it’s been that way, it is that way, and it will probably always be that way. David demonstrated to me again the reality of my conclusion. He had his good times and he had his terrible times. But no matter how bad the bad got, he appears to me to have practiced focusing on God SO THAT he seemed to always find his way back to the good. His life was sort of like—oriented--- disoriented—and reoriented! I can relate; if I focus on Jesus I can more easily get through the tough times with a clearer picture of reality, learning from the tough times to eventually grow into better times. The tough times won’t all go away; but if I focus and stay oriented toward Jesus in the good times, I can learn from my struggles, and reorient myself back to Him more easily.

Psalm 52- My key thought as I read this psalm did not focus on the struggles of David or the unfairness of what was happening to him. My focus was drawn to the victory that would be his, but that victory was fully defined as from God alone and in God’s time. Timing and trust is everything!

Psalm 82- The response I saw to the injustices experience by Asaph, the author of this particular psalm, centered on three themes: be fair, be just, and be helpful. Now, that’s quite a response to injustice!

Psalm 112- Thirteen blessings listed in this psalm for doing two things: Honoring God because He is God, and finding delight in following His ways!! It’s a pretty good deal! Read them for yourself!

Psalm 142- The honesty and the hope found in prayer. David was in a cave hiding from Saul’s armies. He cried out, poured out his concerns, and told God his troubles in desperation sharing with gut-wrenching honesty, and then reminding God that in spite of it all, He knew that God knew the way, was his refuge and would bring goodness to him because HE is good!

Have a great day assured of God’s faithfulness even, or maybe especially in the tough times,

Pastor Rich

Quote for the day: “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of his willingness.” Martin Luther

PS Marcus Larivaux, pastor from Allon Chapel is coming back to Campus Ministries to offer additional pastoral support. He’ll be in our office space from 1-3 every Monday afternoon for the rest of the semester. You can make an appointment by contacting Pastor Larivaux at milarivaux@gmail.com or just stop by. We are very grateful that we can offer a variety of pastoral counseling for you.

PPS Stop by the Student Center sometime this week to help with one of the tie blankets we’re making that are being donated to police stations for kids! Participate in this stress relieving, service hours earning activity!!