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Saturday, October 23, 2004
It's almost like the title of this blog is backwards in some ways. I mean, the three items we studied from the Psalms of Ascent, well, if our eternity is secure then it'd be easier to serve and trust God. Don't forget though, where we are in this study of going from Head to Heart.
Remember, I'm going with the idea that the Psalms of Ascent (the ancient Hebrew hymnal used for travel to prepare spiritually for the trip to one of the three annual festivals) are chronologically arranged in such a way that it could be they give us clues to an authentic walk with God.
Psalm 120 reminds us that the first step is realizing that we have to repent of our tendency to think like the "world" thinks rather than seeing the world the way God sees the world. We choose to move from lies to truth.
Psalm 121 then follows with the idea that we need to trust God as individuals because He never sleeps...never stops watching over us and in fact, keeps our very souls.
Psalm 122 kicked off our four week look at worship with the simple words, "I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord..." If we're thinking like God thinks and trusting Him, the next natural step is to worship Him. Sorry, but to get all 28 studies we did on that you'll have to click the archives and get reading.
Psalm 123 reminds us that a natural response to worship of God should lead to action by serving others. Not because there'stuff we can be doing to please God, but because He's been so gracious to us that we have been given a gift we didn't deserve and empowered to help others see that in our lives.
Psalm 124 is the idea that we should trust God as a group. This is important because if we're serving others, it can wear us out. People will not understand what we're up to and they'll rise up against us as a group. Can you imagine if everybody were doing all the things in these Psalms? We'd need each other to sharpen and support us and encourage us by reminding us that God keep our soul and makes us free.
Psalm 125 reminds us that in the midst of this service and trust under fire, that the reason we're doing all this stuff is not to earn God's favor or get bonus points, but rather the reality that no matter how good we are or how bad we are, we abide forever in God's love. He always surrounds us, and we can trust Him whether we are upright in heart of we have crooked ways.
Why not take a moment and think through what God has done thus far in you through this study...give Him thanks for it...because sometimes it's good to step back from the trees and see the forest. And ask Him to prepare you for the next week's lessons...
Brent 5:58 AM
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