Truth to Live By, Truth to Die For

See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love. All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. (Psalm 119:159–160 NIV) Thank You, Father, for breathing out Your Word through men so many centuries ago. Thank You for preserving the message that You revealed through the miracle of inspiration, Father. Thank You for Your Word—the inerrant, authoritative, infallible Word of God.

For Personal Integrity

From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought [David] To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands. (Psalm 78:71–72) Father, personal purity is never automatic or easily produced. Integrity doesn’t flow from our flesh naturally or freely.

Courage for the Discouraged

I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. (Psalm 40:1–2) Lord, we pray that You would bring relief when we are swamped with the ever-rising tide of discouragement. Grant deliverance for us who are caught in that swamp and start to slide into its slimy waters.

Quietness

It is almost 10:00, Monday night. The children are snoozing and snoring upstairs (or they should be!). Aside from a few outside noises—a passing car . . . a barking dog . . . a few, faint voices in the distance—all’s quiet on the home front. That wonderful, much-needed presence has again come for a visit—quietness. Oh, how I love it . . . how I need it.

The Small Stuff

WE OFTEN HEAR PEOPLE SAY, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Although sweating the small stuff can occasionally be a drag, there’s another side to that coin. Greatness and the attention to detail, in my opinion, are welded together. A great piece of music is like that—carefully arranged orchestration carrying out a majestic melody blending with the surrounding sound of harmony.

Lifelines

TO ME, BIRTHDAYS ARE JUST another routine realization that I’m not getting any younger. I know that because the cake won’t hold all the candles. Even if it could, the frosting would melt before I’d be able to blow all of them out. One year, my kind and thoughtful assistant reminded me of another approach I could take. She gave me a birthday card showing an old guy standing beside a cake covered with candles.

Taking Time

EIGHT WORDS WERE BRASHLY SMEARED across the dashboard of the speedboat tied up at Gulf Shores, Alabama. They reflected the flash and flair of its owner whose fast life was often publicized in sporting news across America. In the off-season, the left-handed speedster in the Gulf of Mexico resembled a shiftless, beachcombing drifter with his stubble beard, disheveled hair,

The Case against Vanilla

I CANNOT IMAGINE ANYTHING more boring and less desirable than being poured into the mold of predictability. Few things interest me less than the routine, the expected, the status quo. A fresh run at life by an untried route will get my vote every time. Stay open-minded for a moment, and I’ll try to show you why.

Two Questions

WHEN COMPARING THE ACTS OF forgiving and forgetting, I believe forgetting is the tougher assignment. Why? Because forgetting is something that is shared with no other person. It’s a solo flight. All the rewards are postponed until eternity . . . but how great they will be on that day!

Wounds and Scars

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Scripture is a verse containing much emotion: “From the city men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out” (Job 24:12). The scene is a busy metropolis. Speed. Movement. Noise. Rows of buildings. All that is obvious, easily seen and heard by the city dweller.

Tag Archives: Psalms