Psalm 144 - Proverb 14: Flourishing tree or dead stump?

- Encouragement:  "God gives a fresh start to those ready to quit" (Psalm 145:14).
- Shepherd of the stars:  "He counts the stars and assigns each a name" (Psalm 147:26).
- Do animals know there's a God?  Love this one: "let every living, breathing creature praise God!" (Psalm 150:6).
- I'm ready for wisdom.  Eugene Peterson writes that "wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whwatever actual conditions we find ourselves." Writers of the Proverbs include Solomon, Hezekiah, Agur (an Arab), and Lemuel (another non-Israelite). I love that God's love and wisdom were already reaching out beyond Israel. God's plan for his people includes the Gentiles, too, and that's so clear from early on.
- Want wisdom?  "Those who look for me find me" (Proverb 8:12-21).
- Tree or stump?  "A God-shaped life is a flourishing tree...a life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump" (Proverb 11:28).
- Teach me:  "Fools are headstrong and do what they life; wise people take advice" (Proverb 12:15).
- A last promise:  "The homes of good people hold together" (Proverb 12:7).

Psalm 89 - 112: Mud people & Mountain biking

Reading through the Psalms this quickly is like a mountain bike ride. We sweated through the hard hill climb over the rocks and ditches in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Now we're on the downhill portion--it's exhilarating and like going to some crazy turbo-filled multi-day worship service. Loving it!
- Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day:  Have you ever had a day like this? Psalm 102 has this title in the Message version: "A Prayer of One Whose Life is falling to Pieces, and Who Lets God Know Just How Bad It Is."
- Mud people:  God as a parent:  "As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out, keep in mind that we're made of mud" (Psalm 103:6-18). I don't know if you've ever read anything by Tosca Lee, but she's a historical novelist and her books are amazing. Her novel Demon: A Memoir, is the story of Clayton, "an editor who has just been hired to author a memoir for Lucian, a demon with an extraordinary story to share. The fallen angel chronicles a life of heavenly bliss and rebellion, human creation and salvation, and God's relentless pursuit of mankind" (from the Amazon.com description). Lucian calls humans "mud people." Her book came to mind when I read this passage in Psalm 103 today. (Note: She has another great book about Eve called Havah, and she's at work on a book about Judas. Can't wait for that one!)
- The secret to a good life:  "The Good Life begins in the fear of God" (Psalm 111).

Elena's verse of the day:  "With all my heart I praise the Lord, and with all I am I praise his holy name! I will never forget how kind he has been" (Psalm 103:1-2).

Psalms 66 - 88: Cloud-Rider and Granite Fortress

- Talking trees:  The Psalms portray the earth as actively worshipping God, along with all of Creation, including animals and trees. "You heavens, praise him, praise him, earth; Also ocean and all things that swim in it" (Psalm 69:34). Passages like this remind me of Narnia, CS Lewis' imaginary land where the animals talked and the forests were alive. Perhaps this is what God intended before the Fall?
- Freedom:  "He opens a place in his heart for the down-and-out, he restore the wretched of the earth. He frees them from tyranny and torture--when they bleed, he bleeds" (Psalm 72:9-14).
- God-images:  Not all of the Psalms are by David, but I am finding that the most powerful and unique God-images are David's. Here are some more of his creative and poetic names/metaphors for God (in The Message version):

• Cloud-Rider
• Father of Orphans
• Champion of Widows
• Sky-Rider
• A Guest Room Where I Can Retreat
• My Vast, Granite Fortress
• My Bedrock
• Holy One of Israel
• My Home

Elena's verse of the day:  "We will always praise your glorious name. Let your glory be seen everywhere on earth. Amen and amen" (Psalm 72:19).