God, brilliant Lord,
yours is a household name.

Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handsome sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?

Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.

God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.

I love the perspective that David puts in this psalm. Our God is this intensely passionate being. He created all that there is. He put into place all of us. Nothing is too little or too big. The vastness, the intensity, the sheer load of what He has created is just awe-dropping.

Nothing inspires me more that reading about a God that can. So often we are bombarded by the media of the negativity in the world. It gets to us and bogs us down. It can influence our thinking and mindset when all that really matters is that our God is there. Our God is amazing. He’s created everything around us for us. He put us in charge of the animals, birds, fish, whales, cattle, sheep …. the list goes on. We are the caretakers of Eve. We are the environmentalist. We are the guardians of His planet. We have a responsibility to take care of what He’s given us. There’s the positive. Our God gives and gives and gives. How amazing is that…

God! God! I am running to you for dear life;
The chase is wild.
If they catch me, I’m finished:
ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,
Dragged into the forest and left
unlooked for, unremembered.

God, if I’ve done what they say–
betrayed my friends,
ripped off my enemies–
If my hands are really that dirty,
let them get me, walk all over me,
leave me flat on my face in the dirt.

Stand up, God; pit your holy fury
against my furious enemies.
Wake up, God. My accusers have packed
the courtroom; it’s judgment time.
Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel,
throw out the false charges against me.
I’m ready, confident in your verdict:
“Innocent.”

Close the book on Evil, God,
but publish your mandate for us.
You get us ready for life:
you probe for our soft spots,
you knock off our rough edges.
And I’m feeling so fit, so safe:
made right, kept right.
God in solemn honor does things right,
but his nerves are sandpapered raw.

Nobody gets by with anything.
God is already in action–
Sword honed on his whetstone,
bow strung, arrow on the string,
lethal weapons in hand,
each arrow a flaming missile.

Look at that guy!
He had sex with sin,
he’s pregnant with evil.
Oh, look! He’s having
the baby–a Lie-Baby!

See that man shoveling day after day,
digging, then concealing, his man-trap down that lonely stretch of raod?
Go back and look again–you’ll see him in it headfirst,
legs waving in the breeze.
That’s what happens:
mischief backfires;
violence boomerangs.

I’m thanking God, who makes things right.
I’m singing the fame of heaven-high God.

I love the imagery that this poem has. A guy has sex with sin and becomes pregnant with evil. The result is a lie-baby. It brings to light something that so many of us do. A feeling of sickness comes to me. The next time that I take a look at sin and “mingle” with it I will think twice.

So many times we get caught up in the act and forget to think twice about our actions, let alone the One up there. We are led to believe that our actions are insignificant in the entire plot of things. Our thoughts matter, our actions matter, our lives matter. Our God is significant. We are significant.

Please, God, no more yelling,
no more trips to the woodshed.
Treat me nice for a hange;
I’m so starved for attention.

Can’t you see I’m black and blue,
beat up badly in bones and soul?
God, how long will it take
for you to let up?

Break in, God, and break up this fight;
If you love me at all, get me out of here.
I’m no good to you dead, am I?
I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb!

I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed
has been floating forty days and nights
on the flood of my tears.
My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears.
The sockets of my eyes are black holes:
nearly blind, I squint and grope.

Get out of here, you Devil’s crew:
at last God ahs heard my sobs.
My requests have all been granted,
my prayers are answered.

Cowards, my enemies disappear.
Disgraced, they turn tail and run.

It’s hard to see the full picture when everything around us seems to be falling apart. We grasp for air and immediately blame God for the unrest that comes. We blame God for us not feeling secure, taken care of, listened to. Feelings of desparation come into play. We feel bruised, beat up, can’t go on. Nothing is good anymore. Nothing can be fixed. Nothing will be the same. There is no more strength. No more hope. No more vision. No more future.

God has never left our side. Throughout the past couple of months as I have struggled with some heavy-duty opportunities coming my way I have lost sight and hope of what God has in store for me. I’ve resorted to letting the negative activities and people around me bring me down. God is there. God has always been there and He will always be there. Its hard to relinquish control and accept the fact that when we are out of control, God is the one who is definitely in control. He will never leave us nor forsake.

I was talking to one of my good friends the other day about the fact that Christ never puts more on our plate than we can handle. Sure, sometimes the load may seem uneven, difficult, or hard to digest, but God has a plan. He has our best future and health in mind throughout it all. Everything has a purpose and a plan. When we have things come our way, He ordained them. Nothing is too big nor too small for God.

Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.

But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies –
make straight your way before me.

Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave
with their tongue they speak deceit.
Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled aginst you.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name
may rejoice in you.
For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

In difficult times in our life it is easy to lose sight of what is of importance and what is worthy of the garbage can. Countless times the hard bumps come as we’re flying high, not expecting the bugs to hit the windshield, much less the ride coming to a stop.

Four years ago this March I took a leap of faith into what has changed my life in a complete 180 degree turn. Christ came knocking on the door and I answered. Struggling with anxiety, stress, and the impressing matter of loneliness I gave my heart to Him. Since that moment I have relied on Him through the think and the thin. Through the times where it necessarily isn’t easy to see Him or hear His voice. That’s what I have to do though. I serve a God that is so magnificent, so gigantic that my dreams can’t contain Him. Nothing is too small for Him, nothing insignificant. Always relevant, always available. I serve a God that isn’t put into a box. A God that is incredible that I can never get enough.

Right now I feel that inner peace that He has so graciously given to me. I know that whatever comes my way that everything is going to be okay. I can feel lonely at times, depressed sad, mad, angry, all of the great emotions … but I know that I will prevale. My God reigns.