It’s spring here in Michigan. Time to get outside, rake lawns, tend to gardens. In other words, it’s a great time to get down and dirty with our God, as you reflect on Psalm 24 – the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it! Garden Earth We live on planet Earth, Mother Earth. As […]
Read More
This week’s psalm is probably the best known and most often quoted in the book of Psalms. As a prayer it is second only to the Lord’s prayer. Psalm 23 – the Lord – it begins. Who is this lord who is also a shepherd? And what does it tell us about the nature of […]
Read More
Recently, as part of the Festival of Faith and Writing, I attended a presentation by Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter entitled, Rejection, Revision, Repetition: Lessons Learned from an Unpublished Novel by Madeleine L’Engle. It was precisely what I needed to hear. There were so many ways that L’Engle’s story was helpful. Below are my lessons from Madeleine […]
Read More
On the cross, Jesus cries out the words from Psalm 22 – My God, my God. He then goes on to ask, “Why have you forsaken me?” Is it a cry of abandonment or the ultimate statement of faith? Psalm 22:1-21 In the first verses we hear the writer crying out to God in despair: […]
Read More
In Psalm 21 – the king rejoices, but why? What are his reasons for rejoicing? What might we learn from this psalm of thanksgiving? Psalm 21 – Part 1 We learn in the first line of Psalm 21 why the king rejoices. The people speak to God. “The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great […]
Read More
Our psalm for this week is a prayer made for someone else. We hear in the first line of Psalm 20 – the Lord answer you. Who are they praying for and what do they want for this person? Psalm 20 Psalm 20 is a prayer for the king. The psalmist is praying for victory […]
Read More
The psalmist seems to shout the first three words of Psalm 19 – the heavens declare! They declare the glory of the Lord, but what does that mean? And what else do they declare? Psalm 19 The first part of Psalm 19 speaks of the glory of the Lord as found in nature “The heavens declare the […]
Read More
This week we focus on three powerful words at the beginning of Psalm 18 – I love you. Love is a complex, multi-faceted word, much abused and misunderstood. For all of the time we spend thinking about love, writing and singing songs about love, reading romance novels and watching movies about love, it remains a […]
Read More
The psalmist cries out in Psalm 17 – Hear me, Lord! Who hasn’t cried out at times, begging for someone, anyone, to hear them? I know I have. But what does the writer want Got to hear? And, perhaps more important, what does he want God to do? Psalm 17 Psalm 17 begins with a […]
Read More
Over the past month I’ve had many reasons to cry out with the writer of Psalm 16 – keep me safe! Traveling thousands of miles, sideswiped once, unfamiliar territory. and visits to the hospital. All reasons to cry out: Lord, keep me safe. Safety is a basic need. On Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it comes […]
Read More
