Stilled and Quieted

"O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore."

(Psalm 131, ESV)

The words "calmed and quieted my soul" jumped out at me from this Psalm. I have not been experiencing much of that lately. The imagery of a young child being calmed by his mother is strong. Even if it has been years, you can remember that feeling of knowing everything would be alright when your mother was holding you close. Sometimes we long for those days when we could go to someone and basically say "just make it all go away." Then I was called back to the beginning of the Psalm. What is the key to having access to that comfort? Realizing that we are small and not in control of this world. We will always be his little children, and God is always ready to comfort and protect us if we'll just recognize and ask him. The problems and hurts may still be there, but he will hold us through it until the pain is past.

Attached are a melody and lyrics that are my response to this Psalm.

Riches & Blessings

Psalm 144: 3, 13-15

"O Lord, what is man that you care for him,

Man is like a breath;

his days are like a fleeting shadow...

....Our barns will be filled

with every kind of provision.

Our sheep will increase by thousands,

by tens of thousands in our fields;

our oxen will draw heavy loads.

There will be no breaching of walls,

no going into captivity,

no cry of distress in our streets.

Blessed are the people of whom this is true;

blessed are the people whose God is the Lord."

Can be purchased at Igniter Media.

We are living in a country that has full barns, oxen drawing heavy loads, and full fields. If we focus on the things of this world, material security, comfort, and entertainment we will be lulled asleep by Satan. This lulling starts with sleep, brings us into a coma, and eventually leads to spiritual death.

We are made alive together with Christ, and Christ brings us riches not found in this world.

Ephesians 2:3-7

"Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,

indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,

and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

But God, being rich in mercy,

because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in our transgressions,

made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

and raised up with Him,

and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."