Hello .... Again
Tuesday, May 02, 2017
LONG TIME COMING
It's hard to believe that it's been so long since my last post. I suppose I can sum up my absence by saying LIFE got in the way. So many changes that initially weren't welcomed. But, if you know God, you know His plans are the best, even if we can't see them.
God has been gracious to me and seems to constantly provide me with hope through His word. And if we need anything in this world now, it's God's hope.
It's hard to gain perspective and step out of the circumstances into God's will for us. Yet I believe it's harder if we stay in those circumstances. They won't change. Well, at least not by much. But God never changes. He's always there. He never leaves. EVER!!!
I have come to rely on several Psalms but one that carries me through some of my more anxious moments is Psalm 139. I particularly like the Amplified Version of the Bible because it includes words that are closely associated with the Greek or Hebrew to provide clarity.
The other reason I love Psalm 139 is that it speaks to God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
If want to know how much you are loved and how close God is, this Psalm will paint a lovely picture.
It's hard to believe that it's been so long since my last post. I suppose I can sum up my absence by saying LIFE got in the way. So many changes that initially weren't welcomed. But, if you know God, you know His plans are the best, even if we can't see them.
God has been gracious to me and seems to constantly provide me with hope through His word. And if we need anything in this world now, it's God's hope.
It's hard to gain perspective and step out of the circumstances into God's will for us. Yet I believe it's harder if we stay in those circumstances. They won't change. Well, at least not by much. But God never changes. He's always there. He never leaves. EVER!!!
I have come to rely on several Psalms but one that carries me through some of my more anxious moments is Psalm 139. I particularly like the Amplified Version of the Bible because it includes words that are closely associated with the Greek or Hebrew to provide clarity.
The other reason I love Psalm 139 is that it speaks to God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
If want to know how much you are loved and how close God is, this Psalm will paint a lovely picture.
Psalm 139, Amplified Bible (AMP)
139 O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.
2
You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do];
You understand my thought from afar.
3
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4
Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken],
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.
6
Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.
2
You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do];
You understand my thought from afar.
3
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4
Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken],
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.
6
Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.
7
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.
9
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
11
If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,
And the night will be the only light around me,”
12
Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You,
But the night shines as bright as the day;
Darkness and light are alike to You.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.
9
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
11
If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,
And the night will be the only light around me,”
12
Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You,
But the night shines as bright as the day;
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13
For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
14
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
14
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
17
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18
If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18
If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
19
[a]O that You would kill the wicked, O God;
Go away from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20
For they speak against You wickedly,
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22
I hate them with perfect and utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
[a]O that You would kill the wicked, O God;
Go away from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20
For they speak against You wickedly,
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22
I hate them with perfect and utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23
Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
24
And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way
Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
24
And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way
I hope you'll visit again.
Blessings, Francine
