There is always a way into peace and joy even in the middle of tribulation. The nations can be raging, the kingdoms of power can be moving, but God will utter His voice, and everything will melt and stop.

This bride is one that is completely desired by the King. That kind of intense love and affection is what causes worship to spring up in the heart of the bride. It is a response to His great love.

The worship that comes out of her is pure and not afraid of rejection. It is this abandoned worship that makes the bride even more beautiful and more desirable to the King as she comes bringing gifts. He draws her close, entreating her to leave behind all worldly relationships and cleave only unto Him, her bridegroom to whom she is now betrothed.

We’re accustomed to politicians who see all sides, talk all sides, take all sides.

Personal ambition too often rises above principle. Fear weakens conviction. Indecision clouds courage. Apathy steals confidence. Deception covers surrender and confusion prevents judgment.

If we’re not careful, this can happen - to you and me.

Persecution is real.

Not only in ancient Israel did the children of Israel go through intense times of suffering but throughout Christianity especially in the dark ages – this Psalm has been used to bring comfort in the middle of Christian persecution.

Have you ever considered what it would be like to know you are going to be burned at the stake? 

Ben didn’t want to think the worst when the money came up missing. It had to be an honest mistake - not embezzlement. It wasn’t a big company - about 80 employees on average. There was a logical explanation, a bookkeeping error, an innocent oversight.

Trying to convince himself, Ben wrestled deep inside. This had never happened before. Ever.

Sometimes it feels like the world is against us. Many times – we feel the oppression and the pressure of a national crisis beating down on our hearts and minds. The Psalmist in Psalm 43 felt that too – so these five small verses were his way of dealing with the pressure.

Hunger for God – it sounds so deep and theological, but it can manifest in an ache, a longing, and a feeling of exhaustion without Him.

I can just imagine the deer without water for hours upon a time and panting at the edge of the brook for a drink. Finally, the deer has arrived after miles of travel to the source of life. It leans over and fully drinks. How refreshing it is!

God sustains us, cares for us, and watches over us with His love. He does not forget about us. He doesn’t stop praying for us. He upholds us.

So just like Him - the needs of the household of faith should always be a priority for us as believers.

The promise of the transformation of our lives is not just for us – it is for the others who will see it and be changed. We so often lose perspective on the effect of our great salvation upon the world around us; but the beginning of Psalm 40 is a promise.

The cool twilight breezes made their way gently through the rugged hillside.

It grew still. The men sitting there looked down.

Nobody said anything.

It had been another day of eager and curious crowds; demanding questions and puzzled faces - stressful, exhausting - and confusing.

Though in the natural life’s shortness and our true essence as sojourners might seem like negative thoughts – they should give us hope and peace. I personally think David is bringing them up because of the comfort it was giving him.

Life in view of eternity with God makes sense. Without God in the picture – it doesn’t make sense.

David is experiencing what all of us must go through in our steps to come to God. We must see our sin and realize that we need a Savior.

Salvation needs to be priceless to us. It has to be something that we couldn’t earn on our own. This is where the value of Jesus comes in. We need Him!

The key verse is the last one – “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (verse 22)

After a week of carrying burdens for our nation – peace flooded my heart as I read these words. This feeling on contentment in His promises is exactly why I need Jesus and the communion with Him in His Word.

This is true living!

Over and over again in Psalm 37 – God speaks these powerful words to our souls – “Do not fret!”

Heavens, clouds, mountains, and the deep of the ocean are all pictures of God’s vastness and how LARGE His ability to save really is. God is completely able to “preserve man and beast.” His salvation is transformative even against the most heinous evil.

Though the world may look dark, with no hope, and impossible to overcome – here is the promise of the Lord for us TODAY -

“Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” (Psalm 35:27b)

David spends the whole of Psalm 35 detailing out all of the hardship that he was experiencing by the hand of his adversaries. They were fighting against him, pursuing him relentlessly, gathering against him, and mocking him - so why is he singing?

Are you stuck in “ordinary church life” participating in a church service-based existence? Does the modern way of doing church leave you wanting something more?

Do you say to yourself, “Where is the love? Where is the community?”

Or maybe you are someone who knows in their heart they are supposed to be interacting more with the Body of Christ, but you don’t have any motivation to really get to know people or serve them the way Jesus talked about?

There is something more.

There are treasures in the body of Christ, but we have to pursue them…and when we find them in each other, we will find the fullness of Christ!

In Psalm 34, David poured out a Psalm about the happiness of those who trust in the Lord after he pretended he was crazy in front of King Abimelech and was driven away from the Philistines.

Thinking of politics and civics, I would argue that the dire situation in which we find ourselves today in the United States, stems largely from the passivity of the Church.

For almost 100 years, the Church has withdrawn passively from confronting the encroaching tyranny of the state. Church leaders invoke Romans 13 out of context and instruct their flock to “stay in their own lane”. When the Church passively fails to speak truth to power, the powerful will inevitably seize more and more power for themselves.

When the foundations of our nation and the nations of the world seem to be unraveling – God calls us, as believers in Himself, to look higher and see the eternal nation that He is building.

We see things.

We discern things.

We know something is not right.

When we watch the news and see corruption, political games, or injustice in our cities - we shudder.

Our eyes are wide open.