Tag: praise

Praying through the Ups and Downs

Psalms 25-30: Praying through the Ups and Downs

As an English major, I have come to be a voracious reader, and one of my favorite past-times is cuddling up with a good novel and a cup of coffee. In all my reading, I’ve come to see patterns in books.  I am now able to discern what I will like to read and what I won’t. A common thread through all the books I like is how they display a wide range of emotions of humanity, not just the good aspects. Instead of painting a glossy, rose-tinted picture, the novelists try to capture how broken the world is, and by doing so, show something much deeper, a common humanity.

I love novels and reading, but I will be the first to say that I do not look to these things for my hope and salvation. When I want to look to something that speaks to my life now, I look to the Bible. As I read through the Psalms, I recognize in scriptures the same thing I love in literature through these prayers and praises. The Psalms we read for today, Psalms 25-30, were all written by David. In these Psalms, David pleads to God for vindication and deliverance and praises God when he does so. These wonderful prayers model for us how we can come to God in all our pain as well as our joy. In both of these places, God longs to hear from us.

Like novels and books help the author to communicate to us, Psalms shows us how we can communicate with God and the many ways that God can communicate back, through His word, nature, and more. These prayers show us how to come to God in a way that is pleasing to Him and open up our hearts to what He wants from our lives.

God longs for us to pursue Him with prayer, and the New Testament focuses on this heavily. Jesus gives us an example of prayer in Luke 11 with the Lord’s prayer. Paul says in Ephesians 6:18 and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray constantly. These examples and admonitions about prayer point to the same thing that David’s psalms do: we should communicate with God all the time. James says it best in his letter, chapter 5 verse 13, “Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.”

As we can see in the Psalms and through the life of Jesus, prayer is the backbone of our faith. To know and pursue God we need to communicate with Him, and prayer is where that communication, that relationship, begins. We don’t have to gloss over our problems or focus on them solely. God longs for our whole humanity, and we, like David, can bring it to Him.

-Cayce Ballard

books

Our Boundary Lines

boundarylinesWhen the Israelites finally entered the Promised Land after wandering for forty years, they had a big job to do. After taking possession of the land, they had to divide the land between the twelve tribes. Joshua was given this job, and you can find the boundary lines of each tribe in Joshua 16-21. These boundary lines were designed by God so that each tribe would have access to enough good land to survive. They were a provision from God as the Israelites settled into their new home.

Hundreds of years later, David talks about boundary lines in Psalm 16. He says,

“LORD, you are my portion

and my cup of blessing;

You hold my future.

The boundary lines

have fallen for me

In pleasant places;

Indeed, I have

A beautiful inheritance.” –vv. 5-6

The boundary lines David was talking about were not only boundary markers on the ground dictating the land he would inherit. These boundary lines concerned something far more important. These boundaries established a spiritual inheritance that we also receive, the Kingdom of God.

Hebrews 9:15 says, “Therefore, He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Jesus is our mediator, so that we can receive our promised inheritance. The portion that we receive, our future and our inheritance, is the Kingdom of God. Indeed, our boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places!

Like many of David’s psalms, his celebration of God does not end with a praise. David always includes action. If we continue to read through the rest of Psalm 16, we see the reflection of a heart change in David’s life. He praises God, because God counsels Him- through his meditation on God’s word, he reflects on how he can better live for God. Through David’s purposeful study of God’s word, he walks on the path of life, which leads to the Kingdom.

Often, we think about boundaries as hemming and restricting us. David rejoices because, though the law does give him restrictions on how to live, he sees that life with the law is pleasant. Our boundary lines are great not only in the future to come, but also this world now.

Let’s rejoice in our inheritance and follow David’s example of walking and reveling in God’s word and presence.

-Cayce Ballard

 

Photo Credit: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8CzfQUIcAAi1yT.jpg

Look to the Cross

Psalm 8-14

prettyplace.jpg

“When I observe Your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You set into place,
what is man that you remember him,
the son of man that you look after him?” -Ps. 8:3-4

A few years ago on the UP Project, me and several other groggy kids were woken up at 5am to travel up into the heart of the South Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains.  Our destination was Pretty Place, an open chapel in a camp ground. From the chapel, the view of the ridges of the mountains are held in stunning display as they roll towards Greenville. The view can easily take your breath away. But, this chapel never held the view above the object that was placed directly before it.

In the middle of this lookout is a cross, and sitting in the pews, you can’t look at the view without first looking at the cross.

Psalm 8 describes our wonderful God and creator, who made the heavens majestic and us the caretakers of this world. Like David, there have been many times that I have called out, “Who am I, Lord? Who am I that you should remember me?” Travelling through this country and others, the magnificence of God is always in my mind, the way that he formed so many different places for us to inhabit. But, again I think, who are we to be the partakers of this beauty? My thoughts turn back to that image of the cross, held in stark relief to the blue hills below.

Today is Christmas, a day where we celebrate the birth of the heir to David’s throne, Jesus Christ! During this advent season, I remember that my Savior, God’s son, was born for me, and there are many times when I echo David’s question of ‘who is man that you remember him?’ When I think about the great love that God has for us, that he would send his son to die for us, my breath is taken away, similar to, but much greater than, the feeling I had as I gazed out over the mountains. God gave us this great gift, even while we were still sinners. Even on, especially on, this quiet (or perhaps rather hectic) Christmas morning, we should dwell on the Savior that was born for me and you.

Through Jesus’ birth and, like that cross symbolizes, his death, the great divide between God and man was overcome. The position of the cross at Pretty Place should mirror the position of the cross in our lives. The beauty of this world and its comforts are all secondary to the gift we have from God. Without Jesus’ death, we are nothing, but with the death of Jesus, we become God’s adopted children. Praise God for this wonderful gift we have been given!

-Cayce Ballard

Cayce is a Senior this year at the University of South Carolina, studying Secondary English Education. She plans to continue her education next year in the M.T. program at USC. She loves traveling, reading, and playing with her new puppy, Finnegan. Cayce leads a Young Adult Bible Study based on the Grow reading plan.  She would like to thank everyone for contributing to these devotions.

Photo Credit: http://m0.i.pbase.com/u15/jrandyh/upload/20105330.pplacec01.jpg