Those Good Ol' Psalms

Well, it hasn't been quite a month since I last posted, but pretty close. I've been busy, busy, busy with a major project for work, but we finally completed it last week.

I received the following quotation from an email list I subscribe to. Because I originally began this blog (and the email messages preceding it) with the Psalms, I felt it was appropriate to share this quotation:

"The Psalms defy our notions of profane and sacred, proving that everything we feel, witness, do unto others, and have done to us is acceptable subject matter for conversing with the Divine. They invite us to bring every part of ourselves into our houses of worship. If we omit expressions of faith lost, of rage, of disdain, and of the desire for revenge, we leave parts of ourselves at the door." --Kari Jo Verhulst

God knows our every thought, so why not be completely open with Him about our feelings? We might as well discuss them with Him.

The email list had verses 6 through 10 of Psalm 103. But here is the psalm in full--it's even more powerful.

"Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children--with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul" (Psalm 103).

It's a Process

"...[M]ake every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8).

I don't think anyone would want their faith to become stagnant and, therefore, "ineffective and unproductive." Our purpose in life is to bring God glory by the way we live our lives.

It's interesting that the very last attribute listed in the series of virtues in the passage above is love. Love comes even after self-control? When you think about it, it makes sense. True, unconditional, pure love is the very essense of God. So it makes sense that this would be the hardest for our human hearts and minds to attain. But it's a process, and being a child of God means that you are always striving to become more and more a reflection of Him.