WEEKEND READING – 5-14-22

“I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:1-3 NKJV

Can I interrupt our weekend reading to slip in a praise report? Here it is – you can jump over it if you’d like.
My business (not this) has been struggling – and I labor and toil and ask for prayers and with all the big name preachers declaring this the year of the double, well I am just finishing up the quarter of the year when I opened the business, and have last year’s data to compare, and it… isn’t double. It is less than last year’s number. It’s frustrating not to be able to praise report that it was double. But this praise report is a bit more profound than tangible sales.
It was a lesson deep within me, which I knew and taught, but God had to teach me anyway because my heart didn’t practice it.

“Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.” Psalm 127:1

You see, I needed More of God in the business, like I let him in this blog. Let me explain. In 2020, God impressed upon me to write my studies down online instead of in my notebooks. I have always written down my bible studies much like a sermon or a lesson – so I thought it was weird, what if someone found it and read it. And God asked me to surrender my Bible studying to him. The first year I had about 75 views a month – averages out to be just over 2 people looking per day (but I wasn’t posting on weekends). The second year, God was really putting it on my heart to do a read through the Bible in a year – I said to God, that is a lot of time added to what I am already doing and I am not sure I can. Well, God meant I was to do that on the blog and I ended up posting every day and by the end of the year we averaged 242 views a month – just about triple growth! We are talking double plus exceedingly abundantly beyond all I could have imagined! (yah, today I am looking over some stats and this seals up in my heart the lesson.) And this is our 3^rd year and we are already on par to hit the double in views from last year as we study the New Testament line by line and on weekends enjoy the wisdom books. God is growing this little blog. Not me. Look at my business – I obviously do not know how to build viewers, customers, or followers.

Every time I hear that verse about building the house I will say, God gave me that for my business – but I never surrendered it to him to build. I asked for him to provide sales – but sales alone are not how a business grows. And now we get to the even better part. God is growing my business just as he is growing this blog. I had almost 400 followers on Facebook when I started the business, I lost 200 of them when I switched my business page from art in general to my business focused. Now I have 590 followers. Growth of 790 in a year’s time without buying followers and doing all the smarmy weird things people do to look bigger than they are. But I also now have 10 social media platforms for the business with a total of 1251 followers with a reach higher than I can calculate. I started with a new website and it was the only way to purchase – well, no one is honestly that comfortable buying from a new website. I now have 3 online storefronts were you can buy my products. 
I stress and worry about sale but I have been without a job for over a year and my business can’t give me a pay check yet – but I have been able to pay every bill and I have more food, and better food than I had before (since a lady from my church brings it to me).  I got hung up and distracted by sales – I forgot how much God has blessed me with. This is why I tell us all the time to keep our eyes on God and do not look away. I am sorry I looked, and didn’t even realize it. Please forgive me. I have already repented to God – but since you follow this blog and I am a type of leader then, I need to also make it right with you all.
And if you do forgive me – Celebrate with me and give glory to God!! He is building the house (just not the corner I was looking at)!!! He is building this blog and building the business! Hallelujah!

RELATIONSHIP:

Do you already have a relationship with a powerful God who cares about your every need because He loves you? Did you know my God can communicate with you and protect you – He has a plan for you to prosper if you just submit to His will and let His plan play out in your life!!! God wants a relationship with you and has already made a plan for your life. He loves you so much He sent His son to this world, to die as a sacrifice for your sins and rise from death with victory over sin and the ability to have a personal relationship with you.

Do you want to know truth? Be able to discern lies? Know how to figure it all out in these confusing times and have peace? The Bible says Jesus is the truth. I have experienced it and it has changed my life. I was once a hot mess of sin, promiscuity, drug and alcohol use and so much more. But I was lost and when I could not find my way, or find a truth, I numbed it with bad choses. When I found Jesus, and truth – I found peace and deliverance from those things.

If you want a relationship with God without truth you will get the counterfeit, hypocritical Christianity that has kept some of you away for too long. You need truth and relationship. You need to be honest with yourself and God (including honest repentance) and God will reveal truth to you. It becomes the two way, interaction that your relationship with God is built on. This is why Jesus is called the truth, because he is our only way to the Father. 

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins, and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grow and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus I pray ~ Amen

BIBLE READING:

Dear Heavenly Father – Please give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of who you are, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is. Open the eyes of our understanding, please, so we may know the hope of our calling and the vast sovereignty and power of the grace of the cross. Please do not let us miss out on what you want and need from us today. Lord, I pray that your word prepares us and not scares us! We forbid the works and influences of fear over your word and our sound mind. And please keep us and bless us and shine your face upon us and pour out grace over us and give us peace! Thank you! – In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Today’s reading is the Book of Psalms chapters 36-41 (embedded below for your convenience in the NKJV).

