Skip to main content

IBS 72 - Psalm 66:8-12

Psalm 66:8-12
“Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” 

To begin with, the psalmist that wrote this started this new stanza by praising God. Most of the Psalms that I’ve read so far begin with praise to God. This has shown me how important it is to bring praise to God. It is necessary for the soul to praise it’s creator. It brings healing and joy. Praising God is such an important thing. Every day, even before I get out of bed I try to remember to praise God. There is so much to praise Him about first thing in the morning. Like, “God thank you that I’m alive, that I didn’t get stung by a scorpion, that there are now snakes in my home. I will rejoice in your name for your protection through out the night!” Praising God should be done throughout each and everyday day. 
Then this Psalmist goes on to talking about how God tested them. I could apply that to my life. He has tested me so much since the beginning of this year, refining me, growing me, challenging me. It’s not easy. To be willing to let God refine me. To be refined you have to go through fire. To grow you have to be challenged. To change you have to let go of your hold self and become new. Non of that is easy, it’s not said and done. It’s a process, sometimes taking longer then other times. This process of being refined, for me, has thrown me things that I’d never thought I’d have to deal with. Things I didn’t think I had to work on and things I didn’t think I had to let go. The refining process is painful.
This Psalmist concludes this stanza in a way I love. “But you brought us to a place of abundance.” This is my favorite verse in this stanza. Although I’m still be refined, “the place of abundance” is right in front of me. The abundance is right here, and I’m able to go through it. God doesn’t just take me to be refined and then leave me there. He takes me there, goes through it with me, and then I go into the place of abundance with Him. And that place makes the whole thing worth it. 

It’s all because of love that He does this. If I’m willing, then He’ll put me through fire, and guide me to the place of abundance. He’ll guide me to being closer to His heart. To being more like Him. He loves me so much that His desire is for me to be with Him, and I can’t be with Him if I’m not refined. And because I love Him back, I will go through the fire so I can be brought to the place of abundance. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IBS 41 - Philippians 3:8

Philippians 3:8 “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Losing all things to gain Christ, considering them garbage. That’s intense. That’s hard to do. It takes a lot of faith and trust to get to that point. It’s one step at a time. Growing up, I’d here this verse. “You have to get rid of everything to have Christ.” That scared me, I didn’t want to get rid of my baby dolls and nail polish. As I got older, I learned the deeper truth to this verse. It’s not just giving up items, it’s giving up bad habits, your wants, your rights. It’s giving it all to God to know Him better.  When God told me to do Potter’s Field, I said no. I didn’t want to give anything up. I wanted to keep control, doing what I wanted to do, following my own dreams, holding on to earthly possessions. As God worked on my heart, it got harder to say no....
Post a Comment
Read more

IBS 10 - Ephesians 5:15-17

Ephesians 5:15-17 “Be very careful , then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  I always sit there thinking, “If I can just make it through (whatever it is that’s going on), then I’ll be okay. I just have to get to that point, where I want to be, and I’ll be okay.” If I was in church, it’d be to make it till the sermon is over; at school it’d be till lunch, then till school’s over. I’ve always been waiting, saying just make it to the next point. “Just wait till I graduate. Till I leave for Potter’s Field. Till the Field. Till Re-entry. Till I go home. I’ve never sat there actually being present. As Tessia’s last Inductive Bible Study says, she’s been asleep. Well, me too. I’ve been living my life like a zombie, I’ve been dead. Waiting for the next thing to come along. Not ever paying attention. Dead asleep.  I’m tired of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IBS 70 - PSALM 51:8

Psalm 51:8 “Let me hear joy and gladness: let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” For a couple of years, people have talked to me about getting broken by God. About what it means for God to crush me. They’ve shared their stories of God breaking them and it always impacted me. Especially because they were so joyful, bringing praise to God so easily. I craved to have that type of joy and to be able to praise God the way they did. But I never wanted to go through the process of being broken. It’s a painful process that I didn’t want to have to endure. I said I wanted God to change me, but I wasn’t completely willing to change and to let Him break me. I didn’t want to surrender, and it became hard for me to praise God. I realized that my relationship with Christ wasn’t what it needed to be, but I wasn’t willing to let God do His work in me. My spirit craved to be broken and to draw near to God, but my flesh refused and fought God so hard.  Through the years, God put people ...
Post a Comment
Read more