Untitled #2 / anonymous

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living. Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord." Psalm 27: 13-14

"Being a Christian is hard."

"I chose when I was very little that I would follow you. The weight of this decision was eternal. I can not and will not be convinced to regret this decision. God will be glorified." -anonymous

"I love the word 'integrity', there's something so attractive about it."

"Blessings follow obedience."

"They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed." -Psalm 34:5

"Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." -Psalm 34:11

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all." -Psalm 34: 18

(Wow, some strong language in this one, God doesn't joke around about this kind of stuff.)
"You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up, and tear you away from your tent, And uproot you from the land of the living." -Psalm 52: 3-5

This is intense...Read it real carefully, it took me a couple times over to figure out what this passage was saying, but it sure doesn't make me feel good. But it's truth, can't avoid it.
Psalm 55...
"Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Thyself from my supplication.
Give heed to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,
Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the pressure of the wicked;
For they bring down trouble upon me, And in anger they bear a grudge against me.
My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me; and horror has overwhelmed me.
And I said, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest."
"Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah."
"I would hasten to my place of refuge from the stormy wind and tempest." -(How often do I run away from truth expecting to be able to hide in some soft, comfortable place?)
Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues, For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around her upon her walls; and iniquity and mischief are in her midst.
Destruction is in her midst; Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets.
(Here's the part where it gets even more intense and uncomfortable...)
For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him.
But it is YOU, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend...
We who had sweet fellowship together, Walked in the house of God in the throng.
Let death com deceitfully upon them; (You uncomfortable yet? :))
Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
As for me, I shall call upon God, And the Lord will save me. (Wow, what faith...it's so independent of the people around him!)
Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice. He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, For they are many who strive with me.
God will hear and answer them-
Even the one who sits enthroned from of old...
With whom there is no change...
And who do not fear God... (Chills should probably be running down all of our spines right now, and rightfully so!)
He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has violated his covenant.
His speech was smoother than butter, But his heart was WAR;
His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn SWORDS. (Quite the imagery here.)
Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down to the pit of destruction; Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.
But I will trust in THEE."
(Whew! My word.... I gotta take a breather on this one...)




Ok, the next passage. Read this with me and if you've got the time or the willingness, let me know what your thoughts are on it.
The Title given to it in my Bible says, "The Vanity of Life"
Psalms 39...
"I said, 'I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle, While the wicked are in my presence."
I was dumb and silent, I refrained even from good; And my sorrow grew worse. (I think this means that if anyone plans on being a light for Christ, they can't only follow the "rules" of taking the Lord's name in vain, etc, but they should additionally sacrifice something of themselves each time, as much as they can. It takes a lot of courage and faith to talk about God.) ( This is good for me to know!)
My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing the fire burned; Then I spoke with my tongue: (When you are silent about your faith in a place that God has plainly made it clear that you are different, he doesn't want us to muffle it? Letting it sit in our heads probably isn't going to make it any better I guess.)
"Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the extent of my days,
Let me know how transient I am. (Haha, whenever I see this in the bible, or ask it of God myself in life, I should just expect that it'll be a depressingly small amount of time. haha.)
Behold, Thou hast made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Thy sight, Surely every man at his best, is a mere breath.
Surely every man walks about as a phantom;
Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
He amasses riches, and does not know who will gather them.
And now, Lord, for what do I wait??!
My hope is in THEE. (Faith is so incredible to me...some people can have the faith as tiny as a mustard seed but given that person is humble and obedient to Him, God can make it grow RIDICULOUSLY huge, although that is not without great tribulation at first. :))
Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the foolish. (In essence, I'm guessing that this calls us to be blameless in the sight of both God and man.)
"I have become dumb, I do not open my mouth, because it is Thou who hast done it. (I am curious about this sentence because it sounds as though David is blaming God for not being gutsey and speaking out??....isn't that kinda David's own fault?....I don't know, if anyone has some clarity on any of this for me, feel free to spit something out. :))
Remove thy plague from me; Because of the opposition of thy hand, I am perishing.
With reproofs thou dost chasten a man for iniquity; Thou dost consume as a moth what is precious to him; surely every man is a mere breath. (I think this means that we shouldn't even try to hold onto the "things" in life because God will snatch them away from us as fast as you can blink...so what's the point? Yeah, things are great to have, but it seems pretty important that we know the degree to which we are holding on to these things and know that we can let go of them at a moments notice.)
"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with Thee, a sojourner like all my fathers. Turn Thy gaze away from me, that I may smile again, Before I depart and am no more."