Man’s Wickedness and God’s Perfections

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

36 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
² For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
⁴ He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself in a way that is not good;
He does not ^[a]abhor evil.

⁵ Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the ^[b]great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
⁸ They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
⁹ For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

¹⁰ Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹¹ Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.

The Heritage of the Righteous and the Calamity of the Wicked

A Psalm of David.

37 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit^[c] your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

⁹ For evildoers shall be ^[d]cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

¹² The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
¹³ The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
¹⁴ The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
¹⁵ Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
¹⁹ They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
²⁰ But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.

²¹ The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
²² For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be ^[e]cut off.

²³ The steps of a good man are ^[f]ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
²⁴ Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
²⁶ He is ^[g]ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.

²⁷ Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
²⁸ For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹ The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall ^[h]slide.

³² The wicked watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.
³³ The Lord will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.

³⁴ Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
³⁵ I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
³⁶ Yet ^[i]he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

³⁷ Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
³⁸ But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹ But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
⁴⁰ And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.

Prayer in Time of Chastening

A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.

38 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
² For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
And Your hand presses me down.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh
Because of Your anger,
Nor any health in my bones
Because of my sin.
⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
⁵ My wounds are foul and festering
Because of my foolishness.

⁶ I am ^[j]troubled, I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
⁷ For my loins are full of inflammation,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
⁸ I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.
¹⁰ My heart pants, my strength fails me;
As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.

¹¹ My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague,
And my relatives stand afar off.
¹² Those also who seek my life lay snares for me;
Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction,
And plan deception all the day long.

¹³ But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴ Thus I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth is no response.

¹⁵ For ^[k]in You, O Lord, I hope;
You will ^[l]hear, O Lord my God.
¹⁶ For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,
Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”

¹⁷ For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
¹⁸ For I will declare my iniquity;
I will be in ^[m]anguish over my sin.
¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;
And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied.
²⁰ Those also who render evil for good,
They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.

²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!

Prayer for Wisdom and Forgiveness

To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

39 I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
² I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.
³ My heart was hot within me;
While I was ^[n]musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ “Lord, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.
⁵ Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
⁶ Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they ^[o]busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.

⁷ “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
⁹ I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was You who did it.
¹⁰ Remove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
¹¹ When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty melt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor. Selah

¹² “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am a stranger with You,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
¹³ Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and am no more.”

Faith Persevering in Trial

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

40 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
³ He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.

⁴ Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.

⁶ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness
In the great assembly;
Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You Yourself know.
¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
From the great assembly.

¹¹ Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord;
Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
¹² For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me!
¹⁴ Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who seek to destroy my ^[p]life;
Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor
Who wish me evil.
¹⁵ Let them be confounded because of their shame,
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

¹⁶ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
¹⁷ But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

The Blessing and Suffering of the Godly

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

41 Blessed is he who considers the ^[q]poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
² The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
³ The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will ^[r]sustain him on his sickbed.

⁴ I said, “Lord, be merciful to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
⁵ My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶ And if he comes to see me, he speaks ^[s]lies;
His heart gathers iniquity to itself;
When he goes out, he tells it.

⁷ All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they ^[t]devise my hurt.
⁸ “An^[u] evil disease,” they say, “clings to him.
And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.”
⁹ Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has ^[v]lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰ But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
¹¹ By this I know that You are well pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not triumph over me.
¹² As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And set me before Your face forever.

¹³ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 36:4 reject, loathe
2. Psalm 36:6 Lit. mountains of God
3. Psalm 37:5 Lit. Roll off onto
4. Psalm 37:9 destroyed
5. Psalm 37:22 destroyed
6. Psalm 37:23 established
7. Psalm 37:26 Lit. all the day
8. Psalm 37:31 slip
9. Psalm 37:36 So with MT, LXX, Tg.; Syr., Vg. I passed by
10. Psalm 38:6 Lit. bent down
11. Psalm 38:15 I wait for You, O Lord
12. Psalm 38:15 answer
13. Psalm 38:18 anxiety
14. Psalm 39:3 meditating
15. Psalm 39:6 make an uproar for nothing
16. Psalm 40:14 Lit. soul
17. Psalm 41:1 helpless or powerless
18. Psalm 41:3 restore
19. Psalm 41:6 empty words
20. Psalm 41:7 plot
21. Psalm 41:8 Lit. A thing of Belial
22. Psalm 41:9 Acted as a traitor

MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE:

John 20:31- “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

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Thank you for reading in 2022 – a Year of Wisdom and Salvation
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!