Praise for the Lord's Favor to Jerusalem Psalm 147

1 Praise ye the Lord:
for it is good to sing praises unto our God;
for it is pleasant;
and praise is comely.
2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem:
he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He healeth the broken in heart,
and bindeth up their wounds.
4 He telleth the number of the stars;
he calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power:
his understanding is infinite.
6 The Lord lifteth up the meek:
he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving;
sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 who covereth the heaven with clouds,
who prepareth rain for the earth,
who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He giveth to the beast his food,
and to the young ravens which cry.
10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse:
he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him,
in those that hope in his mercy.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem;
praise thy God, O Zion.
13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates;
he hath blessed thy children within thee.
14 He maketh peace in thy borders,
and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth:
his word runneth very swiftly.
16 He giveth snow like wool:
he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes.
17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them:
he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 He showeth his word unto Jacob,
his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
20 He hath not dealt so with any nation:
and as for his judgments, they have not known them.
Praise ye the Lord.

Raveled Sleave of Care

 You met her, didn't you?

It was an unpleasant experience. She just took over. Totally wrecked me. I'm tired, but I don't think I'll sleep. 

Lie down. Close your eyes and think on these things. 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Phillipians 4:8

I am not there. I'm not there. 

I know. But you still have to think on these things. 

You'll have to draw me a map today. I don't know where any of that is. Planet Earth. That's where I am. I don't know if you'll find any of that here. 

I didn't say you had to find them. They are already done. You just have to think about them. 

I ... would it be wrong to say I don't want to look anymore? 

It would be pretty stupid. You're not generally stupid.

I'm in so much pain right now that I am not capable of seeing anything beyond my nose. It's dark where I am. You know I am so messed up. Right? You know this. 

I am all the light you need. 

I'm just going to be honest here. I am in a dark place. No light visible. I know. Sounds disrespectful. That screaming woman? The one I said was behind me? Not anymore. She's in me. She is me. I'm her. 

........

Nothing? 

When you're ready. Go get some sleep.

You know Shakespeare?

I taught him everything he knew.

Right. I had to look it up to remember it all. "Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care". From Macbeth. The sleave was a skein of yarn. I've dealt with those, and it isn't that easy either. But OK, I'll go. 

Pathways

 Copied from Life on the Ledge, 3/02/2012

Every day I get a daily Bible verse in my email. Sometimes it doesn't do a thing for me. At other times I will keep the email in my inbox all day and go back an reread the verse as time permits. Today's verse is one of these. 

Job 23:10-11 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

I like the Book of Job because it's the one place in the Bible I can identify with someone so strongly that it seems Job and I know one another. In my Bible, I have highlighted several verses in Job. This whole chapter is highlighted because it's one of my favorites in the Bible. In that one chapter, I am Job.

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!

For some time now, I've been lost. Every path I would travel has been cut off. I'm not where I was, and where I am is unfamiliar territory. There are no familiar landmarks, no smooth roadways, and no one to turn to for help. It would appear that my path is to be traveled alone in alien lands. 

Job 23:8-9  Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:  On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

I just don't know which way to turn. More than once, I have wanted to just sit down in the road and give up. I can't move in any direction at all because I simply don't know which direction to go because I don't know where I am. 

And yet....He knows exactly where I am. 

Job 23:10-11 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

There's no Google Earth or Google Maps for me to use on this trip. I have only one resource, and too often I forget it. He doesn't forget me. 

Job 23:13-14 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

He knows where I am. He knows the twist and turns in the roads, the highs and lows. He knows the dangers along each route. He knows the blocks across the paths that lie before me. He sees every alternative route long before I reach it. 

Sometimes when I want to go left, I am forced right. He knows what lies ahead. It is appointed for me. I'm not really lost at all. I just didn't plan the trip.

I do not know why there are dark places in the road, where no light penetrates. I do not know why accidents happen and I am injured or people die. Perhaps it's just the nature of the journey. I know only that there is great comfort in the fact that He knows where I am. And even though it seems I am lost in a strange land, He knows how I got there and where I'm going next.