Day 177 Bible Readings – Psalm 96: 1-2 (ESV)

1 Kings 16 & 17, Acts 17: 1-21, Psalm 96

Psalm 96: 1-2 (ESV)

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.”

Verses 1 and 2 from Psalm 96 sound like another song to me, so I did an internet search for songs that were built around Psalm 96 and found this delightful version by Wendell Kimbrough called “Sing, Sing, Sing Psalm 96.” It’s a country blue grassy rendition of a psalm which is very cool to me because I rarely hear bible songs written as country / bluegrass songs.

For your listening pleasure – Enjoy!

Day 176 Bible Readings – Psalm 95: 1-2 (ESV)

1 Kings 14: 21-31, 1 Kings 15, Acts 16: 16-40, Psalm 95

Psalm 95: 1-2 (ESV)

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

When I read verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 95 I thought it sounded like the lyrics of a song. When I did an online search, I didn’t find any well-known songs based on Psalm 95 but I found a band called “Sons of Korah” who create music based on the Psalms. This group is from Australia and their music is amazing. Here’s their website where you can listen to short tracks of all of psalms they set to music – Sons of Korah music

Here's the YouTube video of the Sons of Korah with their musical version of Psalm 95 –  

Enjoy!

Waiting is Biblical

I think Holy Spirit is teaching me that to wait is biblical. It is a hard lesson because I am a naturally inpatient person. I remember becoming so frustrated as a child if I couldn't figure out a puzzle right away. I wasn't the type of child to keep doing the puzzle until I got it right. Not me. I would get upset and knock the puzzle over and stamp away in frustration mumbling "stupid puzzle!"

As I've grown older, I've learned to be patient but it's still not easy. I like doing puzzles now even though it takes days for me to do them. I enjoy the process of working on puzzles till there complete, and have even learned to work on them daily instead of spending hours on it. 

When I took jiu jitsu for a few months, I learned to be patient when I didn't get the exercises right away. I still remember when a teaching assistant showed me how to front roll because I wasn't getting it. Once he showed me, I got it and was so proud of myself. I even learned to front roll and stand up straight, which impressed the teaching assistant. During that night of learning to front roll, the students in the class set up obstacles to see how far you could fly and still front roll. You had to do a running start and let yourself fly through the air over the obstacles and do a front roll. Now that I think about it was kind of dangerous, and not everyone participated but I did. I made it the second to the last obstacle course and did my front roll and stood up at the end impressing everyone in my class. 

When Holy Spirit is trying to teach me something, books show up randomly in my email Inbox to help me. This is the book that showed up - Mark Vroegop called "Waiting isn't a waste: The surprising comfort of trusting God in the uncertainties of life." Here's a bible passage from the book:

"They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31.

There's also an article from the book author on the Crossway website - How (and How Not) to Wait.

I still hate waiting, but I am learning that if I become inpatient than it means I am not trusting God and the Holy Spirit to lead me in my life. Thinking that I don't trust God seems more horrible to me than the act of waiting, so I am learning to wait and taking comfort from all the bible passages on waiting. 

Day 175 Bible Readings - Acts 16: 6-7 (ESV)

1 Kings 12: 25-33, 1 Kings 13, 1 Kings 14: 1-20, Acts 16: 1-15, Psalm 94: 12-23

Acts 16: 6-7 (ESV)

“And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.”

Verses 6 and 7 from Acts 16 describes the Holy Spirit guiding Paul in his missionary work and how obedient he was to following the Holy Spirit. One of the commentaries I read on Acts 16 said something to the effect that the Holy Spirit guides by opening doors as well as closing doors. It can seem confusing sometimes when you feel blocked to go in a specific direction that seems like such a good idea, and when you pray about it you get the message that the Holy Spirit saying that direction is not a good idea. You really must rely on your trust and faith in God to not go through in what looks like a closed door. Perhaps the timing is off, perhaps God has a different door that you need to go through to get to where you want to go, only God knows what the specific reason is for the closed door. What we can do is to have absolute trust that God is always leading us in the right direction and in the best time for us and God’s plan.